Hopefully, the Nets were taking copious notes.
Beyond the normal lessons they can learn from any loss, the Magic provided them an ideal rebuild blueprint to follow and represent so much of what these Nets hope to eventually become.
They’re at a far different spot in their rebuild than the Magic, and it was evident as the Nets were trounced, 123-100, to the red-hot Magic Friday night at Barclays Center, falling to 9-11 on the season.
The Nets have just begun their organizational reset, while the Magic have come out the other side and begun enjoying success.
Friday’s loss snapped the Nets’ three-game winning streak and marked the Magic’s 10th win in their last 11 games despite being without star Paolo Banchero since the start of November.
“They were the best team overall, we just gotta give it to them” Fernandez said. “On both ends, they made their shots, they were very physical, they got to the free throw line, a little bit of everything.
Franz Wagner paced the Magic with 29 points, 21 of which came in the first half. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope poured in 19 points, including two 3-pointers that stifled any Nets momentum in the third quarter.
The Magic blew the game open late in the second quarter, using a 15-5 run to extend their lead to 12 entering halftime. The subsequently opened the second half with a 13-5 run as their ballooned to 20.
“It opens up everybody else’s confidence,” Fernandez said of the Magic’s third-quarter run. “It’s not like they just had one focal point today. A lot of their guys played well.”
Dennis Schroder missed Friday’s game due to personal reasons and the Nets felt his absence.
Ben Simmons was more aggressive attacking the rim and as a playmaker without Schroder, recording eight assists, but he couldn’t replace Schroder’s scoring with just four points.
The Nets’ identity went missing without Schroder as their floor general as well. They entered the game averaging 40.9 3-point attempts per game, but took just 29 on Friday and made 14 of them. They were also loose with the ball, committing 20 turnovers. The Magic turned those turnovers into 34 points.
“He’s very important,” Jalen Wilson said of Schroder. “Head of the snake, been that guy the entire year. Whether he’s getting downhill and finding us or getting downhill and creating his own shot, all the different things he does. He’s very important to how we play and to our team.”
Shake Milton led the Nets with a season-high 22 points. Tyrese Martin, making his first-career start after erupting for 30 points out of nowhere on Wednesday against the Suns, cooled off and finished with eight points. Wilson drilled all three 3-pointers he took in the first quarter to give the Nets an early jolt, but was quiet after that and finished with 11 points.
The Nets may be overachieving most lowly expectations for them early this season, but the Magic should be a genuine playoff contender in the Eastern Conference. It will take way more than 20 games to close that gap.
There are plenty of similarities to give the Nets hope, however.
Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, like Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez, was a highly respected assistant before getting his first head coaching opportunity two years ago. The Magic, like the Nets have placed an emphasis on, collected as much young talent and draft picks as they could. The Magic, like the Nets, found themselves near the bottom of the standings before tearing it down and starting anew.
The Nets are now 0-2 against the Magic this year, but will quickly get another up-close look during a rematch back in Brooklyn on Sunday.
“We have a day to rest and watch it, learn from it,” Fernandez said. “And then show up and be better.”
