Sunday night against the Dallas Mavericks, the Orlando Magic had the kind of start they’d like to bottle.
After four minutes, Orlando led 15-8 on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and played with the intensity needed to compete with the Western Conference champions and avoid a third consecutive road loss.
The Magic still seemed to be adjusting to life without leading scorer Paolo Banchero and seemed determined to find themselves somewhat.
But as coach Jamahl Mosley has often said, games last 48 minutes. And when the Magic’s shooting cooled, they lost control. In doing so they lost themselves.
From 4:41 in the first quarter to 2:30 in the second quarter, Dallas outscored Orlando 46-13. That avalanche effectively ended the drama. Orlando lost 108-85 to fall to 3-4 on the season.
“We started off well,” Mosley said, “I liked our energy. I liked our spirit. I think we missed a few layups around the rim and that led to a lot of easy run-outs for them, along with making shots. or lack thereof.
“I thought we looked great,” Mosley added. “I mean, we were 18-on-40 in the paint… it’s hard to overcome. A lot of those missed shots lead to runouts because you have guys at the rim. We just have to make sure you’re ready.” Go there aggressively, finish the play.”
As Mosley noted, Orlando’s shooting was dismal: 31 of 93 (33.3%) from the field and 8 of 41 (19.5%) from three.
Dallas won points in the paint 52-36 and followed a now-familiar blueprint for scoring on the Magic this year – run past it. Dallas’ 19 fast-break points easily cleared Orlando’s 12.
“(Dallas) played a lot in transition,” forward Franz Wagner said. “Like other losses we had, I didn’t think we did a good job of coming back. And I don’t think we found our rhythm in that first half either. I thought we looked good, but we have to stay a little more emotionally stable when good shots aren’t happening.”
Wagner’s 13 points were the high mark for the Magic. Jett Howard (12), Jalen Suggs (10) and Moritz Wagner (10) also reached double figures. Dallas star Luka Doncic had 32 and got double-digit contributions from Daniel Gafford (18), Kyrie Irving (17) and Dereck Lively II (11).
Wendell Carter Jr. returned to the starting line-up after missing a match due to right knee tendinitis, but clearly struggled. During the second quarter landslide, Carter Jr. left. the match for good with a strain of his left plantar fascia. As he staggered to the Magic bench, Suggs put an arm around his emotionally distraught teammate in an attempt to cheer him up.
Magic center Goga Bitadze (left foot tendon injury) missed his fourth game in a row. Mosley said he thinks Bitadze is “going in the right direction, but we’ll see tomorrow as well.”
After scoring 17 points in his first rotation minutes on Friday night in Cleveland, rookie wing Tristan da Silva had his first career start on Sunday. He finished with seven points, but Mosley said the Magic’s front five could continue to fluctuate based on the matchup and situation.
The loss extends Orlando’s losing streak in Dallas to 13 games, dating back to Jan. 8, 2011. The Magic’s record is below .500 for the first time since the end of the 2022-2023 season.
The Magic’s road trip continues with the second night of a back-to-back, making the short trip to Oklahoma City for a matchup with the Thunder. Tipoff is set for 9:15 PM ET at the Paycom Center.
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