The Orlando Magic will have to wait another year to take another shot at their long-term goal of winning the NBA Cup.
The Orlando Magic’s journey through the NBA Cup came to an end in the semifinal round with a 132-120 loss to the New York Knicks in Las Vegas on Saturday.
After taking a 36-33 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Magic were unable to combat the offensive fire power the Knicks threw at them the rest of the evening. In the remaining three quarters, Orlando was outscored.
“We were trying to rely on our offense more than we were trying to sit down and guard,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said after the game. “We got into an early exchange where it was a back and forth battle. We gave up three 30-point quarters, and that's not our brand of basketball when it comes to that.”
“We've got to work on sitting down and guarding early and let our defense create our offense. And you've got to finish on the other end when you do have those opportunities offensively.”
Orlando allowed Jalen Brunson to score 40 points on 59 percent shooting while Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby supplemented his effort with 29 points and 24 points, respectively. Overall, New York shot 60.7 percent from the floor.
“I just think they were too comfortable,” said Magic guard Desmond Bane after finishing with 18 points. “We had a stretch there in the third quarter where I felt like we picked up our defensive intensity and was able to get into the ball and make it uncomfortable for them. But most of the night, just about everybody on the team was getting to the spots that they wanted to get to with little resistance from us.”
The situation worsened for Orlando when Jalen Suggs exited the game with 7:35 remaining in the game due to a hip injury after he produced an emphatic 25-point first half performance. In the second half, Suggs scored only one point.
“I don’t even know,” Suggs told reporters in the locker room when asked how he would describe his injury and how it occurred. “We’ll figure out what it is.”
The Magic entered Saturday’s contest without the services of Franz Wagner, who suffered a high ankle sprain against the Knicks on Dec. 7. Now, Suggs’ availability moving forward is up in the air.
“I mean, he was getting beat up a lot,” Mosley said. “So, right now, it’s a sore hip.”
Orlando was able to match New York in rebounds (48) and assists (28), but 14 turnovers for 17 points and eight missed free throws added to the defensive struggles that led to the loss.
“I think their guys were in a good rhythm,” said Magic forward Paolo Banchero after scoring 25 points. “I think, we weren't, you know, stopping them; keeping them in the half court. They got out of transition, got some easy looks, and yeah, just all their guys were confident out there offensively.”
Despite his team falling short of their goal of winning the Cup, Mosley still sees reason for optimism.
“I think this was a great experience for our team to recognize exactly what we need to do in these moments,” he said. “Defensively, being able to stick to our game plan and defend the right way, allowing that to dictate our offense. Obviously, early on, defending without fouling.”
“But I think it's a great opportunity for our guys to look back at this and learn and understand exactly how we need to play consistently. And we've been playing some good basketball. Just tonight, you've got to give New York a ton of credit for how they came out and played.”
The Magic will have some time off before returning to action Thursday against the Denver Nuggets to kick off a four-game West Coast road trip. The team has not had many opportunities for bonding, which the experience of coming to Las Vegas for the semifinal briefly provided. Regardless, Bane knows how tight-knit the group is, and he expects that they will remain focused and unified.
“I mean, I think we got a pretty close group as it is. And I think that everybody's been pretty locked in. We haven't really done a whole lot of team bonding stuff. We did a little something yesterday, but mostly just been getting our rest and getting prepared for the game. But wins or losses, we'll make sure that we stick together and come together.”