National Basketball Association

Orlando Magic crumble with poor late-game execution

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:33 p.m. ET

Fansided, Philip Rossman-Reich/FanSided via Orlando Magic Daily

The Orlando Magic could not find their offense when it mattered most, crumbling against the Chicago Bulls in the fourth quarter.

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The Orlando Magic were desperate for a basket to keep pace with the Chicago Bulls late in the fourth quarter. Elfrid Payton, as the point guard had to lead the charge.

He tried to outlet the ball and get the break running, only to see it get deflected by Jimmy Butler. The break slowed. Elfrid Payton picked up and got fouled. Only then to miss the two free throws.

Down six at the time without a bit minute to go, the two plays — the poor outlet pass and the missed free throws — were emblematic of the team’s poor fourth quarter execution. The Magic made just 6 of 24 shots in the fourth quarter, turning the ball over five times, costing themselves the game.

At the moments Orlando needed to score, the team could not. And the Bulls kept attacking the Magic in the pick and roll, abusing a defense that increasingly looked frustrated without proper rotations.

The Magic were, as they have been at so many times this season, out of sync. And eventually, it caught up to them in the fourth quarter.

“I think we missed a lot of shots,” Jeff Green said. “It has nothing to do with our offense. I think we got lackadaisical, myself included. We allowed D-Wade to get going, Felicio to catch a couple lobs and a couple offensive rebounds. That’s where the game went south for us.”

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Wade was a major catalyst with seven points, albeit on 3-for-10 shooting in the fourth quarter. Many of those baskets came on pick and rolls with Cristiano Felicio where Wade either floated the ball in, usually over good defense from Nikola Vucevic, or dished it off to Felicio.

As has been a problem throughout the season, there was no weak-side help behind Nikola Vucevic. Felicio often had a free run to the rim. The breakdowns became apparent as the game went on.

But Orlando could not rely on the offense consistently. The team shot 25 percent from the floor in the fourth quarter and just 1 of 9 from beyond the arc. These were largely open shots that were missed, but the team also seemed to force things more and more as the game got tighter and time ran out.

Add on five turnovers, and there was no way for the Magic to eke out a win.

“They just packed it in all night,” coach Frank Vogel said. “We’re trying not to settle from the perimeter and get it going inside. We’re just running into five Chicago Bulls in the paint. We swung it to the perimeter and weren’t able to get secondary drives or secondary post ups. And we turned the ball over too much.”

The Magic are hardly a good offensive team. It is hard to expect them to do much of anything consistently on that end this season — they still rank 29th in the league in offensive rating. Late in close games, the execution seems to get worse.

This was not simply a problem of the team’s poor late-game execution.

According to NBA.com, the Magic are 20th in offensive rating in close games. This game would not qualify as such. But the Magic’s execution problems late — and this is particularly on defense where the Magic are 23rd in clutch situations — prevent them from closing out these games.

Tuesday’s loss felt like an extended period of that clutch play and those clutch struggles. The Magic watched the Bulls slowly pull away and take a double-digit lead. Orlando could not catch up.

“We just didn’t move the ball,” Bismack Biyombo said. “I think we forced some shots. Compared to the other games, we moved the ball more. We have to stay consistent. Against Golden State in the first half, we moved the ball a lot. In the second half, we didn’t move the ball. We have to stay consistent throughout the whole game. This is the NBA, you cannot underestimate the other teams.”

Bismack Biyombo said the team did not come out with fire. And while the Magic and Bulls seemed to trade the lead and runs, never truly gaining separation until the fourth quarter, that eventually caught up to them. It was a sloppy game from both teams. And there, the team with the best player typically wins.

That was resoundingly the Bulls with Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler.

The Magic, as they have known throughout the year, have a razor sharp margin for error. They cannot afford sloppy efforts where they turn the ball over 19 times, giving up 23 points. They cannot afford to shoot so poorly or miss open shots.

They cannot afford to shoot so poorly or miss open shots and have poor execution, settling for mid-range or quick jumpers. Orlando does not have the luxury for moments of panic or feeling rushed.

Simply put, the Magic do not have enough right now. Not when they are this imperfect.

Some of that might be the odd lineups the team has to use. The Magic started Jeff Green, of all people, at shooting guard, hoping some size would help slow down the Bulls’ star duo of Butler and Wade. The starting lineup group finished with a 92.7 offensive rating and an 87.8 defensive rating in 21 minutes.

That is not an excuse. Orlando is going to have to pull together and fill those minutes. And the Magic are going to have to find a way to create some offense.

Vogel said the team has to be smarter with its pacing and get out in transition more. The Magic left some opportunities on the board on the break.

And all that will help the team improve.

“Obviously we need to score the ball better than we are doing,” Vogel said. “That will help our defense. We have to continue to work and try to get better.”

Orlando is still trying to work on a lot of things about its team overall. The solutions late in the game are relatively simple: make shots, move the ball and attack in transition. The defense played at least decently well — giving up a 102.9 offensive rating for the game and an 87.7 offensive rating in the fourth quarter.

There are those signs of progress. But what matters is the result.

And the results for the Magic remain the same. The team crumbles late, unable to overcome the weaknesses in their roster. And they are left trying to figure out how to come through when it matters each night.