ORLANDO, Fla. _ The Orlando Magic entered Friday night as the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA. They had made 44.2 percent of their attempts from deep, an unfathomable success rate even this early in a season. Those long-range makes propelled the team to its best start in eight years.
But those same shots didn't fall against the Chicago Bulls.
The team's running game failed, too.
And the Magic never found a solution.
With their offense looking like the anemic unit that played before last season's All-Star break, the Magic lost to the Bulls 105-83 at Amway Center.
The Magic sank only 10 of their 35 attempts from 3-point range, and managed just 11 fast break points.
Orlando (6-3) never gained traction against Chicago (1-6).
When a team's offense struggles, it must lean on its defense, and the Magic's defense just isn't good enough to win games like Friday night's game.
The Bulls flipped the Magic's script.
Chicago began the night shooting just 31.1 percent from 3-point range but made 14 of its 29 long-range attempts against Orlando, a success rate of 48.3 percent.
Seven Bulls players scored in double figures, led by Justin Holiday, who had 19 points.
The Magic entered the night with just one healthy true point guard on their roster, Shelvin Mack.
And it showed.
Elfrid Payton missed his seventh consecutive game because of a strained left hamstring, and D.J. Augustin sat out his first game of the season because of a strained left hamstring.
The Magic went 5-1 this season with Augustin as the starter, and the team missed him _ and his outside shooting _ Friday.
Mack finished with eight assists with just one turnover, but he didn't stretch the floor on offense. A career 32.3 shooter from 3-point range, he made only one of his eight shot attempts. That included an 0-for-3 night from 3-point range. He also didn't push the Magic upcourt in transition much.
And when Mack was on the bench, coach Frank Vogel had to alter his rotations.
At the start of the second quarter, for example, Vogel employed a lineup of Jonathan Simmons, Arron Afflalo, Mario Hezonja, Jonathan Isaac and Bismack Biyombo. In that configuration, Simmons often brought the ball upcourt, with Afflalo and Hezonja available to help, too.
The Bulls dominated the Magic early, taking a 15-4 lead while the Magic missed some open outside shots.
Orlando recovered for awhile. Evan Fournier scored 14 of his team-high 21 points in the first half while Nikola Vucevic tallied 11 of his 14.
The Magic led 45-44 at halftime.
But the third quarter was a disaster for Orlando's offense. The team made only five of its 19 shots while the Bulls rolled, making 10 of their 19 attempts.
Chicago led 73-60 at the end of the third quarter.
Vogel opened the fourth period with an unusual lineup of Mack, Afflalo, rookie Wes Iwundu, Isaac and Marreese Speights.
Speights had delivered instant offense in Orlando's prior two games, but he missed his first two long-range attempts against Chicago.
The Bulls extended their lead to 80-60 early in the fourth _ the largest deficit the Magic had faced this season to that point.
After a layup by Isaac, Vogel subbed in Simmons, Terrence Ross, Fournier, Aaron Gordon and Vucevic earlier than usual, with 9:09 remaining.
The starters cut the deficit to 86-68, and then Gordon stole the ball from rookie Lauri Markkanen. It was a good opportunity to chip away at the deficit. Gordon was dribbling upcourt and had a few teammates sprinting with him.
Instead, Gordon pulled up for a 3-pointer from the left wing.
The ball bounced off the rim.
It was that kind of night.
It was the night the Magic offense fell back to earth.
Justin Holiday led the Bulls with 19 points, while David Nwaba added 16 and Markkanen 13.
