Orlando Magic’s National Television NIGHTMARE Continues | Same problems PLAGUE Magic again

Orlando Magic’s National Television NIGHTMARE Continues | Same problems PLAGUE Magic again

It’s the same old song and dance for the Orlando Magic, a national TV game. An egg laid, plenty of turnovers, plenty of fouls, plenty of disconnection. So, what’s the fix today on Locked On Magic? You are Locked on Magic, your daily Orlando Magic podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. And you are indeed locked on Magic. Today is November 5th, 2025. Remember, remember. My name is Philip Rosson Reich. I’m the senior writer over at Orlando MagagicDaily.com. You of course follow me on Twitter, Philip R_OMD, and on Blue Sky, Philip R. have been a credentialed member of the Orlando Magic media since the 2012 season. On today’s episode of Lockdown Magic, another national TV dud for the Orlando Magic. Why the problems are all the same. So, what do we do about it? We’ll get to familiar frustrations today on Lockdown Magic. Before we do any of that, we want to thank you again for making lockdown magic part of your day every day. No matter when you listen to us, whether it’s first thing in the morning, whether it’s right we upload, we truly appreciate you making lockdown magic part of your day every You can make lock magic even bigger part of your day by being one of our Orlando Magic dailies and especially on days like this. We truly appreciate all of our Orlando Magic dailies that are just waiting with baited breath to hear what I have to say about a game like this. You can check us out wherever you download podcasts. We’re all part of the pod locked on podcast network. It’s your team every day. Today’s episode of Locked on Magic is also brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Head to fanduel.com to get started. Where do we begin? Like like where do we begin with a game like this? A 12712 Hawks win that was never truly competitive. Um, the Magic made a got down 15 in the first half, made a great push to make it a four-point game and it was just like, okay, like they had their little swoon, they got hit in the mouth, they staggered, they got themselves back up, they started to look like the team that we know they can be, and then a 14-1 run to end the the second quarter and the Magic back down 17 at the half. And they never threatened in the second half. They got it to 11 in the fourth quarter. Maybe it’s worth talking about that fourth quarter a little bit, but the fact of the matter is we’ve seen this story before. I would not call the effort as putrid as what we saw in Detroit. I would not call it maybe as bad as what we saw in Philadelphia, but it’s not good. And it was a lot of the same problems that we saw in those two games. I I don’t think the intention is bad. I I don’t think the Magic are out there not trying, you know. Yeah, they’re some plays here and there. I’m not going to sit here and say otherwise, but I’m not s sitting out here saying like, oh, the Magic aren’t the Magic I I like, let’s put in this frame framework because I know a lot of people are talking about this. I don’t think the Magic has given up on Jabal Mosley and honestly the fourth quarter and the way the Magic fought back from a 24 point deficit. What was the largest deficit in this game? Sorry, let me look it up. Um, largest deficit was 25. You don’t fight back from a 25point deficit when there’s nothing to play for to make it 11 with five minutes to play, which is very doable if you’ve given up on your coach. So, let let me let me start there. Jamal Mosley might be the problem and it might be that whatever offensive changes they’re making, however the league has changed, which I think is a big part of this, too. Um, which again, we’ll we’ll we’ll see how things play out. I don’t want to I don’t want to dive too deep into it, but it might just be that the Magic need a new offensive identity or a new offensive ideas that just Jamal Mosley doesn’t have. And unless the team starts tuning him out, unless the team just, you know, quits playing for him, I don’t think a change right now does anything. So, I I I I think it is way too early to address that problem, to address that question. I know it’s a hot button issue among Magic fans, but yeah, like the buck stops with the coach. Jamal Mosie would be the first to say that. He’s got to find a way to get this team to understand what they’re trying to do and to execute it at a high level. And right now they’re not doing it. Just plain and simple. They’re not doing it. That’s why this conversation is o is open. I I I want to avoid talking about the coach question until after the Thanksgiving road trip. Like honestly, like that’s that is my stock response to everybody. So, I’m going to say it as loudly and clearly as I can say it right here. I don’t think the Magic will do anything