The Orlando Magic desperately needed organization and attitude at halftime against the Brooklyn Nets. Their offense was caught in the mud with just 43 points and trailing by 15 points. They needed any injection of energy they could find.
The one place they did not go in the first half was to Cole Anthony.
Even with Jalen Suggs slowed by a sprained right wrist – that ultimately would take him out of the game – and even understanding Anthony was an offensive-minded player who could help change the game for the Magic, coach Jamahl Mosley seemed hesitant to turn to the struggling guard.
The concern was about turnovers – Anthony had 11 over his last three games and 17 in his last five games. Orlando needed to protect the ball first and foremost.
Fate forced his hand with Suggs leaving the game. Anthony started the second half.
At some point, Mosley and Anthony had a conversation. Something to motivate and focus Anthony’s efforts.
After the Magic’s 102-101 come-from-behind victory over the Nets on Sunday, Anthony looked at his stat line – 10 points, 3-for-11 shooting and 2-for-6 from three – and declared he did not have the greatest game. But with a +17 plus/minus and zero turnovers he had to have done something right.
“Everybody who wears this Orlando Magic uniform currently puts the work in,” Cole Anthony said. “It’s not a question of anyone’s ability, it’s just a matter of opportunity. Opportunities come for a lot of us. I didn’t play great but I did something all right.”
That something right was his final shot. A baseline floater off the backboard gave the Magic the lead with a little more than a second remaining and capped a 22-4 closing run to win the game.
Anthony had been waiting for his opportunity. And in a wildly inconsistent season, he took advantage of it again, helping the Magic complete another comeback win.
It goes to the difficult decisions facing Mosley as he tries to sort through his depleted roster.
There are many talented players on this Magic roster. But the trick to gaining playing time is consistency. And that is the element that a player like Anthony has been missing.
Considering Orlando’s problems with turnovers, it made sense for Mosley to hesitate to turn to him.
But it is also a strong characteristic of this team that players learn from those mistakes and work to improve. Anthony still struggled to shoot. And while his effectiveness decreases with his lack of shooting, his ability to get into the paint and have a scorer’s mindset for an offense that has struggled mightily since Franz Wagner’s injury.
Mosley is still searching for something he can trust.
Still, when someone like Anthony was called upon, he was ready. And Anthony has always stepped up in clutch moments for this team throughout his career.
“It speaks so much to the resiliency of our guys, the grit of our guys, the preparation of the coaching staff keeping guys that have not played ready to go, knowing that they can light a spark at any moment,” Mosley said. “That’s what you saw tonight. No matter how much we’ve been down, these guys are going to continue to fight.”
Anthony likely earned another chance in the rotation during Wednesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. But trust and consistency are built by stacking good games on top of each other.
That is the conundrum facing the Magic and Anthony. The idea of what Anthony can do remains tantalizing for a team like this. The reality has been something inconsistent that the Magic have not always been able to count on.
Anthony stepped up in the big moment Sunday and earned perhaps another look in the rotation as the Magic continue to piece this team together and win.
