The Orlando Magic left London disappointed but feeling like they had taken some steps to get out of their January slide. They just had to bring it to the next game — the energy and cohesion on both ends that led to the comeback and near overtime win.
The start of Monday’s 98-81 loss to the Atlanta Hawks was not ideal. And the Magic quickly lost their spirit as shots failed to fall and the defense cracked under the heat of simple pick and rolls and dribble penetration.
Orlando fell behind early and could not climb its way out. The team fell behind, made one push in the second half but succumbed, looking like a team at the bottom of the standings rather than one now at .500 after hovering above for much of the first half of the season.
The Magic’s inconsistencies on each end of the ball continued with no end in sight.
Elfrid Payton committed four of the Magic’s six first-quarter turnovers, setting an unfortunate tone for a sloppy and lackadaisical Magic offense. Payton actually straightened himself out to finish with 16 points and five assists on 7-for-14 shooting. His back-to-back 3-pointers in the third quarter helped lead a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to six points.
That was all short lived though. The Magic were always a step slow and unable to crack the Hawks defense consistently. There were a ton of isolations, unproductive dribbles and poor ball movement. Orlando was as shelled up and poor as it has been throughout this whole losing stretch — now up to seven losses in the past eight games.
The Hawks played with pace and dictated to the Magic what kind of shots they would take and the points they would give up. Atlanta had 48 points in the paint, getting inside with ease throughout the night. Al Horford scored 15 points and Jeff Teague scored 13 to lead the balanced effort that just tore apart the Magic.
Orlando could not find the formula on the other end.
Aaron Gordon led the Magic with 18 points, one of the few players who played with any kind of energy. One is not enough though.
And the Magic should have already learned the lesson numerous times that one quarter is not enough or one half is not enough or one effort is not enough. Right now the Magic seem to be getting these same lessons over and over again without much change.
Players have said they want to make changes and they know what they have to do. They just have not done it.
The Magic’s loss to the Hawks on Monday may not be rock bottom — the 76ers come to town Wednesday — but the team knows the season is beginning to slip away some. And it needs a fix sooner rather than later.