involving Jamal Mosley save for Paulo and Frauds both barging into Jeff Welman’s office and saying we’re not playing for him anymore. Barging that. Again, I don’t think that’s happening. I don’t think the Magic will seriously evaluate that position until after the Thanksgiving road trip. So you got the month to turn this around to start pointing this thing in the right direction because right now we are seeing frustration win. Just just plain and simple we are seeing frustration win and more than anything else that’s the part that doesn’t work. That’s the part that just is so jarring. We’re used to the Magic not making shots. And frankly, hate me for saying this all you want. I know they had two days between games. The last game of a long road trip, and this is the longest road trip of the season. The last game of a long road trip is always really hard. Go back and listen to my episode when the schedule came out in August. I can guarantee I said, “I hate that this game’s on national TV. I hate that this is going to be the big national impression that everyone’s going to have of the Magic for a little bit. Certainly with the Paulo stuff. We’re going to talk Paulo tomorrow. I want to talk Paulo tomorrow. I want to defend him a little bit. Um I’ll talk about him in a little bit on this show. Um we talked about Paulo on Monday. Go listen to that episode. I like there’s there’s just there are these these national narratives that may or may not matter, but this is the national impression everyone’s going to have of Magic. And you know, I credit the NBC broadcast. They did a really good job filling in gaps and saying like, “Look, this team is better than what they showed us today. They’re still figuring a lot of things out.” But the one thing that never happened last year and has now happened in the Detroit game, has now to some extent happened in the Philadelphia game, happened in the Atlanta game in in Orlando couple weeks ago. This Magic team never let bad shooting affect their defensive effort and defensive attention to detail. They never showed signs of frustration because they weren’t hitting shots. They buckled down and got back to work. And so, like, yes, we could talk about all the little mistakes that built into this game. Six turnovers in the first quarter set the tone for the entire game. Atlanta is aggressive, getting downhill. They had 24 fast break points. They won that battle and that is where the game was won. Atlanta was able to turnovers. They were able to turn miss shots into easy baskets. And look, the Hawks scored uh 21 points off 19 Magic turnovers. The Magic scored 24 off 20 Atlanta dro. They won it with 23 fast break points against the Magic’s 14. Only seven transition attempts per game. Magic are averaging I think 13. Magic got half the transition attempts they normally get or at least the fast break points. Well, we’ll check synergy tomorrow and figure out the transition attempts there. The Magic were only four for 11 on second chance points. 16 second chance points. That’s a huge thing for Orlando. They only got 46 points to paint. They were even in points in the paint. So, yes, this game did come down to shooting in the end. Atlanta was 13 for 30 from three. Orlando was 11 for 34. They made their threes. Four of them came in the fourth quarter. I’ll grant you that. They got to the line for 42 free throws. Atlanta was 34 for 42 from the foul line. Orlando got their diet of free throws 33, but they’re fouling so much. Their defense is putting them in a hole they can’t get out of. And it starts with the energy they they’re giving on offense. This team never relied on its offense for energy. And that is the biggest thing they have to figure out because look, frustration is winning. The Magic Believe know how good they can be. We all know how good they can be, but frustration is winning. And before we talk about anything Atlanta’s doing, and Atlanta played well. I want to give them all the credit. That team is they know who they are defensively. That is such a huge thing with Trey Young out. everyone’s a little bit more urgent, a little bit more on point. They’re defending at a higher level. You know, they don’t have Trey Young as a defensive weakness. I I do think that is an area where they are certainly better without Trey Young. Um and everyone’s sliding into their roles a little bit better. And they got an Orlando team again that was a little flatfooted. Desmond Bane picked up two early fouls. Set the tone for the game. Six turnovers set the tone for the game. The Magic came out tired. They came out sluggish. And Atlanta is going to pounce on that every time. No matter who’s in the game, no matter if Trey’s playing or not, matter if Chris Stops is playing or not, Atlanta’s going to pounce on that. They’ve got good players. Like Zachary, we should say, supremely impressive player. Jaylen Johnson, really good player. Dyson Daniels continues to grow his offensive game. If the Magic aren’t sharp, they’re not beating good teams. And right now they are simply not sharp. So let’s let’s forget this game as much as we can. Let’s let’s let’s put this away and ask ask the big question then. Is there a way to fix this? That is what I want to get into in our second segment. We’ll get to that coming up here in just a moment. But first, today’s episode of Lockdown Magic is brought to our friends over at FanDuel. