It is impossible to credit one moment for turning things around. It is usually the building of something and the confidence that comes from repeated success and faith in what they are doing.
But it is hard to deny the poetry of Desmond Bane’s game-winning shot against the Portland Trail Blazers from two weeks ago.
The team that seemed to lack confidence and actually lost a double-digit fourth-quarter lead at home seems completely different from the team that has dominated its opponents physically for much of the past two weeks.
The Orlando Magic put out an outward face in the preseason that they were going to conquer the world, even if they knew it might take some time to get on a solid footing. That shot seemed to put the team on solid ground and give them some confidence.
It may feel too convenient and too cliche, but that shot and the feeling that came with it feels like a real turning point for the team.
“I think just where I come from and how I was raised and things that I have been through, trust is a big thing for me,” Bane said after shootaround Tuesday. “After making that shot, I felt the love from everybody. Orlando started to feel like home. I’ve settled in since then.”
Bane is not the only one who needed to settle into the season. Even with the injury to Paolo Banchero disrupting the lineup, the team has steadily gotten better and has carved out its identity. Things are starting to settle in.
Bane finds his groove
No player has exemplified this shift quite like Desmond Bane.
Everyone sort of assumed Bane would join the Orlando Magic seamlessly and just add what he has done his entire career before arriving in Orlando. It proved that there was going to be a transition as Bane was introduced to a new offense and new players making plays for him.
In many ways, it felt like Bane was trying too hard to fit in rather than make his own impact on the team. Even with everyone claiming they only asked Bane to be himself, he struggled to find his groove.
Before that game-winner against the Portland Trail Blazers, Bane averaged just 14.2 points per game and shot 29.3 percent on 4.1 3-point attempts per game. He had 4.1 assists per game.
He was already starting to come out of his shell. But the low point was certainly Bane taking only one 3-point attempt in the loss to the Boston Celtics at home. It did not feel like the Magic were using Bane effectively at all.
Things turned around. His game-winning three against the Blazers was his only three-point make in the win but he scored 22 points and had seven assists.
After that Blazers game, played mostly without Banchero, Bane is averaging 21.4 points per game and 4.9 assists per game. He is shooting 17 for 41 (41.5 percent) from three and 5.9 3-point attempts per game.
Bane never panicked even when he was struggling and had faith his work would come through.
He is starting to see the results.
Just the beginning
He is not the only that has started to see this turnaround. The Orlando Magic have started picking up wins and finding their groove. Everyone needed a chance to settle down.
That shot two weeks ago to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers felt like it was a pressure-release valve for the team. Everyone has started playing well.
Since the game against the Blazers, the Magic are 5-2 and have started to find a groove on both ends of the floor.
Since Nov. 11, the Magic are sixth in the league with a 121.0 offensive rating, helping vault the team shockingly into the top 10 in offensive rating for the entire season. They are also 13th in defensive rating at 113.1 points allowed per 100 possessions.
The defense can still greatly improve, but the team has been able to use its defense to create offense now. The Magic are second in the league with 19.0 fast-break points per game for the entire season and lead the league with 22.3 fast-break points per game since Nov. 11.
Orlando has started to find its footing. The goal now is simply to keep improving.
“I think that everything is a work in progress,” Bane said after shootaround Tuesday. “I feel like I’ve said it before, we all want to be playing our best basketball as the season goes on, and continue to get better as the season goes on. I feel like we have done that as a collective.”
If the goal is to improve gradually through the season to play their best basketball come playoff time, the Magic are indeed trending in the right direction.
This is a confident group that has started to find their footing.
The Cup helps create focus
The Orlando Magic know this is not the best they will play this season. There are still more than 60 games to go before the Playoffs. The team is just starting to climb the standings.
It still feels too early to put too much emphasis on any individual game.
But in the three years the NBA Cup has existed, the Magic have emphasized these games. Perhaps the arrival of the NBA Cup helped bring a level of focus and intensity that sped up the process of coming together.
“I think everybody knows what the standings are,” Franz Wagner said after shootaround Tuesday. “I think everybody knows how the last two years went in the Cup for us. It’s definitely something that we want to make it to Vegas. I think we have a good situation with where we are at. Obviously, it would be great to get these two on the road this week.”
Sitting at 2-0 and in control of their own destiny — a win in Friday’s finale against the Detroit Pistons would clinch East Group B — the Magic know what they have to do and are taking these games seriously.
That is a goal for the team, but it is part of the process this team has already gone through. The Magic have successfully righted the ship after their rocky start.
The team has gotten better and will continue to get better as they progress this season.
