The Orlando Magic were down 15 points at the half against the Boston Celtics.
A look at the game would reveal a team with the right spirit and strategy but lacking something extra to execute against the defending champions. The Celtics were not hitting threes but dominating the inside and finding their way to the foul line. The Magic were missing shots they needed to make to stay in the game and turning it over, often in silly ways.
Orlando would not beat a quality team with this level of efficiency and proficiency.
But the locker room was not panicked at all, even facing another major deficit and even still without so many key players. The team reviewed their mistakes and came out ready to play.
They never wavered. And by the end of the game, the Magic were celebrating another shocking undermanned win against an Eastern Conference power.
This team has something in them. It has a confidence and belief in what they are doing and their process. And it shows that they are a dangerous team no matter who is in or out of the lineup.
“We were down 18 but nobody had any ounce of doubt that we were out of it,” Jalen Suggs. “To come back in the second half against a team like that who is coming off a ‘chip, a lot of veterans and a lot of great players over there with the injuries we have and how heavy the days have been with injuries and uncertainties with our brothers, to come out and do it as a unit. We had complete trust in each other.”
A 7-0 run to open the third quarter cut the lead in half. That gave the team the launch pad and confidence that this game was theirs for the taking.
The Magic defense became the first to solve the Celtics’ vaunted 3-point shooting, keeping the Celtics to a season-low 33 3-point attempts. It helped Boston missed those threes with just eight makes. The struggling Magic offense made five more.
They poked, they prodded, they cajoled, they needled. The Celtics looked frustrated with the physicality and their inability to lean on their volume of three-point shooting. Orlando got under their skin.
And even when Boston cut Orlando’s lead, the Magic calmly turned to a two-way player in Trevelin Queen and a rookie in Tristan Da Silva to deliver the win. Queen found Da Silva for a backbreaking three to give them a four-point lead with nine seconds to play.
Da Silva’s calm demeanor to drain such a huge three speaks to everything about this team. They are fearless.
“We’ve just got dogs. It doesn’t need to be explained,” Cole Anthony said. “We have a bunch of dudes on this team who are very capable and you are now getting to see with dudes out are capable players. We’re just going out there with a chip on our shoulder and we’re just hooping. Mose has told us we have enough and we all believe that. That’s what we’re trying to prove every night.”
That is the most critical message. The Magic have a determination in them that has been built over the years under coach Jamahl Mosley They have a grit to defend at a high level no mater who is in or out of the lineup. They have a resilience to keep fighting back.
With all the players out it seems impossible the Magic can keep winning. But this is what championship cultures create. And no one should be counting Orlando out anymore.
