NBA 2018-19: 3 Talking points from Golden State Warriors vs Orlando Magic

The Golden State Warriors are slated to finish top of the West yet again but have dropped two consecutive games. Their most recent loss came when they visited Orlando to face the Magic as the hosts edged a 103-96 contest against the defending champs.

Coming into this one, Golden State had suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Miami Heat affected by a highlight Dwyane Wade buzzer beater. The Warriors still lead the West but the Nuggets' win tonight means that they are separated by just half a game on the leaderboard. Curry and co. are 43-19(0.694) on the season, and have now lost four of their last ten games.

On the other hand, the Magic clinched a much-needed win and are now tied with the Hornets, hanging by a thread down at the 8th place. Orlando improved to 29-34(0.460) on the season, still 19 games behind the East leaders in Milwaukee Bucks. This was the seventh win in their previous ten matchups.

Let's draw out some key takeaways from this grueling effort-win against the short-handed Warriors.

#1 Four Magic starters score in double digits; Fournier disappoints yet again

Aaron Gordon is averaging almost 16 ppg this season so far.

Besides shooting guard Evan Fournier, every other Magic starter scored in double digits, led by Gordon's 22 on the night. Coupled with 15 rebounds, he finished with a solid double-double in this impressive home win.

"It's complacency, we've got to beat complacency," Gordon said. "We showed again tonight we're a good team, but we've got to learn to play at that level against everybody and not be complacent."

Isaac, Vucevic, and Augustin combined for 38 points, while the lone Magic All-Star also chipped in with 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 blocks.

After touching the 22-point mark twice in the six games prior to this one, Fournier could only manage 8 points against the Warriors. He took 12 shots from the field and could manage to make only three of them. His scoring average this year is the lowest of the past three seasons.

#2 The Orlando Magic amp up their defense; Warriors miss Kevin Durant

Durant scored 29 points in 39 minutes against the Heat but was missed against the Magic

The Orlando Magic crammed the Warriors for space all night long, finishing with 10 blocks. They limited the Warriors to under 23% shooting from the field in the first half, and their bench outscored that of Golden State's 35-12.

In a rare sight, DJ Augustin blocked two of Curry's jump-shots in this game, having blocked just one shot the entire season prior to that.

Coach Kerr knows that what lies ahead is another long and testing playoff season, and he is well aware of the value Kevin Durant brings to crunch postseason games. KD was rested for the first time this season after having played 61 games in a row, while Andre Iguodala also sat out because of illness.

Alfonzo McKinnie (he finished with just 4 points on 2-7 shooting) started in Durant's place

"He's(Durant) just wiped out," Kerr said before Thursday's game. "He's tired. He's been going at it hard and playing every game. So with the back-to-back, we've been trying to figure out a good night to give guys some rest, and this back-to-back made it obvious -- [Wednesday] night for DeMarcus [Cousins], tonight for Kevin. And then Andre [Iguodala]'s sick so we'll obviously be short-handed."

#3 Fourth quarter collapse costs Golden State the game

Stephen Curry is the only unanimous MVP in NBA's history.

Golden State Warriors are known for closing out games but clearly, their best closer had been rested for this one. With no Durant in the lineup, GSW went for an uncharacteristically bad 7-of-23 shooting from the field in the fourth and last period of the game. They were outscored 33-15 in the fourth quarter after having outscored Orlando 30-11 in just the previous quarter.

"Steph is beating himself up a little bit because he knows he had a lot of open shots that didn't go," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "I thought Orlando did a better job executing down the stretch than we did. I didn't think we executed very well at either end of the floor, especially in the fourth quarter."

Curry finished with a sub-par 5-17 shooting night from beyond the arc, taking a team-high 33 shots in total. He finished with 33 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.