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. 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So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Again, that’s $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Head to fanduel.com to sign up and play today. Today’s episode of Lockdown Magic is also brought to my friends over at Rouette. Let’s be real. Making excuses doesn’t solve anything. So, you know, don’t don’t listen to any of my excuses that I’m going to give for the magic. We’ve all heard them before. It’s just stress. I’m tired. Or it happens to everyone sometimes. But when it comes to performance, sometimes your body just needs a little extra support. And that’s where Rouette comes in. Don’t take any schedule losses in the bedroom. Rouette.com offers fast acting doctor prescribed treatments for ED designed to help you stop making excuses and start making moves. Rouette makes it easy to get started. 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And I would venture to guess of the Magic’s 11 three-point nakes, eight of them were wide open according to NBA.com’s tracking stats. I would venture to guess that the Magic didn’t. The Magic just again like the Magic lost this game because they couldn’t shoot. And Atlanta could Atlanta made their shots, you know, credit to them. Atlanta started the game 21st in the league at three-point field goal percentage. Orlando was 30th. The Magic were at least by the numbers a better three-point shooting team. So, like all these people are telling me like, “Oh, the Magic don’t have enough shooters.” And it’s true, they don’t. But look, I I don’t want to. This loss sucks. And it’s bad. And it’s bad for all the reasons I’ve said. It’s bad. It’s also the last game of a road trip. Again, go back, listen to my episode in August when the schedule came out. I am 100% I said this. I don’t like this game being on national TV because it’s the last game of a long road trip. Doesn’t matter what the conditions are, your legs are going to be heavy. Like you like you smell home. Like again, good teams that don’t that doesn’t matter. Good teams that doesn’t matter. You find a way. And that’s kind of where we’re at with this team is are the Magic that team? Certainly today they are not. Certainly today they are not the level of team that that we we and they think they are. As Jamal Mosley said repeatedly during training camp, whatever expectations we have for this team, the internal expectations are greater before I mean we know like they know and and I think that is feeding part of the frustration. They know how good they should be and I think they’re just as frustrated. They’re certainly more frustrated that they’re not reaching that potential. And so again, like these excuses might be fair, but the good teams it doesn’t matter. The good teams find a way. And right now, the biggest issue is the Magic are not learning lessons while winning. That’s what they did in09. That’s what they did in 2010. They found ways to gut out victories while they were making mistakes. And right now, the mistakes the Magic are making are preventing them from winning. Now, I would say like, so how do we move forward? Like, like, let’s be proactive about this. Let’s not dwell in the past. This happened. We see these patterns now. We see trends that we don’t like. And look, some of this is still Yes. this team is coming together. Honestly, like of the turnovers the Magic had in that first quarter specifically and and I I would honestly say throughout the game, a lot of it is just they’re learning how to play together and they’re learning how to function in this offense at the pace they’re playing. So many of the turnovers were overpassing. were just trying to squeeze a pass where there wasn’t a lane, trying to make that extra pass to a teammate they think is open instead of shooting the shot. Like it’s crazy to say this, be a little bit more selfish. Fran Vager needs to take more shots. Po needs to take more shots. Now, you want to be under control, and I think that is a big part of this, too. You want you want to control your tempo and control your decision- making, especially if you’re playing faster. But I still like I honestly still see the Magic doing a lot of good things. A lot of things I like. Again, like we could talk a little bit about the coaching