As Magic Get Healthier, Focus Turns Inward to Get Back on Track

ORLANDO, Fla. – Regarding the Orlando Magic as of late, two things are true.

On one hand, Orlando is getting closer to becoming whole again:

All-Star forward Paolo Banchero has been back on the court for two weeks after missing 34 games because of a torn right oblique muscle;
On Thursday night, leading scorer Franz Wagner joined Banchero after nearly seven weeks away himself;
Fellow impact starters Jalen Suggs and Goga Bitadze are listed as questionable ahead of the Magic's Saturday game with Detroit — as are other rotational pieces; and
Except for Moe Wagner, out for the season after ACL surgery, this iteration of the Magic is shaping up to be in full health for the season's stretch run.

But on the other hand, healthier hasn't meant better. Orlando has lost five consecutive games — each by double digits — and 11 of 15 since Christmas. In that span, only three teams (Washington, Brooklyn, and Utah) have worse records.

More numbers — each one ranking last in the NBA — tell the story of bad basketball since Dec. 25:

95.3 points a game. Brooklyn's 100.8 points per showing is 29th.
100.8 offensive rating, with Brooklyn's 103.8 rating in 29th.
40.9 FG%, with Brooklyn's 42.2% 29th.
28.5 3PT%, with Brooklyn again, 32.3%, in 29th.
71.3 FT%, with Toronto in 29th at 71.6%.
46.9 eFG%, with Brooklyn at 49.3% in 29th.

"We said there were going to be bumps in the road, we were highly aware of that," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said Thursday. "Now that is not an excuse for our spirit not being right and our energy not being right from the beginning of the game. And again, it cannot be based on shots going in or out because lately, they have not been going in."

A week and a half ago in Milwaukee, the first of these five losses, Jonathan Isaac's message was similar.

"It's still not as simple as just, 'Oh, we got somebody back and now everything is running perfectly smooth,'" Isaac said. "It's like, 'Okay, now we're playing a different way.'"

Against Portland, Orlando posted a season-low 84.0 offensive rating, had 22 turnovers to just 26 made field goals, and scored 79 points — the third-lowest output by a single team in a game this season. Knowing the Magic are not the outside threat, the Trail Blazers took away Orlando's bread and butter on offense by denying entry into the paint and making life miserable when they did get there.

"I feel like that's been a trend lately of teams packing the paint, so we've seen that [and] we're kind of used to it," Tristan da Silva said postgame. "I mean, we're just looking for the right plays. Even if shots are not falling in games, we're still going to shoot them because they're the right shots and we still have confidence in every single one of us to shoot those shots."

After scoring 20 points in his first game since Dec. 6, Wagner expressed the sentiment that the Magic have time to figure things out.

"It's part of a long season, we go through ups and downs, and it's going to take everyone staying together to get out of it," he said. "Like I said, we have a bunch of games left. It's no reason to hang our heads, but we've got to get better."

The home tilt with Detroit is game 47 of 82, meaning the Magic are 10 games from the All-Star break and 36 from the conclusion of the regular season. At 23-23, seventh in the East, Orlando is currently four games removed from fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first round of the postseason.

So what's to be rectified? In many cases, Orlando's offense is what it is at this point in the year. Being at full strength figures to make life easier, but the Magic peaked at league-average ratings before the injuries started to accumulate after just five games.

The Magic's winning formula for multiple seasons starts with the knowledge that their scoring won't lead the way. Rather, their defense oftentimes drags opponents into the mud with them. Lately, the typically reliable defense has been lacking.

The Magic's defensive rating over its previous 10 games is 113.4, pairing the league's worst offense in that stretch with the 17th-ranked defense.

A net rating of minus-13.1 means this recent rut is a matter of not enough offense (not uncharacteristic, although frustrating) and/or not enough defense (very uncharacteristic, equally frustrating).

"Good teams find ways to pull themselves out sooner than later," veteran guard Cory Joseph said Thursday.

Joseph has been in seven different home locker rooms in 14 NBA seasons, including the champion San Antonio Spurs in 2014. No one on the roster is more well-equipped for the peaks and valleys that an 82-game season offers, and he makes sure to share his insights whenever possible.

"Nobody's gonna pull us out of this but ourselves," Joseph continued. "It sounds cliché, but with those other teams, we've known that.

"We're not playing our best basketball right now, but that's when you focus on the fine details within the details to pull each other out and be there for your brother," Joseph said. "If we focus more on that, which we will, we'll see it start to turn."

The Magic aren't panicking by any means, but they're aware of the time crunch facing them as the sprint to the postseason looms.

"We're at a point of the season now that it's time to kind of step it up and do that," Joseph said. "We can't always keep saying it's a long season."

Speaking Tuesday in Toronto, Banchero pointed to past instances where his team dealt with adversity. He felt his Magic always came out the other side of it, and he said this instance wouldn't be any different.

"Even though it looks pretty bad right now," Banchero said, "we'll make it."

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