Moe Wagner knows exactly what this is for the Orlando Magic: An opportunity.
Nobody wants to see Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner or anyone out of the lineup. But with them out, it means everyone has to step up. It means everyone has to add something to the team.
That narrows the margin for error too, of course. Players are asked to do more. Somehow, they have to replace the scoring that they have lost. Of course, they can do that with their defense, but they still need the boost offensively.
Orlando’s defense was its normal, swarming self in a 100-91 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday. The Magic held the No. 2 offense in the league, which averages a 120.2 offensive rating, to 106.4 points per 100 possessions. Orlando’s defense did the job.
The issue again was an offense that could not completely get out of its way. It is hard to win shooting 41.9 percent and 9 for 30 (30 percent) from three. It is hard to win when a team that gets to the foul line takes only 13 free throw attempts, one fewer than Jalen Brunson.
It is hard for any team to win when the offensive frustrations pile up. And so a common theme for the Magic in many of their losses is that poor shooting leads to a letdown on defense. And even just a small letdown is enough to tilt the team.
What hurt them Sunday against the New York Knicks was how their poor offense frustrated them and affected their defensive intensity. The Knicks had 30 free throw attempts and a 42.3 percent free throw rate. The Magic had 15 turnovers that led to 17 points.
Each one cut like a knife. And the Magic were visibly frustrated after each miscue.
“Whether it’s offense or defense, we’ve got to improve in our mental side a little bit,” Wagner said. “This is a game of energy. I know we like to use numbers to analyze and make sense of the game. But at the end of the day, this is a game. When you put your energy in the right place, good stuff happens.”
That energy battle is the clear battle for the Magic during this run of injuries. For the most part, Orlando has put its energy in the right place. Their defense has made up for a lot of offensive shortcomings.
But everyone is human and this is still a young team learning to manage their emotions. And this is an emotive team.
Jalen Suggs, the emotional leader for the team and now its scoring leader with Banchero and Franz Wagner out, scored only nine points on 4-for-19 shooting. His frustration was visible as he became overaggressive defensively and eventually fouled out with four minutes to play in the game.
That cannot happen for a team with such a small margin for error. This is where Moe Wagner says the team can still clearly grow.
Orlando has shown plenty of resilience and composure throughout the season. The team knows it can rely on its defense to keep the team in the game. But frustration took over Sunday. It just shows how much this team still has to grow.
The Magic still have a lot of maturing to do.
