Magic Searching in Mirror for Defensive Identity, Aggression

The Orlando Magic were "punked" to the tune of 29 points by Portland on Thursday night. As their road trip continues Saturday in Utah, they're not "about to take this [and] just let this happen," Cole Anthony said. "It's going to change soon."

Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (00) shoots the ball over Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) in the second half at Moda Center. | Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images

In Thursday night's lopsided loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, two different Orlando Magic teams showed up.

For the first 12 minutes, the Magic were the enforcers of the evening. In the early goings, offense came free and easy while their tone-setting defense was mostly up to its usual tricks. That's the Orlando team it feels it's capable of being every single time it touches the floor, and it was up 35-28 after a quarter.

Yet, throughout January, appearances from it were few and far between. Instead, the Magic team that showed face over the final three quarters more closely resembled the one that finished January with 11 losses in 15 games.

The Magic offense stagnated. After scheming all the right looks together out of the gates, Orlando couldn't buy consistent good looks. It then filtered into their defense – something the Magic warn themselves of the danger of often – and Portland soon capitalized. Their lead was gone by halftime, never to be regained again as the 19-win Trail Blazers cruised to 29-point domination and a clean season series sweep.

MORE: Magic dismantled by Trail Blazers to open road trip

So, what changed?

"Their physicality. Their aggression," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said postgame. "They turned up the heat on us, we turned it over. We didn't respond very well to their aggression.

"That was not an Orlando Magic-played basketball game. We got punked, and it's not who we are."

Dating back to Christmas, though, it's who the Magic have been. They've lost 13 of 18 games and teams are too comfortable against Orlando's defense, Mosley reasoned.

In so many words, guard Cole Anthony's assessment of the latest loss was similar.

"We saw a few possessions, whether it was offensively or defensively, not go our way, and we kind of started being a little tentative, second-guessing ourselves, not being as aggressive, not being as sure with all of our movements," the fifth-year guard said. "There was doubt and we were kind of hesitant on the defensive and offensive side. Honestly, it just turned into them punking us. That's what it felt like."

Added Anthony: "We have some mental lapses where we're not playing bad, we might be down a few [points], but then mentally, we feel as a unit we have the weight of the world on our shoulders, and it becomes a lot worse and you start thinking about it ... Shots aren't falling, they're hitting shots. All of a sudden, it's like, 'Oh, what're we doing?' then everyone starts playing uptight. Everyone's frustrated. We're like, 'Dang, this shouldn't be happening.' I know we're better than this."

Mosley said many of the Magic's struggles are rooted mentally as they search for the stride and rhythm injury hasn't yet afforded them this season.

Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, the team's two star forwards, have played 15 and 29 games, respectively, due to injuries. Only nine of them have come together. Factor in Jalen Suggs, who's been sidelined for 12 of the last 13 games, and the Magic's core trio has only shared the floor six times together in 2024-25.

Suggs serves as the Magic's defensive heartbeat and driver of energy. Following Thursday's result, the Magic's defense is 6.4 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court. That ranks in the 90th percentile of all NBA players.

Missing him hurts. But, the reason why Orlando stayed afloat for so long despite a fragmented rotation is that those players who were available played to the Magic's standard. Now nearing its full complement of players back, that standard is lacking. Wins are, too, and that shouldn't be dependent on just one player's capabilities when a team is anchored by its defense.

"It's a mental piece that you have to know how you belong on this court and how you have to play when you put that jersey on," Mosley said. "We are an aggressive basketball team. We are a defensive team. We are a sharing-the-ball-together team. Tonight, we did not show that."

Rather than be reactive, the fourth-year Magic coach noted his team must again become the aggressor to rid itself of its month-old funk. Orlando has been getting its butt kicked, and it isn't fun, he said.

But the way it turns the tide is by rediscovering the take-no-prisoner approach that they've become known for.

"This is a group that will bounce out of it [and] bounce back," Mosley said. "As we continue to gain a rhythm and momentum going forward, we've got to take a hard look in the mirror in a situation like this and understand exactly what we need to do to get out of that."

Anthony reaffirmed the tides will change but admitted that the Magic would "be better off if that were to happen sooner rather than later." Only they control that destiny.

The Magic, understanding that, don't need any further explanation for it.

"We're going to watch it and just learn what we can and keep moving forward, not let this linger [and] turn into several more games," Anthony said. "We got a heck of a road trip ahead of us ... We've got a bunch of dudes who want it. It's not like we're about to take this [and] just let this happen.

"We're not about to let teams keep punking us like this, so it's going to change soon."

Up Next

Orlando does battle with the Utah Jazz on Saturday evening in Salt Lake City. Tipoff is at 5 p.m. ET from the Delta Center. Full Schedule

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