thing. The coach can’t make the shots. You can only design plays to get the open shots. And and I would agree that the Magic need to get Desmond Bay more shots. They need to be running more of that Paulo Desmond Bton pick and roll that’s killing every time they run it. They ran it on the first play of the game of the season. Every time they run a Paulo Bean pick and roll and variations and cuts off of it, it works. Do it more. Run it into the ground. Come up with new variations and cuts and ways to get to it. Run it to death. Like that’s confidence that this team needs confidence and needs things. And you got again I don’t want to absolve Mosley. I I do think Mosley is part of the problem here that it’s just it feels like he’s trying to throw the whole kitchen sink and it’s just like no, just keep things really simple. Layer stuff on it. It still feels like they ratcheted to 11 instead of like gradually raising the temperature on on what they’re trying to do offensively. And I think that is part of the problem. And so I would say you got, you know, they’re not going to practice Wednesday, they practice again Thursday. Simplify things. This team has been great in transition. So, focus on defense. Focus on creating turnovers. Focus on what you do in that those situations in the half court. Simplify things. Simplify it because far too often in this game specifically, Paulo would get to a spot, get stuck, pick up the ball, and not know where to go. And Joe Prunty told the NBC NBC reporter, I apologize if I’m not remember I’m not remembering your name. um told the NBC sideline reporter, “The problem was our spacing, the turnovers. The problem was our spacing. We were getting stuck places and we didn’t know where to go.” That’s that’s the problem. I agree. And some of that is cohesion. But as close as this group claims they are, and I do take them on their word on that, that that they’re pretty tight-knit group that they’re that they’re talking and trying to figure this out, too. Like again, I don’t think they’re sitting idly by. showed us on a back-to-back against a really good offensive team in Charlotte, not a good defensive team, but a good offensive team that they could figure this out, that they could have these conversations, hold each other accountable, and come out stronger. I I am expecting the Magic to win on Friday. And I will be concerned if the Magic don’t come out Friday night with their hairs on with their hair on fire, ready to ready to do some damage. I will be extremely concerned if the Magic don’t win that game. I wouldn’t say comfortably. It’s it’s hard to win a game comfortably against against any opponent the way the Magic are playing. And obviously twice against two very bad teams, but I would expect the Magic to come out much more focused and intense because that’s like what’s missing. The Magic over the last two years, nobody outworked them. Nobody outworked them, especially on defense. Nobody outworked them. But unfortunately, that has become common that the Magic are not winning the 50-50 balls. Atlanta won a lot of 50-50 balls in this game. That the Magic are not the ones hitting first. Like I like fouling. They need to defend without fouling. Undoubtedly, there there’s a lot of fouls in these games. But the Magic need to show, need to be the aggressors, need to be on the front foot. And again, in this game, they were just constantly climbing uphill from the jump. They were climbing uphill. They never had control over this game. They never had their way or their say. And by the time they did, they were too far down to really put their grips into it to find that rhythm. And and every time, yeah, like they stub their toe a lot. They make a lot of self-inflicted mistakes. There is an easy fix to this. It’s it’s just it’s playing better. for like lack of a better phrase, but they know what to do. They know what they’re capable of. And it’s it’s it’s pure and simple about execution. And yeah, it is on Jamal Mosley to get them to execute better, to be more effective. But now we have patterns. Now we have trends. And when the Magic play defenses that put up resistance, because Washington and Charlotte did not, when the Magic play defenses that put up resistance. They hit this major wall and it’s a wall the Magic have always been able to get through, but this group just hasn’t. And frankly, until this group truly realizes truly realizes that their their best bet for better offense, their best bet to win is leading with their defense and the energy their defense provides. This team’s not going anywhere. And like look, we could complain about the offense all we want and maybe that will ultimately be this team’s undoing and lead to some very serious questions in the offseason if not soon. Like I’m I’m I’m not going to pretend otherwise. But we know Jamal Mosley is an excellent defensive