Clifford urges play with purpose
After loss to Pacers, coach says players need to sharpen focus
Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon sprinted toward the basket, jumped and tipped the ball as he kept the missed shot alive. Then he gathered the loose ball under the basket, took one dribble and exploded toward the rim for a two-handed dunk that fired up the Amway Center crowd.
It was an electric play that on most nights might have been what the Magic needed to grab the momentum and not give it back.
But Friday night for the Magic was not most nights.
This was a night when the Magic fell flat.
“I thought we lacked energy on both ends of the floor, defensively and offensively,” Gordon said.
Unfortunately for the Magic, they lacked a lot of things.
First-year coach Steve Clifford spoke at length after Friday’s 112-90 loss to the Indiana Pacers about breaking old habits and what the Magic must do to be competitive. He acknowledged effort is a priority. That may be especially true against the Pacers, who beat the Magic for the eighth consecutive time and extended their win streak at Amway Center to eight.
“Like a team like us, we’re good enough to beat anybody, but we can’t have many more of these
nights because we’re not just going to show up and beat people,” Clifford said. “We have to put a lot into it to win, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
“But there’s got to be a purpose and a commitment to the way we’re playing and an understanding of why we’re good, when we’re not good and a willingness to do the things that are necessary so we can play well. That’s it. It’s as simple as that.”
Against the Pacers, the Magic more closely resembled the team that absorbed a 32-point loss to the Charlotte Hornets the second game of the season instead of the one that earlier this week rolled the Miami Heat on the road and fell in overtime to the Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets.
“To me it’s a mindset, it’s a mentality. You’ve got to give yourself, your own game up sometimes for the good of the team,” Clifford said. “We’ve been doing that, and tonight we weren’t willing to do that.”
After it relinquished a 12-9 lead, Orlando seemed to be climbing uphill against Indiana.
Some of that had to with the Pacers. They entered Friday’s game ranked No. 1 in the NBA in opponent points per game (102.1) and left having held an opponent to 90 points for the second consecutive game.
While he was quick to credit the Pacers for his team’s struggles, Clifford also lamented the Magic abandoning their strengths.
“So first of all you gotta give them credit,” he said of Indiana. “They’re terrific defensively and they were tonight. But the disappointing part is — or you know, whatever you want to call it — the learning part, however you want to look at it, is we have a way to play. Some teams don’t. We have a way to play. That’s what I just told the guys. And when we play that way, we’re very good.
“When you have a way to play, you have to know it, every guy’s got to accept their role, embrace their role and play that way every night. Whether they make their first 3 or miss their 3, whether they’re down 10 or up 10, that’s what the best teams in this league do. We are obviously not there yet.
“We had no player movement, no ball movement offensively. We were just taking one-pass shots. It reminded me of the Charlotte game.”
The Magic endured bouts of anemic offense against the Pacers.
In six possessions during a 3:29 stretch of the first quarter, the Magic went 0-for-4 from the field and committed two turnovers. The end result: a 12-9 lead became a 21-12 deficit.
In nine possessions during a 4:02 stretch of the second quarter, the Magic went 1-for-7 from the field and committed two turnovers. The end result: a 30-27 deficit became a 42-30 deficit.
In nine possessions during a 4:07 stretch of the third quarter, the Magic went 1-for-6 from the field and committed three turnovers. The end result: a 63-59 deficit became a 78-61 deficit.
“I thought tonight we didn’t play as sharp offensively as we did the last few weeks,” said Magic center Nikola Vucevic, who recorded a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. “Their defense is really good. They took away some of our plays, and we went away from what works for us.”
Clifford is counting on the Magic coming back around.