Feb 27, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Orlando Magic guard Willie Green (34) shoots a lay up against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Orlando Magic had a tough time defensively with the Atlanta Hawks in Friday’s 95-88 loss, but the three-guard rotation of Willie Green, Elfrid Payton and Victor Oladipo played well, though not unblemished. Even with the flaws, the trio showed that the Magic have a very strong backcourt rotation even with Evan Fournier out due to a hip injury.

The game did not start pretty, to say the very least: The Atlanta Hawks came firing out of the gate to take a 13-3 lead barely two minutes into the game.

Before a crowd of 18,968 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Elfrid Payton began to look frazzled and quite conspicuously like a rookie. The Magic could not keep Atlanta from getting out in transition and following a Paul Millsap dunk, the Hawks led 21-5 at the 8:19 mark as James Borrego called for a timeout.

The long-time Utah Jazz forward seemed on his way to what could be a career-high, having already connected on three triples and the thunderous dunk that left the Magic searching for answers. At this early juncture, Victor Oladipo was the only player to score—all five of those points, while the Magic trailed by 16.

Channing Frye looked horribly outmatched, and on a night when Kyle O’Quinn seemed all but due to get minutes he played just five. Dewayne Dedmon brought incredible energy, but the Hawks start All-Stars at the 4/5-spots. Aaron Gordon probably would have been a great option, but he is still nursing an ankle sprain.

So, the first place to look to change this game was in the backcourt, and that is exactly what Borrego did.

Though Elfrid Payton was doing a good job of keeping Jeff Teague out of the game in the first half, the Magic offense was in disarray. Good shots were hard to come by, turnovers aplenty.

In comes Willie Green.

The veteran journeyman did precisely what Payton could not do, bringing some structure and order to the Magic’s offense, settling it down. Hardly robotic though, Green attacked in transition, and he brought the Magic within 10 at the 4:23 mark of the quarter forcing an Atlanta timeout.

Yet, Millsap would knock down yet another three-pointer. The Magic had five turnovers in the first quarter, trailing by 12 when it finally came to its end.

Green and Luke Ridnour continued to man the backcourt as the Magic kept it within reach early in the second.

Then, Payton came back. Borrego was hoping for far better results.

The Magic’s young floor general checked in at the 6:48 mark of the second quarter with Orlando down by 11.

In the final five minutes of the quarter, the Magic amassed a 18-4 run to close the second quarter and go into the half with a 45-42 edge — it was nearly inexplicable. And, while it coincided with Payton’s check-in, it would be difficult to attribute the surge to him entirely or exactly.

Defensively, Payton did a great job on Teague, forcing the Hawks’ point guard into a number of tough looks in the first half, as he missed all six of his jumpers. Teague did have six assists in the first half, but Payton’s defense queued the Magic’s run by disrupting the Hawks’ ball movement. The crisp around the horn passing deteriorated over the latter half of the second quarter, and that was all it took for the Magic to get back in it with the Magic starting to force turnovers to get out in transition.

The Magic had Green to thank for keeping the game within reach—and Payton to thank for pushing it in its favor. But the Hawks were a sleeping giant waiting to be awoken in the second half.

All night Victor Oladipo’s aggressiveness was great to see, but he needs to realize who his opponents are. He also needs to adjust to defenses better.

Victor repeatedly drove into Atlanta traffic, and though he was credited with only two turnovers (the jump-ball Millsap forced at the 4:38 mark of the third quarter was a turnover for all practical purposes, among a couple others), the number of tough shots that resulted from his induced-chaos may as well have been turnovers.

The Hawks clogged the paint and just lived with the results of Orlando’s jumpers — only really respecting Channing Frye (3 of 8 three-pointers) when he teed it up from behind the arc.

At the 2:08 mark of the second quarter, the Hawks tried to trap Oladipo with three defenders but he split them acutely just to miss a tough look at the rim. His consistent efforts to break an impenetrable wall of Hawks defenders just were not rewarded, even though he did hit 8 of 18 from the floor for 19 points.

But, for as much trouble as the Hawks gave Oladipo — for as erratic as Elfrid Payton’s jumper was as the Hawks dared him to launch it — the three-guard rotation found its way onto the court at crunch time. Each guard had brought something valuable, and Borrego figured by amalgamating the trio the Magic could sneak out of Philips with a ‘W.’

And yet, the Hawks combatted it all so well.

Atlanta even put Kyle Korver on Payton since the rim was protected and the Hawks knew Payton could not hit a jumper to save his life. Korver’s defense has quietly become very good, attested to by forcing Payton into a couple very tough looks and again coming up with two blocks (he averages 0.53 a game, a lot for a guy whose vertical doesn’t impress to say the least).

Payton’s lone distance jumper came from a long two early in the third quarter, and it nearly required a second look at the TV to make sure it was Elfrid. His only other field goal came on a little 10-foot floater about a minute later in the same period. Other than that, the Hawks got exactly what they thought they would from him — brick city.

Borrego sought to leave the game’s best performers on for the final five minutes, and Green earned his way there. With Evan Fournier on the shelf, Green became the go-to small forward in a very small Orlando lineup.

Frye and Harris alternated at the 4-spot down the stretch, essentially leaving the paint solely manned by Vucevic on the offensive end.

To be clear, this is a positively lethal Hawks team that was favored by 11 points going into the contest. If moral victories count for anything, the Magic covered that spread and nearly beat the East’s best team on its homecourt.

Payton gave up a deceiving 17 points to Jeff Teague, considering how well Elfrid did at keeping him out of his sweet shots and contesting his jumpers. Teague became more aggressive and his third quarter run gave the Hawks firm control over the game.

Oladipo found a way to continually get by Hawks defenders, it is just that he was always met by more ready hands. And Green was at times spectacular, nearly looking like James Harden the way he attacked in transition, taking it right at the chests of the Atlanta bigs.

Willie finished +4 in a game that the Magic lost by seven, so there is no disputing that he was one of the biggest difference makers, and he also kept the game from getting entirely out of hand while Payton struggled early.

In short, the weaknesses of these guards were covered by each other — and Borrego has shown a lot of trust in small lineups. He has all but had to.

The Magic clearly are weakest in the frontcourt (outside of Vucevic, of course), and that is going to show heavily against teams that feature guys as talented as Millsap and Horford in the frontcourt.

But if Orlando can consistently get its guards to play this well, the wins will come. Atlanta is a superb team at exploiting lackadaisical rotations on the perimeter, and the Magic were just a step too slow most of the night at getting to the Hawks shooters.

In OMD’s week preview, a 13-point loss was expected.

And the Magic walked away having lost by “just” seven to a team that could represent the East in the Finals.

Some fans are tired of the silver linings, but with the backcourt playing this kind of basketball, an identity may finally be emerging after all. And that is a silver lining glimmering enough to give some meaning to the remainder of this season regardless of whether the Magic can even sniff that No. 8 seed.