Ginobili missed the first 12 games, but San Antonio stayed afloat thanks to rookie guard George Hill emerging as one of the finds of the draft and by also discovering a hidden scorer in guard Roger Mason.

The Spurs even came into Thursday night's matchup with Orlando on somewhat of a roll despite having just had a six-game winning streak snapped in a loss to New Orleans Wednesday.

But it was a different streak -- the one that had befuddled them in their four most recent defeats -- that again bit them in a 90-78 loss to the Magic.

San Antonio came in winners of 10 of 14 games but in its four losses had shot an average of 38 percent. Playing in their sixth back-to-back of the season, the Spurs again were done in by their shooting as they connected on just 37.5 percent of their field goals for the game.

The majority of the damage was done in the first half as their "Big Three" of Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker combined to shoot 5-of-24 in the opening 20 minutes.

"It just didn't go in," Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said. "We had good shots. There's not really an answer to that question."

The Spurs trailed 44-29 at the break, the 29 points the fewest they've scored in a half this season.

Duncan guarded Magic center Dwight Howard in his first game back after missing two straight outings with a sore knee. Duncan was stingy early as Howard missed his first three shots of the night.

The Magic big man picked it up some in the second half, finishing with 14 points and 13 rebounds.

Duncan led the Spurs with 19 points and nine rebounds.

The Spurs cut into Orlando's advantage in the second half, but even with Howard forced to the bench after picking up his fifth foul at the 8:21 mark, the Spurs couldn't find enough baskets down the stretch.

"We're getting some guys back healthy and we thought we were getting on a roll," Duncan said. "We'll regroup. It's a long season."