New York Knicks 105, Orlando Magic 95

The poor efforts late in the season continued. With the playoffs on the horizon, the Magic once again struggled against a non-playoff team.

This time the New York Knicks took advantage of a lackadaisical effort in the second half from the homestanding Magic to take a 105-95 win.

It was not a pretty effort from Orlando. But throughout the first half, it still seemed like the Magic were in control and just waiting to pull ahead. Then the defense, already dialed down, disappeared and the offense sputtered -- a disturbing trend in these late games.

New York has given Orlando problems all season, even though Orlando eventually pulled it out in the end. But the Knicks took advantage of the Magic's lack of effort. They clearly were playing for something bigger than themselves while the Magic were looking forward to the end of the season and the postseason beyond.

I have no doubt that Orlando will be ready in one week for the playoffs. But the way the team is playing heading into the postseason is very discouraging. It seemed after Dwight Howard called a players-only meeting after a home loss to the Raptors, things were righting.

But uninspired efforts in the last three games have me believing that the team is young and not ready to put in the focus to win a title. Title teams take every game seriously.

That is asking a lot. This is a point of the season where guys want to rest up for the war ahead. But honestly, the Magic needed to wrest the second seed from the Celtics. I do not see them winning that series without it against an experienced, title-defending team.

Orlando had something to play for and did not play like it. It is somewhat encouraging to see that the team can turn the switch on and off -- nearly coming back in tonight's game before ultimately falling short because of poor defense. But it is not a good habit to have with three games left in the regular season and postseason battles up ahead.