3 reasons why Orlando Magic offense is failing

The Orlando Magic’s offense is woeful right now and there is more than one factor contributing to their poor play on that end.

The Orlando Magic are 3-6 right now and reeling, with only the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks below them in the Eastern Conference standings. Hard as it is to look at any positives right now, their schedule has been pretty tough and they’ve come out on the wrong side of some close games.

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What has kept them in every game so far has been their defensive play, where they currently rank third in the league (99.3 points allowed per 100 possessions) and look capable of locking down whatever opponents throw at them.

The central figure in this continued commitment to defense has undoubtedly been Jonathan Isaac, his recent outing against the Dallas Mavericks seeing him put on a clinic on that end. He added four blocks for Orlando in their 118-86 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.

Head coach Steve Clifford will ensure that they won’t slip out of the top 10 in defensive rating throughout the season and with their identity having been built on this last season, it is comforting because it will win them some games as the season progresses.

The offensive end is a different story though. Even the most optimistic of fans would have admitted prior to the season getting underway that getting buckets would be hard to come by for this roster, who returned the joint most players from last season (12) alongside the Denver Nuggets.

But it has been even worse than that, with the Magic currently ranking dead last at 98,8 points per 100 possessions, even with Friday’s season-high output against Memphis. This is the organization’s most pressing concern right now, and even though it was thought that this could be their biggest weakness coming into the season it has been even worse than that.

Even more worrying, there is no quick fix or even obvious singular problem that needs to be addressed to fix the Magic’s scoring woes. But there is some hope: Orlando has topped 100 points twice this season and those outings have come in the Magic’s last two games, their 107-106 loss at Dallas and their blowout win at home over the Grizzlies.

The following are the three biggest hurdles that the franchise faces in kick starting their offense to make their way back up the rankings.