coach. We know this system works when it is executed well. We know that it can overcome some god-awful shooting games. But until this team executes that, none of it’s going to matter. And that’s been the lesson of these last three losses especially, that the Magic aren’t going anywhere if they let offensive frustration beat them. And that’s what happened again tonight. Let’s talk individual performances. Let’s run through the box score. We’ll get to that coming up here in just a moment. But first, today’s episode of Lockdown Magic is brought to my friends over at Gusto. Let’s be real. No one starts a business for the joy of calculating tax withholdings or managing payroll spreadsheets. Yuck. That’s where Gusto comes in. Take this to take the stress out of payroll benefits and HR so you can focus on running your business and supporting your team. Gusto is the all-in-one remote friendly payroll and HR platform that makes managing your team simple, transparent, and fast. Whether you’re hiring, onboarding, or paying employees, Gusto helps you do it all from one place without the hassle or hidden fees. With unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price, it means there’s no surprise charges at the end of the month. 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And so again, like look, Orlando missed shots. They did not have a good offensive game. Um, they found a little bit of something in the second half when the game was virtually over, but none of it mattered because they didn’t get stops. And so again, I I I think this I think for all the things we want to complain about the Magic’s offense, for all the things we want to say like, oh, the Magic have to be this, this, this, that, or the other on offense, they’ve got to be better on defense. None of this matters if their defense doesn’t lead the way. And so that to me, that remains the big takeaway. I know you want to talk about the offense. I know you’re everyone’s frustrated with the offense, as they should be. It’s not it’s not, you know, a 112 off offensive rating and, you know, is not good enough. It’s fine. It’s not great. Um, it’s good for this team perhaps. It’s good for last year’s team perhaps, but it’s not good enough. Um, but it doesn’t matter if you’re giving up 127 points, just plain and simple. Um, Orlando shoots 43.4% from the game. Atlanta shoots 55.6%. Again, threes are even. 13 to1, Atlanta wins that. You know, they shoot a little bit more efficiently. Atlanta shoots 34 for 42 from the line. Orlando 29 for 33. A lot of the other stats are just even. So, again, it does come down to just making shots. So simple games sometimes just make some shots. Let’s start with Paulo Ben Carro. Um talked about Palo Ben Carro on Monday’s show dispelling some myths. I I’m a big believer that he’s having a really strong season or is starting the seedlings of a really strong season. In a game where the Magic trailed by as much as 25 and a game where the Magic were never really in it, Paulo Vancerero was plus two. like Palo Van Carol made a really positive impact in this game and it’s going to get hidden and yes we expect more scoring from him. We expect more efficiency from him. He is not making jumpers right now. No one on this team is the Magic I think take the fewest jumpers in the league. It’s a problem. Um especially when you’re not getting the line but Paulo got to the line later in the game. Got a lot of his free throws in the second half was 10 for 12. He finishes with 22 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists. He does have three turnovers. Um, so again there are these mistakes that have to be cleaned up but like look Paulo Beno over the last four games really yeah over the last five games on this road trip became a nightly triple double threat. Now maybe that is a low bar to clear in the modern NBA certainly with the pace that a lot of these teams are playing at but less and less we are seeing Paulo be a negative influence. He has cut down a lot on his mid-range jumpers. He’s cut down a lot on his sort of like star shots and and and kind of those those those Kobe shots, for lack of a better way to phrase it. Um, he’s not doing that as much. He’s trying to force his way to the basket. So, I like what I’m seeing in the direction that Paulo Ben Carro is heading tonight in this game. Missed a lot of shots around the rim. Missed all four of his three-pointers. Like again, he took them. I’m not I I like there’s still this little thing of when the Magic start missing threes, they get hesitant from three. It’s like nope, keep firing, keep shooting them. If it’s a good shot, it’s a good shot. Take it. But Paulo is not the problem tonight. Um yes, like the Magic probably need him to carry a little bit more of a burden. And frankly, like Paulo sometimes needs to know like, okay, I I’m the only one that’s got to go and let me take let me let me do my thing. But honestly, like ever since I called for him to be more of a hub offensively and, you know, essentially to Jamie Tartis, everyone played through play to uh through him, not to him. Um, he’s delivered that. Uh, so I have no complaints about Paulo Vancrow’s game. While Paulo continues to get all the heat because he is not a stats darling, this was not a great game for Fran Vager. He finishes with 18 points on six for 15 shooting. 