ORLANDO — The Orlando Magic ended their back-to-back empty handed after losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday, 113-108. 

The win clinched a playoff spot for the NBA-leading Thunder, while another loss moves the Magic back to sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings. Here are the takeaways: 

One night after allowing his cousin, Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, to score a career-high 41 points, Orlando had to deal with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 40 points of his own. 

Gilgeous-Alexander went 14-27 from the field while logging four steals to lead his team to a win. 

“We talked about it before the game, you know, what he's capable of doing,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “You know, his cousin hit us last night, and he got himself going tonight. 

“And I think it was, you know, we fouled him early, [he] found a rhythm, and then you couldn't really touch him after that.” 

Gilgeous-Alexander attempted 11 free throws and hit nine of them.

“He got himself going, getting downhill, tried to get out of his hands a ton of times, and he just finds a way,” Mosley added. “He's slippery, getting to the rim.” 

Gilgeous-Alexander did most of his damage in the second half; scoring 28 points on 66.7% shooting from the field.  

“He puts a lot of pressure on you defensively,” Magic guard Desmond Bane said. “You know, he gets to the free-throw line a lot, but he also has the defense on their heels a lot. 

“You know, and when you're able to manipulate the defense like that, defense tends to overreact, and, you know, he finds a way to get to the line, but, you know, he's the MVP of the league for a reason.” 

When it came to the bench units of both teams, Orlando’s fell short.  

The Magic’s reserves were only able to generate 22 bench points while shooting 7-28 from the field. Meanwhile, the Thunder’s bench was able to score 32 points while hitting 12 of their 30 shot attempts. 

An inability for the Magic’s bench to score effectively hurt them in the first half when they fell behind by as many as 18 points.  

“They had that run at the end of the first quarter; early second quarter,” Bane said. “Our bench unit wasn't able to generate points. They were getting layups after layups. Thought that created a little separation for them, and, you know, we made it close and had our chances.” 

With the regular season nearing its end, the Magic are not falling victim to a poor mindset despite two losses. After the loss, Mosley’s message to the group was simple. 

“Bounce back,” he said. “Like, here's the thing. We talk about one game at a time, and, you know, last night we didn't get what we wanted as a result. Tonight we didn't get the result we wanted.  

“But are we playing the right type of basketball? I think we did some good things tonight, but I think there's a lot we can grow from and learn from, and we're going to have to do that going to Charlotte.” 

“Our players are coming in hungry, understanding, you know, what's at hand and what we're trying to accomplish,” Bane added. “So, like I said, I think our mindset is in the right spot.  

“I mean, we just won seven games in a row, you know, lost to an Atlanta team that's won 10 in a row and the team that's got the best record in the league, so, you know, I don't think we need to start hanging our heads or anything.” 

In their last two meetings with the Charlotte Hornets, the Magic have been easily defeated, and Banchero knows they will have to be ready when they visit Charlotte on Thursday. 

“They're a great team who's been playing well,” Banchero said after finishing with 32 points. “They've kicked our ass this year, so we're going to have to be ready for a fight, for sure. They're in our division, and they've been playing great basketball, so we got to be ready.” 

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