What Jamahl Mosley, Cory Joseph, and Goga Bitadze Said After Magic's Loss to Rockets

ORLANDO, Fla. –– The Orlando Magic fell to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, 116-108, as cold stretches of shotmaking proved costly.

Recap: Cold stretches haunt Magic in 116-108 loss to streaking Rockets

After the game, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, guard Cory Joseph and center Goga Bitadze met reporters to discuss the result.

Here is a partial transcript of each availability and accompanying video.

Jamahl Mosley

On what allowed Houston to gain momentum in the third...

“I definitely have to go back and look at it, but I think there was a lot of those 50/50 balls we didn't come up with that allowed them to get out on a break. I think not watching the basketball go through the hoop, I think that got us with the long rebounds and (them being) able to get out and run, I think that was a big trigger point. But again, it's that third quarter was a big key of it, and then we had a little two-minute lull. Even in that first quarter, where we had our foot on the gas a little bit, and I think we let go right there. But all in all, you’ve got to give them credit for the way in which they played. I think we did a better job rebounding the basketball from trying to keep them off the glass. Our guys' effort and energy was there for that. We cannot let shot making or missing deter us from how we're going to defend and sprinting back in transition.”

On if he’s noticed third quarter problems becoming a trend...

“We've been better over the last couple over this road trip. I think tonight it got us and bit us again. I think a big some of that is – going back and looking at it, I’ll have to do that, but understanding that, I think when you didn't see a couple of shots fall and you know, they were able to get out and get some early easy ones. I think that that kind of hit us a little bit.”

On what didn’t work against their zone defense...

“Ultimately that's what comes to breaking this offense down, because we got some great looks, and our guys are going to keep stepping in in those looks. But I really do believe we got some great sprayouts for some wide open corner threes, some not open wing threes. I think we attacked the basket at 60 points in the paint, trying to break that zone down. But again, you're going to get the great looks, because actually, you know, P (Paolo Banchero) and Franz (Wagner) are generating those looks, I think we have to be able to continue to step in and knock them down.”

On basketball being a game of runs...

“Basketball is a game of runs, and I think that we just have to continue to sustain them, understand exactly how you have to balance them out, and making our runs at the right time is what's going to be key as we can as we move forward.”

Cory Joseph

On Houston’s separation in the third quarter...

“I think the zone slowed us down a little bit and we didn’t – we had good looks look but we didn’t make them, and they were hitting their shots. Besides that, they were beating us to the 50/50 balls. They were getting a couple of key offensive boards. Obviously, they have big guys in there with Steven Adams and stuff. It's a bunch but we could’ve [done] a better job with that and yeah, they were able to get out in the open court and get some easy buckets.”

On what is holding the team back from putting together a full game...

“I mean, at certain points I think we’re just collectively making – I mean obviously it’s a possessions game. I think we’re making too many mistakes. We just have to get better overall. Like Goga (Bitadze) said, it’s a 48-minute game. There’s going to be good stretches and there’s going to be bad stretches but as much as we can limit our bad stretches to maybe less possessions than what we’re having, we’re in pretty good shape. You know, obviously we’re a defensive team first. I think, you know, we should be thinking that any time a team gets over 110 points on us, then that’s not good for us. The way we can play defense, we’ve got to play better and hold them under that.”

Goga Bitadze

On what was working for him tonight...

“My teammates found me and, I mean, I was under the basket. All I had to do was finish. I think I could’ve done a better job of boxing out and guarding the pick-and-roll. Jalen Green got some lay-ups on me, but I wouldn’t call it [that] anything was working for me, you know, it was all mostly dump-offs.”

On how the team can prevent the offense from dictating the defense...

“I think there was just a couple of stretches where we [weren’t] locked in. I wouldn’t call it locked in, but we just let it get away; a couple of easy ones. They made some tough ones. I mean, Fred VanVleet hit the shot at the half. That was huge as well. You know, they hit some shots, but I think we started well, you know, boxing out, and everybody was together. Then they beat us to 50/50 balls, they got some offensive rebounds. We have to understand that it’s a 48-minute game, including me. We have to be locked in for 48 minutes. They’re a great team. They have an [8-game] winning streak. To beat those kinds of teams, you have to really, really be locked in. They played a good game, I think. They played a good game."

Up Next

Orlando travels to Washington D.C., for a one-off road game against the Wizards on Friday, March 21, at 7 p.m. ET.

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