ORLANDO — Poor shooting, poor rebounding and Paolo Banchero suffering an ankle sprain defined an ugly 115-93 loss for the Orlando Magic against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.

The opportunities were there for the Magic, as the Timberwolves did not shoot well either, going just 42.9% from the field and 37.8% from 3-point range. Minnesota's All-Star backcourt of Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball also combined to shoot just 9-for-36 from the field.

Yet Minnesota gave itself more opportunities, and the Magic relied too heavily on a three-point shot that wasn't falling. After going 13-for-40 from the perimeter in their season-opening loss against the Atlanta Hawks, the Magic went just 8-for-39 from beyond the arc on Friday.

To make matters worse, Orlando allowed the Timberwolves to grab 21 offensive rebounds. Even though Minnesota shot just 6-for-17 on second-chance opportunities, Magic coach Sean Sweeney admitted that the nature of the second chances that Minnesota was continuously producing for itself made for a difficult battle of attrition. 

These are issues that can be remedied for the Magic, but it is going to be up to them and them alone. The opponents on the schedule are not getting any easier.

The remainder of October and the month of November are going to be road-heavy for Orlando, as it will play 10 of its next 15 games away from the Kia Center. 

The opponents that await the Magic through the end of the month will undoubtedly create great challenges, and if Sweeney wants to get his first regular-season win as a head coach sooner rather than later, his team will need to be much better.

The Magic will finish the month of October on the road with games against the New York Knicks and the Toronto Raptors. On Sunday, they will face the Knicks as the defending champions try to get their first win of the season as well.

Orlando will then have two days off before it faces the Raptors on Wednesday and then again on Friday, with the second game kicking off the Emirates NBA Cup schedule for both teams. Last season, the Magic split the regular-season series with the Knicks during the 2025-26 campaign, but they lost to them in the NBA Cup Semifinal.

On the other hand, the Raptors took last season’s series against Orlando, 2-1, and they were responsible for handing the Magic their worst loss in franchise history when they defeated them on March 29, 139-87.

Now, Orlando must navigate these opponents without Banchero, making a tough task even more arduous.