Orlando, FL – The Orlando Magic took on the Atlanta Hawks in Mexico City in a devastating 120-119 loss in the game in spite of a well rounded game from everyone who touched the court.
In that first quarter, the Hawks were shooting any shot they could get and the Magic had no response to their hot start, but in return the Hawks had some sloppy transition defense that the Magic were able to take advantage of, keeping the game relatively close for a while. The Magic began to be more active on the defensive end and forced some turnovers, led by Jalen Suggs’ 4 steals, and bad shots from Atlanta. The Hawks’ bad decision making gave Orlando 9 easy layups down the other end of the court and multiple shots from the charity stripe.
Coming into the second quarter all tied up at 34 the Magic played very sloppy for the first few minutes, playing some of the worst offense so far this season and fouling on the defensive end far too often, resulting in the Magic closing the half with 12 turnovers and 13 fouls. To make matters worse our offense was very stale, with only 9 assists on the half and not too many good looks for the players. The Magic were able to get to the line with ease, with Orlando forcing 13 fouls from the Hawks as well, but they shot under 65% from the line, missing out on plenty of easy points. Despite all this, the team was able to go into halftime with only a 4 point deficit, down 73-69.
After regrouping in the locker room, they were able to tighten things up, especially during the last few minutes of the 3rd quarter. Our defensive intensity was through the roof, with huge blocks from Jonathan Isaac and Suggs reaching a new career high in steals through only 3 periods. Our offense became a lot better as well, with 6 double digit scorers, which projected us into a great 9 point win in the 3rd.
The 4th quarter determined the game, with the Magic looking to extend their 98-93 lead by pushing the pace early on. Orlando was able to break ahead and get a huge 11 point lead about halfway through the 4th. Everything was going well, Orlando dominated the offensive glass and were getting themselves extra possessions, but they slowly began to slip up, continuing to give up far too many free throws to the Hawks. The team had no answer for Trae Young tonight, who kept Atlanta in the game throughout the quarter. As we’ve seen a few times this season, the Magic slipped up too many times and gave the Hawks an opportunity to get back in the game and simply couldn’t hold their lead, eventually allowing a dagger corner 3 to get hit for the win. The Magic for yet another game this season had multiple game winning shots in the dying seconds of the game, but Paolo Banchero ultimately wasn’t able to get the go ahead 3 to drop in the last possession of the game, leading to a heartbreaking 1 point loss.
This game brought the Orlando Magic to .500 for the season, holding a 4-4 record and taking on the Bucks back at the Amway Center
I felt the same way about their slump itll get better with time, i believe alot of it falls on Mose to put them in the best positions and hes still figuring out line up rotations. Im expecting things to level out 20+ games in the season
I do not know if anyone else felt the same way, but I think we are going through growing pains or an identity crisis on who should close out games. Last year it was 4th quarter Franz and his iso ball to close out a lot of games. This year I feel him or Paolo are both slumping a bit (im not worried) but maybe this slump is kinda hurting their confidence or making the team experiment with its pecking order.