Orlando Magic: 3 biggest disappointments from the 2018-19 NBA season
By Luke Duffy
1. Dropping so many winnable games
By far the most disappointing aspect of the Magic’s season was just how many games they dropped against inferior opponents that they easily could’ve won. It was strange to witness on so many occasions, especially because they also reeled off just as many impressive wins.
The Magic swept the season series with the Los Angeles Lakers, and beat all manner of contending outfits, including the Raptors, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. They also developed an attitude of never knowing they were beaten either, yet occasionally deserted them against opponents where it shouldn’t have been needed in the first place.
The likes of the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks made the Magic look very ordinary while on the way to straightforward victories. Losing to weaker teams happens all the time, but the way the Magic were going down was puzzling. Some nights it looked like they didn’t care, failing to move the ball, taking poor shots and not defending like everyone knew they could.
This would result in a painful loss, only to then follow it up with the kind of performance that had one wondering if they could cause a stir if they made it to the postseason. The Magic were one of the form teams in the league after the All-Star break, yet even then when they were making their comeback from 11 games under .500 that would result in a playoff berth, they still produced odd results.
Golden State led Orlando by 11 at the start of the 4th quarter before the Magic rallied to victory.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 1, 2019
The Warriors had won 53 straight games when leading by double digits entering the 4th quarter.
It's their 1st such loss since the opening night of the 2017-18 season vs Houston. pic.twitter.com/od6VSUc5c3
One stretch from Feb. 22-March 3rd saw them lose to the Chicago Bulls, only to then beat the Raptors. Next they lost to the Knicks, but then beat the Warriors and Indiana Pacers. Just when it looked like they were primed to keep going, they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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Although the playoff appearance masks the troubling aspect of this, it’s something that has to be rectified by next season. It’s also worth considering just how much better the Magic could have been if they’d taken care of business against lottery-bound opponents. As crazy as it sounds, they could’ve gotten close to 45 or even 50 wins if they’d done just that. This could’ve drastically altered their postseason fortunes and was the biggest disappointment of the season.