Another blowout loss leaves deep questions for Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic once again fell behind by 30 points — at home — and once again were left with some major questions about their cohesion and potential.

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There was no precise moment when things collapsed in Sunday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors at Amway Center. It was, as it has been in other losses, gradual. It built slowly and seemingly inevitably.

The unfortunately familiar feeling of losing a game by 30 points had an unfortunately familiar tune.

The defense was in shambles, giving up shots left and right as players stood around watching, frustration growing on their faces. The offense gets stagnant as shots miss. Shoulders drop. Again, frustration grows.

This is a continual theme for this Orlando Magic team. This is something that happens too often with this team.

It was something that felt just around the corner. Like it had been too long since the Magic’s last poor performance. Orlando’s offense had been playing so well, the frustration of missing shots would surely come to roost.

The Magic built their 11-point lead and seemed to have things rolling their way against the Raptors on Sunday at the Amway Center. Oh, how quickly things can fall apart.

The Magic led 34-23 early in the second quarter and were outscored 22-6 in the next seven minutes. The poor offensive play continued into the third quarter, the Raptors scored the first 10 points and never looked back.

Or rather, Orlando never got itself back. It is hard to believe the team that scored 51 points in the first half was the same one that came out of the locker room.

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The Magic scored just 28 points in the second half, making a mere 12 of 39 shots (30.8 percent). The team had five assists on 12 field goals. In total, the Magic posted an 81.5 offensive rating and a lowly 10.8 percent assist rate.

“We didn’t start the game following our gameplan well enough,” coach Frank Vogel said. “We didn’t play team basketball and it got worse as the game went on. And when they made their runs, we gave in instead of responding. And you saw what you saw.”

Vogel said the team did not play for each other. They played with blinders on and did not do what the team had done so often the past two weeks — move and share the ball. The assist numbers tell the story as much as the field goal percentage: 13 assists and three secondary assists.

The Magic’s offense has been something of a revelation for the last few weeks. It has suddenly come alive and been one of the best. Even interspersed in those games were duds. The Magic got run out of the Amway Center in a 30-point loss to the Boston Celtics. At least there, the team had the excuse of coming home on a back to back after a long road trip.

Orlando here had the time to practice and iron things out, specifically on defense, coming off a win Friday at home. Talk of defending home court and making the Playoffs seemed extremely distant Sunday evening.

It is not that the Magic lost, but it is how they lost. And how they keep losing in such devastating blowout fashion.

That is not how a team with the Magic’s ambitions can afford to play, even infrequently.

“It’s frustrating, we didn’t play for each other,” Bismack Biyombo said. “We played selfish. At the end of the day, if we want to be that team everybody is talking about, we need to play for each other and hold each other accountable. We’re not doing a good job.”

Bismack Biyombo said some plays for the Magic defensively were effortless plays. And it is hard to argue with him. There were a few plays where the team failed to communicate and a Raptors player got free. There were poor offensive plays where the Raptors were able to swarm the Magic with no one cutting or moving to help the ball handler.

A game shy of 30 games into the season, this is not the kind of conversation Vogel wants to have. He said it was frustrating this message does not seem to be getting through. The Magic have seen how they play when they do the right things.

The maddening inconsistency has caused frustration that seems finally to boil over. Or at least do so on these occasionally embarrassing games.

In the third quarter, as the Raptors took control, they began dominating the game physically. They crowded the Magic, forcing them off their spots and physically getting closer to Magic players. Orlando did not have room to operate and quickly found themselves frustrated by the lack of space.

Evan Fournier saw this as a bigger problem than players being selfish. There were not opportunities to make a pass. That certainly is partially true. The magic could not figure out how to counteract the Raptors’ aggression.

“You have to make the right plays, which thought we didn’t tonight,” Nikola Vucevic said. “You have to execute on the offensive end. You have to play together. A team like they are, they are going to take advantage of. They took the game to us, and we didn’t respond. You have to be smart in those moments and get and a good shot and get something going. We didn’t do that.”

Orlando never had the response. The fight left them. As it has in previous games. The big losses like this have mounted and left more questions about this team as the weeks go by.

It is still too early to look at the standings. The Magic, despite their inconsistencies, are hanging on in the race. But these frequent occurrences are cause for concern. A concern that this team is not coming together.

For every step this team seems to take forward, it takes another two back. For every bit of hope that the team provides, it provides a reason for doubt.

The question becomes: How do the Magic change? How do they make these games a thing of the past? Is this just a part of this roster’s makeup that these games do happen?

And, more importantly, can they fix this in time and get back on track to achieve their goals in time?

More immediately, the lesson might have to suffice. Play with the poor execution and lack of togetherness they did Sunday.

“I think we’re coaching the right messages,” Vogel said. “We’ve seen it play out the right way on the defensive end at times. We’ve seen it play out the right way on the offensive end at times. We don’t do it consistently. I believe our guys do have the pure spirit and do want to play the right way. It doesn’t always happen. And when it does, it plays out the way it played tonight.”

The Magic have proven they can compete with anyone. Just not every night.