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Orlando Magic: 5 keys to series vs. Raptors

By Luke Duffy

BOSTON - APRIL 7: Orlando Magic's Wes Iwundu (25) celebrates with head coach Steve Clifford after the Magic won, clinching the Southeast Division title and a playoff berth. The Boston Celtics host the Orlando Magic in a regular season NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston on April 7, 2019. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - APRIL 7: Orlando Magic's Wes Iwundu (25) celebrates with head coach Steve Clifford after the Magic won, clinching the Southeast Division title and a playoff berth. The Boston Celtics host the Orlando Magic in a regular season NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston on April 7, 2019. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
(Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /

1. Stifling defense

The obvious answer here is also the key foundational piece everything else is built off of. The Magic became a great defensive team this season thanks to the scheme coach Clifford put in place. Nobody else in the league defends like the Magic right now, posting the NBA’s fifth-best defensive rating since the All-Star break.

They are so incredibly active across the roster in this area, including guys like Evan Fournier and Vucevic, two players who would have been seen as negatives on that end of the court in the past. They finished the year with a defensive rating of 107.5, good for eighth in the league. That takes into account a sloppy start to the season though.

Once Birch saw more minutes (the season-ending injury to rookie Bamba looks like a blessing in disguise now) they tightened up considerably, having the best mark in the league overall (100) in the month of February. This was when they started really rolling, and they haven’t looked back.

With Isaac, Carter-Williams, Gordon and Birch on the floor together, the ability to switch seamlessly is there if they want to use it. Carter-Williams was a closer in that playoff-clinching win over the Celtics, and could be used in a similar way against the Raptors. They ranked fifth in offensive rating on the season (112.5), but despite this, the Magic will have stretches where they can shut them down.

They know this, and leaning into that defensive identity will give them confidence. If the Magic are going to pull off any kind of shocking upset, or even make this a competitive series (either of which would be huge wins going into the offseason), then their defensive intensity will have to be at the level we’ve seen recently.

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That’s a real positive though, because while other organizations like the Celtics are still searching for form and who they are heading into the postseason, the Magic found this months ago. They’ll be waiting for the Raptors, and there’s enough positivity around what they can do on the court and how they’ll go about it to give their opponent some trouble. Roll on Saturday.

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