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Demond Bane Doesn't Mince Words as Magic Drop Fourth Straight Home Game
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- Demond Bane Doesn't Mince Words as Magic Drop Fourth Straight Home Game
(Don Strouble/Roundtable Sports)
The Orlando Magic are 2-5 through the first seven games of their 2026-27 NBA season, and if that wasn't concerning enough, they have also yet to win a game at home.
The Magic fell to the Washington Wizards on Monday, 103-94, marking their fourth straight home loss to open the season. Once again, poor shooting, turnovers and an inability to get stops contributed to Orlando's undoing.
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After the game, Magic guard Desmond Bane and forward Franz Wagner spoke with the media about how they felt as their losing streak at the Kia Center continued.
Frustration
In Bane's view, the failure by the Magic to deliver in front of their fans at home has been frustrating.
Bane made it clear that the team wants to win every game at home and every game on the road, but that is not a realistic expectation to have during an 82-game NBA season against NBA-level competition every night. Bane shifted his frustration to optimism, saying that there was a lot of basketball left to play.
He is not wrong: Orlando still has more than 70 regular-season games remaining, and the team has shown that it can get quality wins in tough environments. According to Bane, the Magic cannot rush the process, and if they stay with it and trust it, then he believes good things will happen.
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The bigger issue
It is true that the Magic's inconsistencies and statistical shortcomings are hurting the team. But above all else, Orlando is just very short-handed right now.
The Magic had to play Monday's game without the services of Jalen Suggs and Paolo Banchero, as they continue to miss time with injuries , and Anthony Black missed the game as well, given that it was the second in a back-to-back and he was being load managed.
After the loss, coach Sean Sweeney said he was encouraged by the team's resiliency despite being short-handed. It's good that the team is playing hard, but effort does not always overcome skill, and the Magic are far from being one of the deepest teams in the league.
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Bane and Wagner did what they could in the loss, combining for 44 points on 51% shooting.
However, Orlando struggled overall, and it has become too reliant on 3-pointers that are not falling. On Monday, the Magic shot just 28.2% from the perimeter.
Getting Banchero and Suggs back in the fold, along with Black consistently, will not fix all of the team's issues, but health in the NBA matters a great deal, and the Magic need it badly.