0 for three from three, six for six from the fell. We knew he’d come down a little bit on there. Six rebounds, two assists, four turnovers. The four turnovers were big. He was one for seven in the first half. So, credit to France came out in the second half for eight in the second half. You’ll take that. But again, the Magic down 17 at halftime. In the first half, the Magic needed support. They needed someone to help Paulo Bankro to give him a bit of a boost to just to be an engine on offense. create something. And again, credit to Dyson Daniels. Dyson Daniels got the call on France Vagner. He he styied him. He made him frustrated. He made it really really hard for him. Um Fran’s got him a few times as as any star will do, but constantly just put in traps. And again, so much of this is just about trust. Like I have no other way to explain it. So much of this is about trust. Does the team trust where their teammates are going to be? Do they trust that I have my outlets? if I get stuck, where are my teammates? Like, they don’t know that yet. And maybe they should eight games in the season. I think we should be increasingly less tolerant of some of these mistakes. But I I think the Magic Kev or Jamal Mosley certainly, I think, has kind of said and warned everybody like, you know, this process, it’s going to have some bumps in the road. And and this was clearly a bump in the road. You want it to be a bump. Don’t don’t let this be a true setback. You took two steps forward, you took a step back. Well, now take another two two steps forward against Boston, against Portland. Um, continue to kind of push this team forward and I think that is that’s where we’re at. You know, again, Fran’s got his numbers. I would not call this a good Fron game. Um, I I I I you know, Paulo, I think, was forcing some things and and trying to make things happen and and so much of this is again, do Paulo and Fron trust their teammates to make the right decision, to keep moving the ball, to make open threes when they get them? And again, the way this game played out, no, they no they didn’t. And and that’s why I think you see a lot of the struggles offensively that you see. Um Desmond Bane, I want to get to him. Nine points, two for six shooting, two for four from three, three for five from beyond the arc. This was a three turnovers. This was a rough game for for Desmond Bait and and this was before he got ejected. Desmond Maiden did get ejected in the third quarter. Um took a three and and again I like him taking threes. It was he came across the screen, defense went under, had some space. We want Desmond Bane shooting at three. I don’t care that he missed it. We want him shooting at three. But clearly a little frustrated that he missed a three. On a congru, who challenged the shot, went kept running. When the Hawks got the rebound, they threw a hailmary pass to him. Desmond Bane was late recognizing he got back, missed the opportunity to try to intercept it. ended up grabbing Okongu’s uh left arm, pulled him to the ground, and then as he was going down, he shot the ball and Bane slammed the ball like in the direction of Okongu’s head. He got called for a flagrant foul for the foul, a technical foul for the for the slamming the ball and was ejected from the game. Both calls perfectly fair. I thought it was a fine hard foul. Um you know, again, like I get it was a safety issue. Um he had to foul in that situation, so I’m not upset about the foul. But very clearly he let frustration beat him. And you know, Dez got himself going a little bit in the third quarter. The Magic ran some Paulo Paulo Dez pick and rolls. And every time they run a Palo Dez pick and roll, it works. Like every time the Magic run a Paulo Dez pick and roll, it works. Just plain and simple. It works. And that is that is what the Magic have to have to keep working for and and find ways to integrate more into. But Dez is really struggling to fit in and and and it’s not about the offense like he’ll find his fit there. He is really struggling to fit in defensively. Uh just a lot of blowbyss. Teams are attacking him. They know he doesn’t have the size. Um he is overplaying and over rotating and again like he’s not the only one that has problems. I thought Anthony Black was really poor defensively. I thought Jaylen Suggs was really poor defensively be perfectly honest. Um 12 Jaylen finished with 12 points four