At halftime of NBC’s broadcast of the Orlando Magic’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Tracy McGrady and Carmelo Anthony were beaming.
During the pregame show, they challenged the Magic’s young star to step up and lead his team out of this five-game losing streak. They implored him not to settle for jumpers and to attack the basket.
With 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting to set up some three-point shooting, Banchero did exactly that. He delivered a superstar-level performance with 36 points, six rebounds and five assists while going to the line to make 13 of 15 free throws.
That was the call that the Magic needed to answer. That is what they needed from their best player. It answered a key question that has been surrounding this team all season long.
But he alone is not enough. And the question about the Magic’s young star is not the only big question circling this team. Not after a six-game losing streak sent the team tumbling down the standings and a roster that has struggled to stay healthy and put all the pieces together.
Sixty-eight combined points from Donovan Mitchell and James Harden counteracted Paolo Banchero’s heroics. A floater from Mitchell with 13.7 seconds helped the Cleveland Cavaliers ice a 136-131 victory.
Orlando again fell short and it was abundantly clear why. The Magic do not have enough to compete with the best teams in the league.
The question Orlando is forced to ponder as the team’s offseason nears — sooner or later — is how much have injuries played a role in this team’s struggles and how much has poor depth and defense led to this frustrating season?
What was clear is that the Magic can fight and scratch and claw still. That was something coach Jamahl Mosley was proud of from his team.
But they are nowhere near the Cavs team that they took to seven games two years ago. And drawing moral victories is not what this team is supposed to be doing in late March.
Injuries are the story
One of the key reasons the Orlando Magic were able to rise to the 5-seed for that series two years ago was the injury luck they had. Their main trio of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs each played more than 70 games, something none of the three have done since.
It was notable that Suggs (illness) and Wagner (left high ankle sprain injury management) were not available for Tuesday’s game in Cleveland. So too were Anthony Black (left lateral abdominal strain) and Jonathan Isaac (left knee sprain). That left the Magic without four rotation players, two starters and one really key player who has started most of the season.
It is hard for any team to survive, much less thrive in a Playoff scenario, missing all of those players.
It is indeed the key thing the Magic do not know entering their offseason.
The Magic’s opening night starting lineup of Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter has a +14.0 net rating (120.1/106.1) when they play together. But the team has only seen them together 126 minutes and 13 games (it is still the team’s third most used lineup).
Orlando has essentially dealt with injuries since Banchero strained his groin on Nov. 12. Wagner has missed 44 of the last 48 games since Dec. 7. Orlando has had to scramble and come together.
This particular moment may be filled with more injuries than other points in the season. But the Magic have struggled to overcome their injuries.
There is an elite team there. Orlando has simply rarely seen it this year.
Who is Playoff ready?
Still, that is not an excuse. The Orlando Magic have won in the span since Franz Wagner got hurt. There is enough talent on the roster. This team was on a seven-game win streak 10 days ago. Things flipped that quickly.
Every team deals with injuries at some point in its season. And Orlando should have had enough to make it through.
The Cleveland Cavaliers struggled this season with injuries after all — Darius Garland played only 26 games before he was traded, Donovan Mitchell has played in only 62 games and Jarrett Allen has missed the last nine games for them. They still had plenty of depth and talent to get by.
Then again, they are relatively healthy — swapping the injured Darius Garland for James Harden — as the Playoffs near. They also shored up their bench by acquiring James Harden, Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis at the trade deadline. They did not throw away their chance at this season.
All of those players — plus the key offensive contributions from role players like Thomas Bryant, Sam Merrill and Max Strus — were the ones that toppled the Magic.
While Orlando got that superstar game from Paolo Banchero, filling in defensively proved to be tough. This was the second-worst defensive game of the season.
And while Orlando has focused on building its roster with long-armed defenders, that defense has betrayed the team most of the season. Those players have not been able to fill in as the Magic had one of their worst defensive games of the season to betray one of their best offensive showings this season.
“Our standard is always going to be our standard, no matter who is on the floor,” coach Jamahl Mosley said after Tuesday’s loss. “This is our second night of giving up 130, and our ability to sit down and guard has to be the first thing. We have to know that is what’s going to carry us all the way through.”
The defense and the team’s struggling identity were apparent long before this game. Yet, unlike the Cavs, the Magic did not address it at the deadline. Orlando banked on players returning from injury and internal development to get them to their goals.
The Magic have struggled to shore up their roster. And now they are left with a roster that looks depleted and unable to execute at a playoff level. Oftentimes on both ends.
Orlando, for all of its firepower in this game, could never get a key stop and could never get the shots it needed to flip momentum when the team did get those shots.
The team’s lack of depth has come back to haunt it throughout this six-game losing streak.
Injuries are part of that. This team would no doubt be better if it could bring Tristan da Silva and Anthony Black off the bench.
But it has also become clearer this team was not built to withstand the injuries it has faced this year. It will fall short of its expectations and goals because of that.
How do the Magic move forward then? What will they take away from this season?
Those are already the big questions circling the team as this season gets deemed a disappointment. Another frustrating loss on this losing streak and another tumble down the standings only makes these questions more prescient.