Most NBA cores dissolve eventually and over time, but the Orlando Magic's cracked in a matter of weeks.
2015-16's version carried a 19-13 mark into the new year, good enough for fifth in the Eastern Conference. But the Magic sandwiched losing streaks of four and eight games around an uninspiring win over the lowly Brooklyn Nets, crash-landing with a 113-94 road loss to the Boston Celtics on Jan. 29.
"We're playing soft right now," then-Magic guard Victor Oladipo said, per Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.