{"id":201599,"date":"2026-03-22T18:12:05","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T18:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/201599\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T18:12:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T18:12:05","slug":"latest-clutch-game-doesnt-go-direction-of-orlando-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/201599\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest clutch game doesn’t go direction of Orlando Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

As recently as March 14 after a four-point win over the Heat inside Kaseya Center, Magic<\/a> coach Jamahl Mosley<\/a> and forward Paolo Banchero<\/a> had pointed towards how Orlando<\/a>\u2018s numerous late-game wins this season would help them down the stretch of the regular season and into the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think just as a team we\u2019re comfortable,\u201d Banchero said at the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Added Mosley that night<\/a>: \u201cUnderstanding that we\u2019ve been in this situation before, so now what do we need to do? That was the mentality of our guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when the Magic found themselves in yet another clutch game against the Lakers<\/a> on Saturday \u2014 contests where the score is within five points or less with five minutes or fewer remaining in the fourth quarter or overtime, according to the league \u2014 they failed to lean on what they learned in similar past spots.<\/p>\n

First, there was confusion on whether or not Orlando meant to call timeout after Los Angeles center Deandre Ayton missed a free throw with 5.2 seconds left in the game.<\/p>\n

Then, Magic guard Jalen Suggs failed to successfully inbounds the ball to Banchero, thus giving it back to the Lakers, who trailed by two points.<\/p>\n

Finally, Orlando had two defensive breakdowns that helped Los Angeles win the game. Suggs and Tristan da Silva mixed up who was supposed to switch defensively and that let LeBron James drive to the basket. Banchero momentarily saved the night with a block, but possession remained with Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

And after the block, a second defensive breakdown allowed Luke Kennard to slip freely to the 3-point line where he sunk the game-winning triple, lifting the Lakers past Orlando, 105-104, to their ninth win in a row at Kia Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just didn\u2019t execute,\u201d Magic guard Desmond Bane<\/a> told the Orlando Sentinel in the locker room after the one-point loss. \u201cDidn\u2019t execute the inbound play. Didn\u2019t execute on defense. \u2026 We\u2019ve just got to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suggs explained in the locker room what happened during the inbounds turnover, which was challenged by Orlando but stuck the Lakers\u2019 way after review.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a point guard, the one taking it out, I got to either call a timeout or get the ball inbounds,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cSo, it\u2019s tough to turn it over there. Then just two slip outs that they had to create good looks for them off the inbounds. It\u2019s just being precise at the end of game with our cuts, with our getting open and then with our switching.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s our loss, for sure,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Magic still hold a 23-13 record in clutch games, but the Lakers have been even better in those situations this season. Los Angeles not only improved to 22-6 in clutch contests but also maintained their league-leading plus-27.8 net rating in those games.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s net rating in clutch games (minus-0.6) ranked 16th league-wide entering Sunday\u2019s slate, according to NBA.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all of them are going to go your way,\u201d Bane said. \u201cI mean, we just \u2026 didn\u2019t get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it wasn\u2019t just the final few possessions where the Magic didn\u2019t execute.<\/p>\n

After trailing by seven points at the end of a first quarter that saw the Lakers score 37 points, Orlando (38-32) led by three points at the half, by five points entering the fourth quarter and again by five points with 50 seconds remaining in the game.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles (46-25) outscored Orlando 23-17 in the fourth quarter when neither shot the ball well from distance (Lakers 2 for 11, Magic 0 for 6 in the final frame).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt comes down to those last plays, yes, but before that, there\u2019s a lot of things we can have cleaned up much better, them having 14 offensive rebounds is a start there, 52 points in the paint, 19 fast break points,\u201d Mosley said. \u201cThose are big keys that we can clean up down the stretch, but it does come down to those last plays. But prior to that, we can be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The snow pile of mistakes resulted in the Magic dropping their fourth consecutive game.<\/p>\n

The skid represents Orlando\u2019s third such losing streak of at least four games this season.<\/p>\n

It also moved the Magic from sixth in the East \u2014 above the mark for a top 6 guaranteed spots in the playoffs \u2014 down to eighth (meaning if the season ended Saturday night, they\u2019d not only be in the Play-In Tournament but also traveling for a game).<\/p>\n

Seeds 7-10 in each conference compete in the Play-In for the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFigure out how to win,\u201d Wendell Carter Jr. said when asked how Orlando ends its latest losing streak. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s simple words but that\u2019s all it is. That\u2019s all it\u2019s about right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough one, game-winner, but we move on,\u201d he added. \u201cWe learn from it. \u2026 Not just even on the last play but just throughout the game, what all could have been done better. But at the end of the day, what is it, 12 (games) now left? We\u2019ve got to just make the most out of every single game moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their next chance to win comes Monday on the first night of a back-to-back against the Pacers (15-56), a team on an even longer losing streak. Indiana, which only has 15 wins on the season, has lost its past 16. Orlando travels to Cleveland the next night.<\/p>\n

The Magic needed late-game heroics to take down the Pacers twice already this season (first in a two-point win Dec. 31 at Indiana, then again in an eight-point win four days later in Orlando).<\/p>\n

\u201cFocus on Indiana,\u201d Bane said about what\u2019s next. \u201cJust get the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Suggs: \u201cJust gotta gather and get a win. That\u2019s it. \u2026 We\u2019ve just gotta end the skid. I think we\u2019ll do that Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic vs. Pacers<\/p>\n

When:\u00a07 p.m., Monday, Kia Center<\/p>\n

TV:\u00a0FanDuel Sports Network Florida<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As recently as March 14 after a four-point win over the Heat inside Kaseya Center, Magic coach Jamahl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,2295,139,141,1239,140,109,76046,110],"class_list":["post-201599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-latest-headlines","tag-nba","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-social","tag-social-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}