Magic remain upbeat as they look to snap losing streak in Minnesota
From injuries to COVID-19 issues, adversity has filled a roster spot for numerous NBA teams this season.
It certainly has with the Orlando Magic.
A 6-2 start has been overtaken by an 0-6 stretch as the Magic have gone from being the NBA’s last unbeaten team (at 4-0) to ninth in the Eastern Conference as of Tuesday.
While it’s too early to be worried about the standings, injuries nonetheless have dealt the Magic significant blows. Still, hope remains. Reserve center Khem Birch, who has overcome his own set of obstacles in his professional playing career, said the Magic remain upbeat as they look to get back on track. Birch said it would be easy to get caught up in what ifs, but Orlando remains focused on moving forward rather than looking back.
“I love adversity,” Birch said. “I’ve been through it my whole
career, and we’ve been through adversity ever since I’ve been in Orlando. So I think it’s a little setback. Every team goes through this. We’re going through it early. So we can’t dwell on it. We’ve just got to move on, and I think that’s what we’re going to do now and we’re all positive right now even despite us losing.”
The Magic are coming off a frustrating loss in Madison Square Garden.
Orlando (6-8) struggled offensively for much of the game before coming alive in the fourth quarter. The Magic led 81-80 with 1:41 to play but wound up absorbing their sixth straight loss Monday with a 91-84 defeat at the hands of the Knicks.
Orlando’s 33.7% shooting and 84 points were season lows.
But opportunities to get back on track are coming fast and furious this season. The Magic get their next chance Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“Obviously you don’t want to lose any games, but today we came in with a positive mindset,” forward James Ennis said. “Everybody’s focused on moving on to the next game because the games happen so fast we can’t dwell on last night. We’ve got to put it out there tomorrow and continue to compete.”
And to that point, coach Steve Clifford continues to talk to his team about perspective.
“This is a league where you have to handle success and disappointment,” Clifford said. “The reality is we’re 6-8, and it doesn’t matter how we got here. You know one of the things I mentioned to the guys today was what if we would have started 2-4 and we won four of our last eight? It doesn’t matter. We’re 6-8. If the season ended today we’d be tied for ninth, and we’re half a game out of fifth.”
As much as anything, the Magic continue to search for consistency.
Scoring has been especially difficult since the season-ending injury to starting point guard Markelle Fultz. The six games before the injury, the team averaged 110.7 points a game. In the six games played without Fultz, the Magic averaged 97.2 points. Orlando scored 105 during the game in which he was injured.
While center Nikola Vucevic has averaged 25.5 points on 53.5% shooting since Fultz went out, others have struggled.
Of the eight players averaging at least 20 minutes over the past six games, only Vucevic and Birch (51.4%) are shooting above the league average of 46.0%. Terrence Ross (33.8%), Cole Anthony (33.8%), Dwayne Bacon (35.4%) and Gary Clark (25.9%) especially have toiled from the field during the six-game skid.
The Magic have given Aaron Gordon more primary ballhandler duties, and he has responded by averaging a team-high 6.2 assists over his past five games. He’s also averaged 16.6 points during that stretch.
The Timberwolves, meanwhile, are on a similar track as the Magic with nine losses in the past 10 games. Minnesota (3-9) is coming off a 108-97 loss Monday to Atlanta, and will play without All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, who is out with COVID-19.
Orlando’s injury picture, meanwhile, appears to be getting a little more clear. Evan Fournier (back spasms), Michael Carter-Williams (sprained foot) and Al-Farouq Aminu (knee) went through the Magic’s non-contact practice session Tuesday, although Clifford does not expect any of them to play against the Timberwolves.
Wednesday’s game tips off at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on Fox Sports Florida.