Magic searching for energy, swag entering long road trip after two losses: ‘It’s just Game 3’

If NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers played basketball for the Magic, he’d likely have the same message to fans he shared over a decade ago in Green Bay.

“R-E-L-A-X.”

At least that’s the mindset the Orlando Magic are taking after back-to-back losses to the Hawks and Bulls at the Kia Center on Friday and Saturday night.

“It’s a long season,” Magic guard Desmond Bane said in the locker room after Saturday night’s 110-98 loss to Chicago. “We’re only three games in. We’ve got a lot of good dudes in our organization, so I don’t expect anybody to hang their head.”

Added Magic forward Paolo Banchero at the podium: “It’s early. Two tough losses. We’ve just got to stick with it. Just stick with it.”

But don’t let that sense of calmness be misleading.

There’s still plenty of back-and-forth conversation among the Magic players.

“I wouldn’t say frustration … I would just say, healthy dialogue,” Bane said. “Everybody wants to win, is hungry to win. So, we’re all just trying to figure it out.”

Where last year’s team (which went 41-41) didn’t lose its second home game until Dec. 19, this year’s squad couldn’t get out of October without two home losses.

Orlando isn’t afraid to embrace its challenges head on as a group.

“That’s part of our growth as a team, to speak up in these situations,” Franz Wagner said in the locker room. “It’s just Game 3, so the most important thing is we stay together and have fun playing together, and then the page will turn for us.”

Turning the page will require the Magic to take better care of the ball (Orlando has averaged 19 turnovers per game so far) and find some type of success from distance (they shot 3-for-24 from 3-point distance against the Bulls).

In a span of 24 hours between back-to-back games, the Magic turned the ball over a combined 42 times and shot 12 of 55 (21.8%) from 3-point range. The team’s 57 total turnovers in three games to start the year lead the league, according to NBA.com.

“We missed some good looks, but on offense I didn’t think we trusted each other as much as in the preseason and the last two games,” Wagner said.

The team is adjusting to a new, faster offense, and that also impacts Orlando’s defense.

“It’s OK to have mistakes at this point in the season,” Wagner said. “No team is perfect right now. As I said, it’s OK to not play perfectly or not have every habit set in stone yet, but our overall vibe and energy level wasn’t good enough and there’s no excuse for that.”

So how do the Magic fix it?

Sharing the ball more would help.

“We’ve got to get the ball side-to-side a little bit more,” Bane said. “Thirteen assists, it’s going to be hard to win in this league if you don’t share it, no matter how talented our guys are.”

Orlando actually only recorded 12 assists Saturday night, far fewer than the 23 they had on opening night against Miami and the 21 they totaled vs. Atlanta.

That mark is also lower than any amount of assists the Magic recorded in a single game last season (they had 14 assists three times). Through 33 total games played this season, teams across the league are averaging 25.4 assists (slightly down from last year’s 26.5 league average).

And that’s where the Magic still figuring each other out comes into play.

Between adding Bane and veteran guard Tyus Jones (14 scoreless minutes on Saturday) as well as having to juggle the availability of Jalen Suggs (didn’t play vs. Chicago but is set to be available Monday at Philadelphia) and wait for the return of Moe Wagner (left knee torn ACL), there are a lot of moving pieces for Jamahl Mosley.

The Magic coach continued to use a deep rotation of 11 players against Chicago, allowing rookie Jase Richardson (3 points in 8 minutes) to make his NBA debut.

“Everything takes time,” said Bane, who only took two 3-point attempts. “I love the guys that we have. Everybody’s very capable on this team. We’ve got a really deep, talented team so there’s no need for me to force anything. Those shots will come, for sure.”

In the meantime, the Magic can’t let their missed shots affect other parts of their game, something that became an issue for last year’s team at times.

With each 3-pointer missed, the Bulls would run the other direction for easy points in transition before Orlando’s defense could get set. Chicago held a 22-10 advantage in fastbreak points.

“I just didn’t like our energy, our swag pretty much all game,” Wagner said. “That’s every individual but as a group, we’ve just got to be better about that. Play until you can’t play anymore and then the next guy comes in.

“We didn’t hit a lot of shots, so that doesn’t help, but we can’t let that affect just in general how we play,” he added.

After a 1-2 start at home, the Magic hit the road for a five-game trip that opens Monday at Philadelphia and ends at Atlanta next Tuesday.

Such a trip — five games across nine days — will provide the chance for Orlando to be around each other beyond the locker room, which could translate to stronger on-court chemistry.

“It’s huge,” Bane said. “Good teams always hang out on the road and spend quality time on the road, so I’m excited to get together with all of the guys.”

Last year when the Magic lost five home games in a row from late February into early March, Orlando used a 3-2 showing on the road to help get back on track heading into the final stretch of the regular season.

This time, they’re just in search of a sense of direction.

“Just got to figure out what works for us,” Banchero said. “At times it looks clunky out there and we’ve just got to figure out what we’re trying to do.”

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com

Up next …

Magic at 76ers

When: 7, Monday, Xfinity Mobile Arena

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida

Magic searching for energy, swag entering long road trip after two losses: ‘It’s just Game 3’

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