come with obvious caveats: They don’t impact the regular-season standings and most teams aren’t going all out to win them.
But that doesn’t mean they’re meaningless, evidenced by the at Amway Center.
A greater understanding of concepts and schemes that have been implemented throughout training camp can be shown. The chemistry between teammates can grow. Weaknesses and mistakes from the previous season or games can be corrected.
All were the case for the Magic.
“There were so many things that created such valuable lessons for our guys,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Obviously, going up early, them getting close and coming down to the wire — those are such teachable moments for our guys.”
The best lessons were learned late.
Unlike Orlando’s previous two games in which the deep bench spearheaded comeback wins, Mosley closed out Tuesday with the starting unit of Cole Anthony, Terrence Ross, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. with Orlando up by 3 with five minutes remaining.
Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins had a similar approach, keeping Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks in the game, giving the Magic their best test in the clutch.
The Magic were one of the league’s worst teams in clutch time — minutes when the scoring margin is within 5 points with five or fewer minutes remaining in a game — last season in part because they didn’t take care of the ball. The result would be possessions ending without getting up a shot and giving opponents easy scoring opportunities in transition.
Against the Grizzlies, one of the league’s top defenses from last season, they showed more poise, relying on the Wagner-Carter two-man game to create easier scoring opportunities.
“With us being such a young team, it’s probably the most important thing,” Carter said. “It was a great test for us. I feel like we’ll be in a lot of late-game situations. That’s something we struggled with a lot last year. Even just going into the third quarter, we did a really good job of picking up how we were playing in the first quarter. We’ve got one more to continue to work on it.”
Even in a win, the Magic showed they have room for improvement, which they’re aware of.
Turnovers (13 in the second half, including 3 in the clutch), remain an issue.
But they’ve shown growth, which is what they’re being judged on.
“We made some mistakes,” Carter said. “Even though we were wrong sometimes in late-game situations, we gave a lot of effort. That’s what helped us.”
This article first appeared on . Email Khobi Price at khprice@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at .
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