The Orlando Magic have had a tough season thus far, currently holding the worst record in the league by 2.5 games at 7-34, including nine consecutive losses. This wasn’t exactly unforeseen as they’re without some key contributors like Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz, and shifted gears into rebuilding mode last year at the trade deadline when they dealt Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic away.
Even for a team that will almost assuredly have a share of the best lottery odds by the end of the season, how they started their game against the Wizards on Wednesday was jarring, as Orlando managed to miss eight shots on their first possession of the game, getting six offensive rebounds in the process before the Wizards finally cleared a board after 59 seconds of the Magic missing.
It’s honestly an amazing possession, because it’s not like Orlando was jacking up awful shots, they were just missing on some decent looks and doing a great job crashing the glass to keep the possession alive, albeit in vain. The box score play-by-play of that opening possession is incredible, as four different starters missed shots (only Gary Harris went without an attempt on the opening possession), with Robin Lopez missing three separate shots.
62-second possession to start the game!
Magic go 0-for-8 before the Wizards ever get the ball. pic.twitter.com/XlSuiz0EAn
— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) January 13, 2022
Their drought, unfortunately, continued for two more possessions and the Wizards, once they finally got the ball, went 3-for-3 to open the game with a 7-0 lead. It only got worse from there as Washington pulled away to a 33-16 lead after one quarter of play, and its safe to say this game won’t help Orlando’s season-long field goal percentage.