ORLANDO, Fla. _ Coach Frank Vogel and his Orlando Magic players talk often about building a winning culture over the season's final stretch of games.
What happened Friday night _ a loss to the tanking Chicago Bulls, who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back and held a seven-game losing streak _ isn't the way to accomplish that.
Looking uninspired at best for three of the game's four quarters, the Magic gave up a five-point lead early in the fourth quarter and fell to the Bulls, 90-82, at Amway Center.
The result, of course, might be best for the Magic in the long run. With their loss, the Magic continued to remain in sole possession of the NBA's fourth-worst record _ a good, but not great, spot to be in for the upcoming NBA draft lottery.
The fewer victories a team has at the end of the season, the better its chances will be in the NBA draft lottery.
Above all else, what the Magic need is a star. Perhaps they can draft one.
Aaron Gordon, one of the two most promising young players on the team's current roster, suffered through an off-night Friday. Although he scored a respectable 18 points, he made only six of his 21 shot attempts.
Nikola Vucevic, the team's third-leading scorer, didn't fare much better. He scored 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
Orlando dominated the third quarter, outscoring Chicago 25-9 to take a 69-66 lead into the fourth quarter.
But the injury-riddled Magic opened the fourth quarter with an offensively challenged lineup on the floor: Shelvin Mack, Jamel Artis, Mario Hezonja, Khem Birch and Bismack Biyombo. After the Magic started the period with a layup by Birch, the Bulls scored 14 consecutive points.
The run finally ended when Vucevic sank a short-range hook shot with 5:46 to play, but his basket only drew the Magic within 80-73. D.J. Augustin followed a short while later by banking in a shot off the glass, but the team still trailed by five points with 4:29 remaining.
A few sequences later, Augustin missed a 3-pointer, and the Bulls converted their ensuing defensive rebound into an easy transition layup by Ryan Arcidiacono.
Chicago (25-51) is tanking harder than Orlando (22-53) is.
Lauri Markkanen, the team's prized rookie power forward, was held out of Thursday night's loss in Miami for "rest" purposes. Robin Lopez, the team's defensive-minded center, sat Friday night for "rest" purposes. Four other players didn't play Friday, including guards Kris Dunn and Zach LaVine and forward Paul Zipser.
On Friday, however, Markkanen scored 13 points and collected eight rebounds.
Evan Fournier, Terrence Ross and Jonathon Simmons didn't play for the Magic because of injuries while Wes Iwundu sat out due to an illness.
Orlando lost all three of its previous games to Chicago, and Magic players offered a simple explanation for their struggles.
"The last three games, they just played harder than us," Gordon said. "The effort wasn't there. Yeah, we just weren't playing hard enough."
The Magic trailed the Bulls 57-44 at halftime.
The Bulls took a 16-point lead at 60-44 when Denzel Valentine opened the third quarter by making a 3-pointer.
Then the Magic responded for the first time all game.
They went on a 19-2 run. The Bulls missed 14 consecutive shot attempts over that stretch, with their only points coming on a free throw by Markkanen and a free throw by Sean Kilpatrick.
A 3-pointer by Augustin accounted for the 17th, 18th and 19th points of the onslaught and gave the Magic a 64-62 lead with 4:07 left in the third quarter.
In the third quarter, the Bulls went 2 for 22 from the field, had six turnovers and scored only nine points, tied for the lowest point total by a Magic opponent in any quarter this season.
Orlando couldn't sustain its momentum.
