This is a team still learning its basics and still learning how it is meant to play together.<\/p>\n
The Magic now have two wins. They now have at least the beginnings of a pattern for how to win. They now have the beginnings of a process.<\/p>\n
That process in Friday’s 121-114 win over the Toronto Raptors<\/a> was the complete opposite of the bleak-looking loss on Wednesday.<\/a> The team played with energy, and the ball moved around the perimeter. They shot and played with confidence.<\/p>\n “We just doubled down on the things that we’ve done all training camp, all through September,” Desmond Bane said after Friday’s win<\/a>. “Really pleased, and something we can build off of.”<\/p>\n There were tweaks — the team was more patient and less susceptible to the trapping that the Raptors employ. They dictated the pace of the game. Their defense had rough moments, but it locked down the final half of the fourth quarter to secure the win.<\/p>\n What do Magic wins look like? Everyone is still figuring that part out. Sweeney and his staff are still figuring out how to maximize this team — especially considering the team’s injuries. But that way to win is emerging.<\/p>\n Shooting kind of helps<\/p>\n The biggest consistency from the two wins for the Orlando Magic is quite obvious: When the Magic make shots, they are a really dangerous offensive team. Almost to the point that they can outscore teams.<\/p>\n After shooting worse than 30 percent from three in the 30-point loss Wednesday, the Magic made 18 of 34 from deep. They made 18 3-pointers and shot better than 40 percent from three in the two wins against the New York Knicks<\/a> and Toronto Raptors.<\/p>\n Desmond Bane, struggling to open the season from three once again, made 6 of 12, willing some shots into the hoop to deliver the victory and some much-needed cushion.<\/p>\n The Magic’s energy and confidence within their new offense is so much brighter when they get that proof that it is working. <\/p>\n “We have evidence of how tough we are and the grit the group has,” Franz Wagner said after Friday’s game<\/a>. “We haven’t shown it every game so far this season. We talked about that coming into the game. We showed that today. That stuff has to become habit. If it does, we can be a really good team.”<\/p>\n That is still the biggest transition with a new coach: Gaining trust in what they are running<\/a>. Much of their offensive collapse in the losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors came because shots were not falling, and the team did not quite know how to respond.<\/p>\n
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