Orlando Magic: Numbers Behind Decent Start

Right now the Orlando Magic are 6-6 and have been a nice watch for much of the season so far. Although some of the fans may not be happy with the unpredictable nature with which some of the games have unfolded, you can’t argue that this has resulted in some great contests (The wild losses against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets in particular stand out).

More than that, however, it’s great that this team now looks to have reached a level where it can be competitive every night, something we haven’t seen in three years. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the numbers that have helped contribute to a healthy start to this campaign, despite a tough opening group of games.

Before looking at some of the numbers in more depth, it’s important to note that, while the Magic don’t lead the league or come close to the top in most of the categories that matter in the NBA, they’re no longer floundering at the bottom either. That was the issue last season, whereas now the team finds itself in the middle of the pack in many of the statistical categories.

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Not where they want to be but given how that improvement can be easily seen in the fact this team is .500 and winning games they would have lost as recently as last season, that’s a great sign. New head coach Scott Skiles deserves some credit for this, as does the continued internal improvement from this team’s young core.

Special mention must also go to Evan Fournier, who has been a revelation for the club so far this season.

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A great place to start here is with the assists the Magic are averaging per game so far this season. At 21.9, that’s an above average number, and good for 12th in the league. Last season the team averaged 20.6 and finished 23rd.

As you can see the two numbers aren’t dramatically different, but when you factor in the way this team is playing, it’s clear they are more in tune with how they move the basketball effectively.

For starters, second-year point guard Elfrid Payton, despite having some rough nights, is still averaging six assists a night. Fournier provides 2.9, easily a career high to date. More than that though, the ball is sticking with Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris less. Last season they would have taken too much out of the ball and tried to single-handedly bring their team back into the game.

Now, however, the extra pass is being made, and it’s leading to improved offensive play and a more coherent team.

This feeds into the amount of points the team are scoring per game as well, which makes for some great reading for fans. While Skiles is known as a defense orientated coach, it’s the scoring which has gone up considerably. The Magic’s 100.9 points per game has them currently sitting fourteenth in the league.

Again there’s room for improvement there, but you only need to look at where they’ve come from to realize they’ve already made great strides in that department.

Last season the team put up a paltry 95.7 points per game, which put them 25th in the NBA. On most nights many offensive possessions were either ugly or resulted in empty trips. While that’s still the case now, both Fournier and Harris are improved offensive players, to go with the already polished Nikola Vucevic.

Oladipo isn’t always effective in his scoring, but he can put up big numbers.

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Payton is helping in new ways, adding a more reliable pull-up game and three-point shot (35 percent from three-point range this season, compared to the horrific 26 percent his rookie year). This has led to more entertaining basketball for the fans, especially when coupled with the gifted athletic players this team boasts.

So while shutting out opponents is the key to long-term success here, seeing this team score more often has been a treat when tuning in to watch them play.

Perhaps the biggest jump of all however, has been made in the rebounding category. With many teams playing smaller lineups these days, the likes of Vucevic (a walking double-double who averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds last year and is crucial to his team’s success) and the athletic Harris and Oladipo have been able to crash the glass with far more joy.

So much so in fact, that the Magic are the seventh-best rebounding team in the league (46.4 per game).

To add some context, this team finished last season ranked 25th (41.8) in the same category. They have made that big leap with largely the same personnel as well, which points to a renewed hunger and tenacity to get after the boards under Skiles.

These rebounds are important on the defensive end, of course, but one overlooked aspect of grabbing so many boards is how it’s helped on the offensive end.

The Magic now play with more awareness on that end, and second-chance opportunities are no longer being snatched at. As mentioned above the extra pass is now being made, resulting in cleaner second efforts at scoring. Interestingly however, the 34.1 percent this team is shooting from three-point range is down slightly on the 34.7 percent posted last season.

Again though, through Fournier and even Payton, these are smarter looks at the basket, and that number figures to rise.

Defensively, Dewayne Dedmon has been quietly brilliant when called upon for this team, and we’ve already looked at his impact here. Really though, while the numbers don’t blow you away, you can see when comparing them to last season just why this team is 6-6 and still in the playoff picture as this early stage.

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Some of those numbers will rise, some will fall, but there’s no doubting that right now this team is in a good place. They’ve got the improved numbers to prove it.