This was not how this game was supposed to go.
Following the Orlando Magic’s disappointing 121-106 loss to the New York Knicks last week, they could at least comfort themselves with two things: They still advanced in the NBA Cup, heading to the knockout round for the first time in the tournament’s second year. And they would get a chance for redemption against an established Eastern Conference titan on national TV.
It would be a re-reintroduction to the league.
Then Saturday, the Magic announced Franz Wagner would be out indefinitely with a torn right oblique, joining Paolo Banchero on the sideline with the exceedingly rare basketball injury. Orlando would play this critical NBA Cup knockout game without their two stars.
TNT did not even have time to take Wagner out of their promos for Tuesday’s night’s game.
For a Magic team sitting in third despite a difficult schedule to open the season – 16 of the first 26 games have been on the road – it still feels like they are paper champions. They have to prove themselves against the top teams in the East. Orlando needs something to prove they are contenders and competitive with the top teams in the conference.
That proof will have to come later – national TV appearances against the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers loom later in the season when Banchero at least should be healthy. Right now, Orlando is trying to put the pieces back together and figure out how to play.
The priority for Orlando is not to advance in the NBA Cup or prove themselves in the Eastern Conference. The priority right now is to reconfigure roles and find their way to play without their two stars.
Sunday’s win over the Phoenix Suns was at least encouraging on that front.
“We just talked about doing it by committee,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “That’s very important. Us getting 14 offensive rebounds is big because those are extra possessions. Especially, if you are not shooting the ball great. Our ability to crash the glass and get us the extra possession and share the ball and move and play the right way. It’s a group that plays together and by committee. Going into the cup game, we just have to continue to keep our same level of focus, defend and do it by committee again.”
Orlando will have to find points on the margins – scoring off turnovers, grabbing offensive rebounds for second-chance points and getting the foul line. The Magic could at least see the formula for that in their win.
Everything still turns back to their defense. Regardless of who is in or out, the Magic can lean on their defense to lead the way. Sunday’s game against the Suns was not a defensive masterpiece, but they buckled down in the fourth quarter to give up 23 points and ended with a 111.1 defensive rating, which would rank 11th in the league.
That might be enough to give the Magic a chance in most games.
Right now, there remains uncertainty over how players fill into roles and who will step up every night. Even Jalen Suggs feels like an uncertainty – look at how he scored four points in the first half but then poured in 14 in the second half when the team needed someone to take over for the win.
The Magic are still coming together again and figuring themselves out. Everyone admits it will take more than one game to make it all work.
Yet. . . this is a single-elimination tournament. That is the beauty of these kinds of competitions. Anything can happen. And the Magic are in Milwaukee with a chance and the confidence to advance.
“Honestly it is not much of a confidence boost because we have guys like Cole [Anthony] , AB [Anthony Black] , Tristan [Da Silva] who are ready to step up,” Jett Howard said. “We’re already confident. We just now have the opportunity that came by us. I just feel like the guys we’ve got in this locker room, I get confident when I look at them and they get confident when they look at the team around them. I think we have guys ready for the moment.”
