Magic 'Have to Play the Best' in Summer League to See Improvement

The Orlando Magic struggled against the Indiana Pacers in their most recent Summer League game, but they took the experience to grow as a team.

The Orlando Magic's most recent Summer League matchup came against the Indiana Pacers, who have a solid Summer roster. The Magic lost 108-85 in the matchup.

Despite the loss, the Magic showed some pushback in the second half despite a poor start to the game, and they had signs of life when the game seemed lost.

"Our guys fought," Murphy said. "Obviously, we struggled to make shots early. Credit to our group. Sometimes you can lose the thread there. We cut that thing to 13 or 14, it felt like we could have made a run."

It's important for Summer League teams to maximize every single rep, no matter the situation, and the Magic did so as they "played hard all the way through."

Again, the Magic were facing a Pacers team that has a solid Summer roster that has players that may be too good or proven for Summer League, but they want to continue building a good culture. For the Magic, it's an opportunity to face good talent and continue maximizing their time as a young team.

"If you want to get better, you have to play the best," Murphy said. "Great learning experience for our rookies, great learning experience for even the guys who played Summer League, G League or overseas."

A repeat player for the Magic, though, is Caleb Houstan, who is more so known as a shooter than anything else.

"Great work ethic, great mind for the game," Murphy said of Houstan. 

Getting a reputation as a shooter, Houstan faces more hard closeouts than other players, however he's taken Summer League to work on attacking those closeouts and open up the game for himself and his teammates.

Rookie Anthony Black also had some struggles in the matchup, however those problems came from the No. 6 pick not converting on good looks. 

"Defensively I thought he was really good," Murphy said of Black. "Obviously the ball didn't go in as much as it did in game one. That's how the NBA works. Make shots, miss shots, you have to keep working."

He mentioned that all Black can control is the quality of shots he takes and his effort on defense, and Black checked both of those boxes with his play, despite the poor shooting performance.

"Really calm and poised," Murphy said of Black's personality. "He doesn't get rattled easily. Really easy to play with, the guys love playing with him."

This will be important as the 6-7 guard will face plenty of ups and downs during his rookie season, and having that poised mentality will allow Black to grow even more as a player.

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You can follow Kade Kimble on Twitter @KadeKimble.

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