Orlando Magic fail the momentum test again in Atlanta

The Orlando Magic believed they were building momentum after a win Friday. They arrived in Atlanta on Saturday and laid another egg, an unfortunate pattern.

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The Orlando Magic were stewing over an embarrassing defeat. Their players would say the right things about playing together, “trusting the pass” and committing to defense. There would be a steely determination about their mood and mannerisms.

This was the scene last Friday in Boston. A familiar scene throughout this disappointing year.

It has played out numerous times this season.

The next game the Magic would come out with fire. They would play with physicality and intensity and energy. Orlando would move the ball and look like that team that could beat just about anyone in the league.

Certainly, the Magic would look like the team that could reach the Playoffs. That does not seem like a far-off or unachievable goal at all.

The team would restore hope and seem ready to turn the corner.

Then the energy and intensity peters out. Maybe the Magic play well another game but fall short. Maybe they do not and they fall flat. And then after a few games, the team bottoms out again. It reaches a nadir and the Magic find the resolve to play with intensity once again.

And the cycle repeats. All while the Magic fall further out of the Playoff picture.

The cycle repeated again Saturday in Atlanta during a 113-86 loss at Philips Arena.

Orlando had hit its low point in Boston a week before. They rallied for a win in Toronto, playing one of the team’s best games of the season. The team continued playing some tougher defense in losses throughout the week and put it all together to defeat the Toronto Raptors again.

There was a sense the Magic were turning a corner. There was confidence they could build some momentum again and make a late push in an Eastern Conference race that was quickly falling to the bottom and giving the Magic every chance to come back.

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All week, the Magic said the right things. If they could build a streak, they could make a push for their ultimate goal. But they could not focus on building the streak. They had to turn one win into two wins, something they have not done since Dec. 26.

There is no progress without doing that. And without being able to follow up a good performance with another good performance and a win with a win, this is all talk.

And more often than not, the Magic seem to reach this bottom breaking point than they reach the height. Clearly, they do judging by their record.

The question for the Magic remains: How do they break this cycle? How do they bring the effort and energy and intensity they need every night? How do they make sure one win turns to two and avoid these embarrassing let downs?

This has been the question for the entire seaosn. And, frankly, it is a question that should have been answered a long time ago.

At this point in the season, effort and intensity and physicality are not supposed to be issues.

A team can make mistakes defensively. A team can miss shots. And a team cannot be disconnected on both ends or seem to play without much energy as often as this Magic team does. The big blowout is always right around the corner.

At a certain point, either anger or apathy sets in. Sometimes for the Magic, they play with anger and intensity. And sometimes they just play flat. More often they just play flat.

That probably explains their record as much as anything else. This team does not play with that basic baseline of effort every game. It is hard to go anywhere from there.

Then this is the reality for this team. It is something that was probably already known. But with the Eastern Conference refusing to run away from the Magic — they still sit four games out of the final Playoff spot, tantalizingly close enough should the Magic put together that elusive win streak — the dream just will not die. Hope remains.

There is nothing in the previous 53 games to suggest the Magic will turn things around. Even when Orlando was theoretically playing well, the team was struggling to string enough wins together to make a serious push for the Playoffs.

And here they are again. Sunk down to the lowest point. Ripped apart by a team playing with energy and intensity. Folding at the earliest moment, leaving the game never in doubt because they simply could not make the run.

Frank Vogel said the team is not a natural passing team. The Magic have to fight instincts to go alone. That is not a good place to start. And time and again they show that with these lethargic efforts.

This seems to be Orlando’s true identity. One of inconsistency. A group that can tantalize with its potential and put things together on occasion. But more often they will falter.

There is hope. But only in that reality that maybe, possibly if they could put things together for two weeks and burn off five games in a row they could still achieve their goals. The Miami Heat have done it, after all.

The reality is that hope is a slim chance, at best. Every time it feels like the Magic are about to build some momentum, they crash and burn. They bottom out and they spend another week finding themselves again. Only to bottom out once more.

This cycle will continue until it breaks. Until the next win and the next time the team to a man says they need to focus on our next game and getting one win at a time. And at some point, the Magic may get that second win in a row. The hope is that it will not be too late. Or not be too momentary.

With more than half a season gone by and nearing three quarters of a season gone by, it is not likely that anything will change in a significant way. At a certain point, a team becomes what it is.

Orlando has failed to build momentum and build consistency off their success to this point this season. The loss to Atlanta was proof once again of how much this team struggles to come together nightly. And proof once again that this season is quickly getting lost.

And the team’s words of building momentum are hollow.

For the Magic, actions need to speak louder than words.