Will Orlando Magic have to ride defense as far as it will take them?

The Orlando Magic have started the season struggling mightily offensively, meaning they will have to lean into their defense to win until it improves.

At 2-4 the Orlando Magic have stuttered to start the season. They haven’t been quite as bad as that record suggests and have also played (and lost to) the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets. Both home games, but against opponents who are just better than they are at this stage in their journey.

But it wouldn’t be true to say they have picked up where they left off last season either, as they went on a big run to make their way back to the playoffs. Things just aren’t flowing the way they would like them to be right now and the continuity that the front office had hoped would allow them to hit the ground running is nowhere to be found.

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Most of the Magic’s issues stem from an offense that has been worse than awful through the six games they’ve played so far. It is hard to recall even a quarter of smooth and effective play on that end, which has made some of their games tough to watch as they butcher sets against all manner of opposition.

All is not lost though, as on the other end the Magic have looked even better than they did to finish the regular season last year. Right now they rank fifth in defensive rating (99.0), and have shown through all kinds of different individuals on their roster that they are able to shut down and disrupt opponents on every possession.

If they want to get into the mix in the upper reaches of the Eastern Conference however, the disparity between how they are playing on both ends of the court needs to close. There is a lot they can do differently offensively to make this happen, while the fact that there is room to improve even more on the defensive end is really encouraging.

Right now the Magic rank dead last in offensive rating (94.6), but a look at their roster shows some easy fixes on how to improve this figure so that it gets closer to the league average. Terrence Ross was a fabulous sixth man for the Magic last season, coming off the bench to score a career high 15.1 points per game on a sizzling 38.3 percent from deep.

So far this year he’s been more big freeze than human torch, averaging a paltry 8.7 points per contest while shooting an unsightly 19.5 percent from 3-point range. Ross is meant to step off the bench and be the scoring outlet for the second unit, while also closing a lot of games with the starters as well, but it has just not happened for him so far.

If the Magic could just get him going again, that alone would seem them lift off the bottom of the offensive rankings. Easier said than done though, as the 22 minutes Ross is averaging  per game is down from the 26.5 of a year ago. Therein lies the problem; for all of the continuity on this roster, the role of Ross has changed perhaps more than anybody else’s.

He hasn’t always been the first man off the bench this season, with Markelle Fultz getting the nod instead. With Fultz starting their last game, that loss to the Nuggets, hopefully Ross can get back into a shooting groove if he sees his role go back to what it was last season.

This will be difficult though, as finding minutes for Fultz, and now D.J. Augustin, off the bench is important for the balance of the team.

Running more of a two-man game as the season progresses between Fultz and Ross is sure to help the latter get his groove back as well. Fultz plays downhill and appears to be the quickest guy on the roster with ball in hand.

Ross is the best player they have at moving without the ball and around screens, so putting the two of them in action together should create the desired results offensively that will allow the Magic to improve on this end.

It isn’t all on the shoulders of Ross however, as center Nikola Vucevic hasn’t looked like himself either. A first time All-Star last year, his 16.8 points per game are four points down from the previous year, but even more importantly the 2.3 assists he is averaging are his worst mark in five years in Orlando.

Head coach Steve Clifford ran the offense through Vucevic last season and produced some wonderful results. He has tried to do the same this year, but so far it has looked far less smooth. Vucevic is not always finding the right pass, while the 21.7 percent he is shooting from 3-point range is down considerably on the 36.4 percent of last season.

Vucevic’s long-range shooting kept defenders honest and allowed guys like Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier to get to the rim. Right now opponents are able to sag off him that little bit more than before, clogging up the paint which makes it more difficult even for guys like Fultz, who already looks to be an excellent driver to the basket, to score consistency at the rim.

Speaking of Fultz, as great as it has been to have him on the court and producing so early in the campaign, there were always going to be growing pains with allowing him to run this team. He’s quick and can spot a lovely pass while being competent defensively as well. But he is still only 21 and he does not have the steady veteran hand of Augustin.

This is to be expected and Fultz is the future at that position, but the transition was never going to be seamless. Vucevic especially had a wonderful understanding with Augustin as both had career years last season, and it is a period of adjustment for him as well. Still, the Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 19.9 that Vucevic is averaging is a team high right now.

The play of Fournier, coming off a strong showing at the FIBA World Cup in China over the summer, has been a welcome sight. So too has the offensive play of Jonathan Isaac, with the 10.5 points per game on 37.5 percent shooting from deep both career highs. He is beginning to show his potential on that end, and the timing could not have been better.

Defensively is has been a different story, with the Magic capable of shutting down any opponent on every possession. With the exception of the Bucks game, which by the end had spiraled out of control and finished 123-91, teams have found it difficult to score consistently against them.

Here we can see the impact of Fultz again, as the team is even better defensively (98.6) when he is on the court.

Interestingly the same is also true when Ross is out there (a notable 89.8, although the sample size is still small and his minutes are down), which means the call to not only play him more, but to have him and Fultz out there together should grow louder. Isaac (100.3) and Vucevic (100.8) and an underrated defender for years now, certainly aren’t hurting them on that end either.

The key to taking another leap then, perhaps on both ends, lies with Gordon. Right now he too has a favorable defensive rating (98.1), although to watch him play it is clear he can be even better on that end.

Offensively it is a different story, with the 92.5 rating he has on that end not only giving him a net rating of minus-5.7, but going some way to pinpoint the offensive woes that have dogged this team to start the year.

Perhaps some of this underwhelming play can be attributed to a preseason bang that may have gone unnoticed, or maybe the fears that have been brought up before about this just being who Gordon is and his ceiling being much closer than we thought are once again being shown to us.

Whatever it is, his 11.3 points per contest are his lowest mark in three years and his PER of 14.8 (league average 15) is also his worst mark in that time. He’s looking like a far cry from the playoffs version of Gordon we saw to finish last season, when he was the Magic’s best and most consistent player against the Toronto Raptors.

The influence he was able to exert over his teammates having been replaced by somebody who, for the most part, is just floating through games right now. If Ross and Fultz can be the key to improved offensive play, then Gordon is the bridge between both. The hope now is that the Orlando Magic can cross that bridge, sooner rather than later.