for eight shooting two for three from three. A lot of that coming in the second half. Um had five fouls, had four assists, had three steals, had two turnovers. Um but Suggs frankly just a little wild. Made some really bad passes, really bad turnovers. um got beat a few times off the dribble, beat on cuts a few times, just super late and and like look it it it I think it’s still clear Jaylen Suggs isn’t 100% like he’s playing he’s giving it his all. These fourminute bursts are really preventing him and his teammates from getting rhythm together. I’d rather say like, hey, you’re getting, you know, if you’re limited to tw 20 minutes, five minutes stints every quarter. Let’s let’s let’s let’s get, you know, let’s establish like hopefully we see those minutes bump up soon, but it it’s it’s been rough. Um, and there’s still there are some games where Jaylen Sug’s frenetic energy is what makes this team super special, and there are games where his frenetic energy works against him, and and this was one of those games where it works against him. Um, so again, like the defense just it’s just not there. And like even Anthony Black, like I didn’t love Anthony Black’s game. Um, seven points, two for seven shooting really just not dialed in defensively. Again, Suggs had some dumb fouls in the back court. Again, Hawks paraded to the line. You can’t be giving away fouls. Um, Black had a few dumb fouls. He got overextended a few times trying to put ball pressure in the back court. Left them five on four. Left them with the, you know, the low man having to step up. Left open threes. like it’s a lot of defensive breakdowns just at the point of attack which we’re just not used to seeing. Again, the Magic used to be so good at containing the ball, keeping it where they want it to go, staying in front of the ball, you know, guiding directly to the help they want to guide to so they can help so they can rotate, pre-rotate. That’s just not happening with any consistency against quality opponents. Um Wendell Carter, he’ll finish with a decent statline, 11 points, five rebounds, four for eight shooting, but a really poor game for him as well. struggled defending Kristoff Porzingis. Porzingis was 15 points, 11 for 13 shooting. He was only two for eight, but 11 for 13 shooting between him and France Vagner trying to defend Kristoff Porzingis. Just a really rough night. They fouled so much. Just couldn’t keep their hands off of him. Um Carter was just super frustrated. And again, like you look at the Magic’s foul list. Five fouls for Wendo Carter. He was in foul trouble. Had to come out of the game. Desmond Bane picked up two fouls early. Jay, he had four in the game before he got ejected. Jaylen Suggs had five fouls. was just a lot of the Magic’s best defenders had to play hands off, had to play timid and tentative. And again, that might be the whole reason why the defense stuck tonight. And look, it starts you you start with no fouls. Um, and you commit that first foul and it puts you on your back foot a little bit. The Magic were on their back foot all night because of all the fouling and and that is on them obviously to fix, but I think that has a lot of knock-on effects that that slowed the team down and kept them from playing the kind of defense that they want to play. The only good player off the bench for the Magic tonight was Tristan Dilva. 20 points, eight for 11 shooting four for five. Had the three-pointer going and frankly 25 minutes of Tristan Dilva is not enough. Magic need to play him more. They need to get him in the game as much as they can. he was not getting a ton of minutes and once Desmond Bane came out Tristan Dilva went in he went on a 100 run scored half his points like right there in the third quarter that got the Magic kind of threatening back in the in the game again after giving up a six-point possession. Um so Dilva I thought did a lot of really good things just you know what we expect from Tristan Silva he turned the ball over a little bit but um again like we know what to expect from Tristan Silva so there’s there there’s stuff to like there. Every Atlanta Hawks player scored in double figures. Zachary Reese had 21 points, three for eight shooting from three. Na Alexander Walker had 20 points. Dyson Daniels 18 points, six assists. Christophs Porzingis 15. Jaylen Johnson 17. Ona Akongu had 14 off the bench. Just the Hawks were able to score way too easily. The Magic weren’t able to answer. Couldn’t keep up offensively. You know, just again fell behind the first half, couldn’t keep up in the second, couldn’t keep up in the second half. you know, made a few pushes here and there, but never anything to really threaten the Hawks after the Hawks went on that 14-1 run to end the second quarter. Just a lot of the same problems. The Magic are still going through these major offensive lulls. They’re still um