It happened at Charlotte two weeks ago.
It happened at Toronto on Sunday.
And it happened a third time Wednesday night against the Hawks inside Kia Center.
The Magic found themselves in a competitive game early, and the moment their opponent punched back, Orlando folded.
The Magic actually led Atlanta 28-25 at the end of the first quarter before it gave up 47 points in the second and trailed by 18 at the half en route to a 130-101 loss at home.
On the road against the Hornets on March 19, Orlando only trailed by two points after 12 minutes of action before Charlotte outscored the Magic 38-21 in the second quarter on its way to a 19-point win.
Such a sequence occurred even sooner last Sunday against the Raptors, who trailed by six points midway through the first quarter before going on a 31-0 run to flip the contest in their favor and hand Orlando its largest loss in franchise history (52 points).
While Wednesday’s loss to Atlanta came on the second night of a back-to-back at home, all three results shared a similar process that led to the same outcome.
“It’s happened different ways in different games,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Some of the games, the heat’s been turned up so we turn it over and they’re getting easy baskets. Sometimes … you go 6-for-32 from 3 so those are long shots that are leading to long rebounds, and they’re out getting easy, transition baskets. (It’s also been) the communication on defense, slip-outs, the communication on the pick-and-roll, (and) not being able to protect, so now we’re flying around understanding who we’re closing out to.
“So, it’s been different things in different games, but the result is the same thing,” he added. “I think we’ve got to continue to communicate that, talk to each other and know exactly what we’re doing in those moments.”
Orlando didn’t shoot accurately from beyond the arc, making just 19% from distance, and allowed the Hawks to control the glass and get out in transition before any defense could get set on the other end. The Hawks outrebounded the Magic 51-37 and out outscored the Magic 25-9 on fastbreaks.
Even the long-awaited return of star forward Franz Wagner couldn’t make a difference. Wagner missed six 3-pointers to finish 5-for-13 from the floor for 12 points in 20 restricted minutes in his first game since Feb. 11 due to an extended rehab of a left high ankle sprain.
The result of it all? The Magic were swept by the Hawks in a four-game regular-season series for the first time since 2012-13. Orlando was also swept in a three-game regular-season series in 2020-21.
“I don’t think it’s bad all game, but there’s just been stretches that are inexcusable, honestly, at this level,” Wagner said when asked about Orlando’s on-court effort. “It’s hard to put a finger on it. I think it comes in runs, and we do a bad job of staying level-headed in those runs.
“Teams see that and feel that and take advantage,” he added.
Frustrations with Orlando’s latest loss led to something else peculiar on Wednesday night.
After reporters were given clearance to enter the Magic locker room 20 minutes after the final buzzer (the timing is dictated by NBA policy), multiple players, including guard Desmond Bane, kindly requested media to leave and wait to re-enter until after the group that included more than half the roster was done talking among themselves.
When asked about it upon re-entry to the locker room, Bane explained why the request was made and downplayed the seriousness of the conversation.
“We were just chopping it up,” he said. “We just wanted to be able to speak freely in the locker room without others around.”
Bane, who scored 14 points in 30 minutes of action, shared why he feels Orlando’s on-court identity has been inconsistent at best throughout his first season with the Magic.
“It takes a level of maturity and understanding of what we do well and what we can hang our hat on,” he said. “When you have something like that you’re hanging your hat on, regardless of how something might be going, that’s your identity and what you fall back on.
“Sometimes in those runs, we can get a little chaotic and leads start to just drip,” Bane added.
The loss was Orlando’s eighth in the past 10 games as the team continues to trend the opposite direction of avoiding the Play-In Tournament. The Magic (40-36) entered Thursday’s slate of games in ninth place in the East, two games back of No. 6 Philadelphia (42-34) and only a half-game ahead of No. 10 Miami (40-37).
After hearing some boos from their own fans during the third quarter of Wednesday’s game, the Magic travel to Dallas for a Friday matchup against a Mavericks squad that’s 2-8 in its past 10 contests. Orlando needed a last-second dunk from Wendell Carter Jr. to defeat Dallas (24-52) by one point on March 5.
While Wagner is off the team’s injury report after making his return Wednesday, Anthony Black (left lateral abdominal strain) and Jonathan Isaac (left knee sprain) remain out for Friday’s contest.
The team then heads to New Orleans on Sunday before the final two home games of the regular season next week.
“Obviously, we feel the frustration from the outside,” Wagner said. “Trust me when I say that we’re probably more frustrated in the locker room trying to figure this out. But this is the NBA. Judgment and frustration from the fans are a part of it.
“We get paid way too much money to play this game, so it’s on us to figure it out.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic at Mavericks
When: 8:30 p.m., Friday, American Airlines Center
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida/WESH