ORLANDO, Fla. — Playing without their lead guard, the Washington Wizards lacked late-game closure Saturday night and allowed the Orlando Magic to flip a low-scoring game into a sprint in the fourth quarter, defeating the Wizards, 88-86.

Bradley Beal scored 15 points (making just six of 17 shots) but blew two layups down the stretch — one of the Wizards' nine missed shots in the final four minutes. Markieff Morris provided 18 points on 16 shots but missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. Moments earlier, Morris went to the free-throw line with six seconds left for three shots but missed two.

As a team, Washington shot 39.5 percent, nearly identical to the Magic. But Orlando (3-3) played an ugly game just a bit better.

Even so, Beal doesn't single out the missed shots as the reason the Wizards fell to 1-4.

“Defense is what lost us the game,” Beal said.

The game turned early in the fourth quarter, when Washington's bench blew a 10-point lead in less than three minutes. In that stretch, the Wizards miscommunicated in perimeter defense, surrendering three straight jumpers that snowballed into a 16-0 run.

“The biggest thing we can control is our defense, and that's all about effort and wanting to play,” Beal said.

John Wall sat out the game for a rest day determined Friday night. For now, Wall will not play in back-to-back games as the team hopes to lessen his load after offseason knee surgeries. On Saturday, point guard responsibilities belonged to rookie Tomas Satoransky, who finished with eight points and three assists.

“I can't say positively because we lost the game,” Satoransky said in response to evaluating his performance. “We had these moments that were not consistent that cost us the game… Obviously I'm not going to forget about this game because it's my first start. It's a big dream coming true.”

It's been a whirlwind week for Satoransky, who started the week as the Wizards' third point guard off the bench. By Saturday night, Satoransky had leapfrogged Trey Burke and took the floor as a starter.

Satoransky, the only player from the Czech Republic in the league, understood the significance of the night. He received excited text messages from family and friends. At the arena, a few teammates gave advice. Through all this, Satoransky remained stoic. He had played for seven years in Europe before coming over to the NBA. He's been a pro and in his opening stint through the first quarter against the Magic, Satoransky played like one.

When Satoransky played on the ball, he set up Gortat for an easy interior bucket. Then as Beal initiated the offense, it freed Satoransky to score. Near the 8:22 mark, the 6-7 Satoransky backed down opposing point guard Elfrid Payton then turned and made a jumper in the lane.