Blowout Loss to Cleveland Highlights Magic's Need to Get on Same Page

ORLANDO, Fla. – One game.

At the conclusion of the 2023-24 NBA season, that was the gap between the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cleveland's 48 regular wins to Orlando's 47, and in their No. 4-5 playoff matchup, the Cavs' four wins to the Magic's three.

But that was last year, and Cleveland's 40-point beatdown on Orlando's home floor Tuesday night showed that what happened nearly 12 months ago involving these two teams can no longer serve as a viable point of reference.

The Cavs, who own the NBA's most prolific offense, looked the part while sinking 19 threes over Orlando's second-ranked defense. The Magic attack also played to form, with the league's lowest-scoring offense mustering only 82 points, shooting 36.7 percent from the field and 5-of-28 from three.

"I mean, they're better than us," Paolo Banchero said postgame. "They proved that tonight. They were clicking on all cylinders. They were talking. They were communicating. They were sharp. They were a flat-out better team, so I wouldn't even say we're on that level. Last year was a different year. They've got different players, we've got different players, so you can't point to last year. This is a whole different season. They're probably the best team in the league right now, and we weren't able to compete with them tonight. I think that was obvious."

To his point, Cleveland has already matched its 48-win total from last season in just 58 games this year. It has already clinched a postseason spot and holds the NBA's best record, establishing itself as a serious contender to lift the Larry O'Brien trophy in mid-June.

On the other hand, Orlando fell to 29-31, meaning they'd have to win 18 of their final 22 games to replicate last year's 47-35 mark. Barring a turnaround of unforeseen proportions, the Magic are on track to have to advance to the playoffs through the Play-In Tournament. They are seventh in the East and four games back of No. 6 Detroit, who owns the final guaranteed playoff spot.

All of the positive qualities that Banchero mentioned about the Cavaliers' Tuesday effort are the same ones he'd mentioned the Magic were without just moments earlier.

Cleveland pounced on a slow-starting Orlando squad and put them down 20-plus points early. By Banchero's assessment, the Magic weren't organized, took too long to get into their offense and didn't communicate – all characteristics of a team that isn't sharp.

"We have to look at ourselves and figure out how we can be better, but we need to focus on ourselves more than trying to be like the Cavaliers or be as good as the Cavaliers because we're not right now," Banchero said. "That shouldn't be what we're worried about."

"We've just got to all get on the same page, whether it's offensively or defensively," said Cole Anthony in the Magic's postgame locker room. "I just think we have to, as a team and as a unit, we just have to have an understanding with each other that we're all locked in, we're all moving on one string. We do it at times, and there's some times where there will be some mental lapses, or stuff starts not going our way, but we just have to stay consistent."

That disconnect stung Orlando on the final possession of a recent one-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Confusion about whether to call a timeout or not resulted in a haphazard scramble up the court and Banchero having to force a last-second shot attempt versus three defenders, and it didn't hit the rim.

After the game, Mosley, Anthony and Franz Wagner all touched on the importance of their communication – and how its absence hurt the Magic.

Read further: Magic burned by late-game miscommunication in loss to Grizzlies

With the significance identified, why, through 60 games, have the Magic not been connected as often as they'd like?

Part of it could be attributed to a rash of injuries suffered earlier in the year. Banchero missed 34 of those contests and Wagner 20, each thanks to a torn right abdominal muscle. Jalen Suggs, for a variety of ailments, has missed 25 games, including the last 13. Franz's brother Moe, a crucial cog to the Magic's bench unit, tore his left ACL after the first 30 and won't return this season.

"When that happens, roles change," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said of having players in and out of the lineup. "Sometimes, when roles change and guys come back in, it becomes a little bit difficult to settle back in to exactly what you were doing before because more has been asked of you."

But Orlando mostly survived the peaks of those injuries and has had the star duo of Banchero and Franz Wagner back for 15 games. In shifting focus forward, the Magic must instead center themselves on rediscovering the form they know they're capable of.

"I think it's just practicing, communicating, talking everything through that we see," Wagner said after Wednesday's practice. "Also, stopping in practice when we don't have a great possession and talking about it right there ... Then I think everyone doing their homework before the game starts so that we are on the same page."

But could he pinpoint why the Magic were struggling to do so as of late?

"No," he responded. "Everything I'd say right now is either an excuse or we didn't do our job at the end of the day."

"We all are extremely capable players, and I think that any game, the switch could be flipped," Anthony said. "We could start playing great basketball any game now. We want to obviously do that sooner rather than later, but I'm confident in us. I think we will."

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