Orlando Magic: 5 ways it has gone wrong for this team
By Luke Duffy
1. They’ve cooled off
At one point early on this season, Gordon had the best 3-point shooting percentage in the entire league (around 55 percent). Just think about that for a second.
Right now he is shooting 42 percent — still a fantastic number given his struggle to find a consistent jump shot through the first three years of his career.
But between himself, Fournier and Vucevic, the Magic’s Big Three has calmed down offensively compared to the start of the season.
Despite this, the team still has the sixth best 3-point shooting percentage in the league right now (38.2 percent) and it has kept them in games when they’re not at their best.
But their offensive rating, which at one stage ranked second in the league, has slipped all the way to a much more average 14th (104.5).
On top of that, their defensive rating, which many people felt would be where they really excelled this season, has hovered around league average all year (16th, 105.1).
More than anything else, this tells you at a glance why the team is losing games the way it is.
Initially they were piling up points, yet also conceding plenty, earlier in the year. Outscoring opponents led to entertaining wins. Now though they aren’t scoring like they used to, through a mixture of unsustained offensive play, complacency and injuries, but are defending the way they always were.
Next: 2017-18 Week 6 NBA Power Rankings
There’s plenty to try and fix then, as the games continue to come thick and fast.