Why Orlando Needs a Little Hocus Pocus to Shake Out Old Habits That Keep Them ‘Deep in the Muck’

The Orlando MagicUneven season 2025–26. she took another step back Thursday night with the crooked 124-97 loss at home to the Charlotte Hornetsurging the star forward Paolo Banchero issue pointed a message about the recurrence of known problems — and the defensive identity begins to erode.

Banchero finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a steal while shooting 6-for-12 from the field, 2-for-4 from three-point range and 9-for-12 from the free throw line in 30 minutes. The performance did little to change the outcome, as Orlando fell behind early and never recovered.

Speaking after the game, Banchero emphasized that the team’s struggles felt less like a temporary slump and more like a repeating pattern.

“I think it’s really similar to the last couple of seasons, if you look at it and you know, last year wasn’t a great season. We had a tough time, a lot of bad losses last year. The year before when we won 47 games, probably our best year, but I think that’s something that’s happened over and over again the last couple of seasons, so I just think we’ve got to put an end to it to put it in a way to do it. It’s going to play deep in the playoffs, we’ve got to let’s go out there and be different. We can’t just stay the same, and now we feel like we have the same problems as in the past, which makes it look worse, our defense covered a lot of things in the past, and now it’s slipping away when we can realize that those problems can increase.

Listen to Paolo Banchero after tonight’s loss.

Pretty darn stuff. pic.twitter.com/n9dShnT37h

— Alex Walker (@AlexWalkerTV) January 23, 2026

Paolo Banchero cites a lack of consistency amid the Magic’s inconsistency

Offensively, Orlando has shown gradual improvement compared to previous seasons, but production is still below league average. The Magic are 19th in scoring at 115.7 points per game after finishing 24th in 2023–24 and 28th the year before. Perimeter shooting remains a lingering issue, and Orlando is 28th in three-point percentage at 34 percent – a problem that has persisted at the bottom of the league for three consecutive seasons.

Defense, however, has long been Orlando’s stabilizing force. That confidence began to fade. The Magic are 13th in scoring this season with 115.4 points per game. Two years ago, during a 47-win campaign, they finished fourth in scoring defense, holding opponents to 108.4 points per contest. Last season, despite a 41-41 record, Orlando set the NBA superior defensive rating with 105.5 points allowed per game — surpassing even the championship-winning Oklahoma City Thunder.

Banchero said alignment across the organization was not consistent enough to prevent those slippages.

“It’s on everybody. It’s on me.” Banchero said.” It’s on everyone in the team. Trainers. We have to be on the same page. It sucks that I’m saying this in January, but it’s the reality. I don’t think we were on the same page very much this year. I just think it shows with the way we’ve played, it shows with the inconsistencies throughout the season, and it’s frustrating. Guys in the locker room, we want to win. But (like) I said, you can’t just say you want to win and not do anything to make it happen.”

The Hornets’ first-quarter burst reveals the Magic’s defensive focus

Head coach Jamahl Mosley pointed to a lack of defensive urgency early as a deciding factor in the loss. Charlotte scored 35 points in the first quarter after playing the night before.

“It’s a little shocking. You have to give the Hornets credit for the way they came out and played. They played last night. They got beat.” Mosley said. “They responded with a sense of urgency the way they came out (scoring) 35 in that first quarter. The shots weren’t falling and we let that affect our defense.”

Mosley was blunt when asked how the Magic can regain their defensive edge.

“Sit and guard. You sit and guard the damn basketball. That’s what you do. You take it personally when guys shoot past you. You take it personally when your teammates score, when you get a goal and guys get easy baskets. And they hit some tough ones early that go down a little bit, but then when you go out of the box, you miss. what are you doing.”

I asked #Magic coach Jamal Mosley, if he’s surprised Orlando’s defense continues to struggle and how it’s winning again:

“It’s a little shocking,” Mosley said.

He later added, “Sit down and watch the damn basketball. That’s what you do.”

Full notes: pic.twitter.com/1sbH95M57h

— Jason Beede (@therealBeede) January 23, 2026

Veteran Moritz Wagner repeated the urgency after scoring 14 points off the bench in 15 minutes, shooting 5-for-7 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.

“I think we’re deep in the mud. I don’t think we struggled as much back then as we do now in my time here. And we’re all looking for answers. But it’s also part of the profession that it’s not always going to go our way. And you kind of have to start looking left and right, and we’re going to figure it out together.”

For Orlando, the challenge now is to prevent familiar problems from defining the season after falling to 23-20 with Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers (25-20) coming up.