Magic Burned by Late-Game Miscommunication Loss to Grizzlies

"I'm being completely candid, we weren't all on the same page. That was the issue," Anthony said. "I think the right play, probably – I think we wanted the timeout, P (Paolo Banchero) wanted to call timeout, but just everyone wasn't on the same page. So, I think we have to do a better job as a unit echoing that call, making sure everyone knows what we want to do, whether its call timeout or letting P go, because we know he's obviously capable of making that shot and that's what he does. He's a big shot-maker.

Added Anthony: "I just think that, as a unit, from the coaching staff to the players, in a situation like that, everyone has got to be on the same page. We do that, we'll be all right. This was a game we should've won, and I think that we beat ourselves tonight."

The indecision only compounded the frustration in Orlando's inability to close out the contest late – a recurring theme that again bit the Magic Friday. After previously leading by as many as 12 points in the fourth quarter, they didn't score in the final 2:38 of the game. Memphis capitalized and dealt the stinging loss.

"Obviously, really frustrating to end a game like that," Franz Wagner said after scoring a game-high 25 points in the loss. He, like Mosley and Anthony, confirmed the Magic wanted a timeout ahead of the game's last possession.

That's after his actions already confirmed it. Toward the bottom of the screen on the Magic's broadcast, Wagner can be seen jumping up and down while motioning for a timeout call that never comes.

So, what has to change for the Magic to start earning the victories their efforts earlier in the evening had earned them?

"I think everybody on the court has to just not be worried about their own game, but what's going on on the floor and what we're trying to do as a team," Wagner said. "We've got to communicate, and then I think the coaches have to communicate and help us with that. Like on that last play, not everybody I think knew what we wanted to do. And that's not on one person, that's everybody on the court, people on the bench. That's why this is a team sport, and it's not easy to do that, especially when there's 20,000 loud people, but that's what this is about."

Yet, Mosley affirmed the crowd noise had nothing to do with the non-timeout.

"I've got to do a better job of communicating with the group to get the timeout," Mosley said. "We're all [calling timeout], the referees didn't see it, and that's on me. Being able to go to the referee and say we put a big in the game to say, we're gonna go rebound [and call] timeout and they've got to signal and look at it. That's part of all of the communication across the board, but that starts with me."