Orlando Magic: Shabazz Napier And Plan B Success

Coming into Wednesday’s win against the Los Angeles Lakers, the Orlando Magic had been one of the more fun teams to watch so far this season. They were 3-5, and had been involved in some wildly entertaining games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets. They’d also beaten a Toronto Raptors team that was hot at the time, as well as compounding the misery of Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans by defeating them as well.

The point is though, that they were doing this a certain way. Victor Oladipo began the season playing well, while Nikola Vucevic was as important as we believed he was. Tobias Harris chipped in with big scoring nights (leading the team 20 points in that win over the Raptors) and Evan Fournier was the surprise package of the season.

Whether the team won or lost, they did so playing better defensively, and scoring in more impressive ways than ever before. Throughout that period, Channing Frye was posting DNP-Coach’s Decision (he’s now appeared in four games after sitting the first four) while Shabazz Napier has only averaged 10.6 minutes a night this season.

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Many felt Frye was available via trade, and most still do. Napier, although acquired this summer, was stuck behind Elfrid Payton.

That all changed in the recent win over the Lakers however, with Napier leading the team with 22 points and Frye going 6-for-7 from the field (and 2-for-2 from three-point range) while posting 14 points himself.

This was well above his season average of 8.5 points per game. While this may seem unimportant, since the Lakers are a bad team right now and Kobe Bryant once again sat out, having a Plan B to fall back on and then execute is actually a great sign that this team can now win in a variety of ways.

Before the game itself, Nikola Vucevic was unsure if he’d play because of a bruised right knee. He’d missed the two games previously and would come off the bench in this one.

Now, Dewayne Dedmon has done a tremendous job in his brief absence, and in some ways how he plays defensively also feeds into this Plan B theory. Vucevic came off the bench for the first time as a Magic player, and Dedmon would play a key role.

With Vucevic playing a reduced role, Oladipo leaving the game early with an apparent concussion and Payton once again struggling to get into a groove (he finished 1-for-13 on the night for two points), the Magic needed other players to step up. After all, this was a Lakers team that was there for the taking, all it needed was for a couple of players to take control.

To the credit of both Fournier and, to a lesser extent, Harris, they both played well as they have done all season. They absolutely deserve some credit for the W here. But so too does head coach Scott Skiles, who elected to finally turn Napier loose to the tune of over 30 minutes of action in this one.

I spoke before the season started about how Napier could be a different type of floor general with the shooting ability to help close out late games, and that was the case here.

He was 5-of-9 from three-point range, and that kind of shooting kept defenders honest all night. It’s something Payton has never been able to give the team, and while he’s clearly the better passer and the No. 1 point guard for this team, it was refreshing to see Napier have a go. There was a different energy, a different tempo, a different way to attempt to win the game.

Although it was Vucevic’s difficult looking turn-and-shoot that won the game for Orlando, Frye also had a good night shooting the ball. As mentioned above, he made the two three-pointers he attempted, and really he looked like the player the Magic traded for in how he helped spread the floor. When the cracks appeared, Napier and Harris were quick to exploit the space as the Lakers lazily closed them down.

Frye did only play for 16 minutes, but given that he started this campaign buried on the bench and looking like his days with the team were almost up, it was a great turnaround for him personally. It also gave the Magic a different way to win this game. Although the initial injury to Vucevic allowed Frye back into the rotation, he’s done well to at the very least show other teams he still has something to give. His current employers may not be so quick to part with him now though.

So at 4-5 and feeling pretty good, seeing the Magic not only came out on the right side of a close game, but did it by winning in a different manner for the most satisfying result of the season so far. Being competitive against contenders is great, but actually winning close games feels a whole lot better. This is the type of encounter this team would have lost as recently as last year.

To do so with the backup point guard having his best game of the season was great. The same is also true of Frye. It’s fair to say that, if not for the early injury to Oladipo, Napier may not have played so much. But Payton was having another poor game, a worrying trend, so to know Napier is capable of these performances was comforting.

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The main takeaway though, is that this team now has a Plan B if they need to pull out a win. Not bad for a team that didn’t even have a Plan A on how to win last season.