they’re still just not connected. Like that that’s the only way I can describe it. They’re just not connected. They’re not on the same page. And that is that is the issue right now is is the Magic got to get on the same page. They got to find each other and they got to know what they’re running and and they’re just not and and that’s why they’re struggling against these these teams that put up resistance. Like again, no offense to our friends in Charlotte or Washington. Detroit’s a good defensive team. Philadelphia has a distinct offensive style. Atlanta has a good defensive team. The Magic are struggling to beat good defensive teams. And this weekend will be a big test. Boston struggles on the offensive glass. that that’ll be a saving grace for Orlando because Orlando is really good on the offensive glass. 14 offensive rebounds in this game. Um didn’t score on a lot of those, but 16 points on 14 offensive rebounds. Like that that could have been an area the Magic could have made a comeback in this game. Um the Magic should be able to rebound against Boston over the weekend, but Boston a solid defensive team. Portland a very good defensive team for Monday. And then of course you get New York on Wednesday. So some challenges ahead for the Magic. We’re still going to learn a lot about this team over the weekend. Hopefully the Magic home get right. Hopefully at the end of the day we can hopefully like after this weekend we can just chalk this up to being a schedule loss. Like I’m I’m very immunable to that. I’m very immutable to say to throwing this game out and saying like schedule loss whatever happens. You have two or three of them every year. It happens. Long road trip whatever. We’ll find out on Friday. But that’s that’s where we’re at. The Atlanta Hawks defeat the Orlando Magic 127 to 112. Orlando moves to three and five again. They’re back in action Friday to open up NBA Cup play against the Boston Celtics. But that’s going to do it for me today. I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Lockdown Magic. You can of course find me on Twitter, philipr_omd and on blue sky philipr. You can subscribe to the podcast and Apple podcast your tune in Google odyssey and all the fun podcast to your podcast and able listening device. You can find us as well on YouTube. Just search for lockdown magic. For the latest on the Orlando Magic, be sure to check out Orlando Magicaily.com. You can find us on Twitter Daily. And for even more Orlando Magic content, be sure to check out my Patreon page, the Orlando Magic Hub at patreon.com Orlando Magic Hub. Uh I’m going to plan on do trying to do a playbook video tomorrow morning for the newsletter. Um we will see if I can get that done. Uh maybe look at maybe look at some of the turnovers and where this disconnect is happening, but also look at the Palo Desmond Bane connection, which I think is is really promising and and hopefully can continue to flourish. We’ll get to that on the on the newsletter tomorrow. Again, patreon.commagichub. As always, thank you for your support. Now that you’re done making Lockdown Magic your first listen of the day, go make locked on fantasy basketball your second listen. Josh Lloyd host the number one fantasy basketball podcast, giving you daily tips and helping you win your league, all while making you a smarter NBA fan. Find Locked on Fantasy Basketball on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. All part of Locked On Podcast Network. It’s your team every day. That’s going to do it for me today though. I want to thank you all again for listening to today’s episode of Lockdown Magic. We’ll be back tomorrow. Don’t know what we’ll talk about yet, but we will be back tomorrow to talk about more Orlando Magic basketball. But until then, for Orlando Magic Daily and Lockdown Magic, this has been Philip Promike. See you all again next time for another episode of Locked On Magic.

The Orlando Magic fell to the Atlanta Hawks 127-112 as they again struggled to step to the plate on national TV. Their familiar issues of turnovers, fouling and inconsistent defense plagued them as they collapsed again.

The Magic missed shots, and that seemed to be the catalyst for the team’s frustrations and collapse once again. It is part of a pattern against quality competition that is holding the Magic back early in the season.

So how do they fix it? That is a much more complicated question and one the Magic must answer to reach their potential and meet their expectations.

Otherwise, the team might need to consider more drastic changes.

0:00 Intro
6:09 Turnovers and Transition Defense Killed Orlando
13:50 Schedule Loss Excuse or Deeper Problem?
21:31 Defense Must Lead the Way Forward
28:14 Paolo Delivers Despite Loss, Franz Struggles
35:20 Foul Trouble Derailed Magic’s Defensive Identity

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