Orlando Magic taking revived offense on the road

The Orlando Magic have been revitalized offensively during their homestand, and must now take the show on the road.

With the Orlando Magic getting off to a rocky start, to say the least, their recent five-game run at home presented the opportunity for them to rectify some early issues. Without a doubt, their offensive play was the biggest thing holding them back and at one point only the sorry New York Knicks could be found behind them in this category.

Their fortune has changed quickly though, with the Magic going 4-1 during the homestand. During that span the offense has been a much more positive 114.7, tied for the second-best mark in the league over that stretch.

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Combined with a defensive rating that is ninth on the season as a whole so far (103.1), it is clear the situation down in Orlando is looking much more like the one that ended last season.

That culminated in a playoff spot and while that is the minimum expectation this season, the Magic’s abysmal start offensively threatened to derail that goal before it ever got out of the station. Now they’re back on track, but they need to ensure these hot shooting performances aren’t confined to home.

Their next four are all on the road, against the Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers — a crucial stretch at this early stage in the season, because three of those teams (apologies to the Cavaliers) have ideas of making the playoffs at least and creating some noise themselves.

The goal is clear, win as any games as possible during this period. Defensively the Magic figure to be sound, even without Jonathan Isaac, because at this point they always are. But what can they do to ensure that offensively they are playing up to their potential? This should start exactly where it did last season, with center Nikola Vucevic.

He struggled mightily to start the season, making fans worry that perhaps the four-year, $100 million contract he signed during the summer had him coasting into 2019-20.

Instead he has rebounded in a big way, winning Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors for last week while posting averages of 21.2 points and 15.0 rebounds per game to go with an impressive 52.9 from deep during their home stretch.

https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/1196523553392340993

This has erased concerns that opponents had figured out that the Magic ran everything through Vucevic and how to stop him> Instead it appears to show that his cold start was nothing more than that.

Markelle Fultz is the other player that the organization really needs to lean into during this stretch away from home. Head coach Steve Clifford mentioned after the in over the San Antonio Spurs that it was the best game Fultz had had so far in a Magic jersey.

He followed that up by playing even better in the victory over the Washington Wizards, posting a career-high 19 points and going 2-of-3 from deep, with both made efforts coming in the first quarter after defenders such as All-Star Bradley Beal had gone under screens. Fultz made them pay and this will only open the court up for him more as the season progresses.

Fultz also stole the ball, leading to a breakaway dunk that essentially iced the game late in fourth. Fultz is far from the finished article, but the way he plays and the excitement he generates in the Amway Center and with his teammates has not been seen since a certain Los Angeles Lakers backup center was strutting his stuff a lifetime ago.

The next step for the Magic is trusting Fultz to do the same thing on the road, and with the way he plays, smooth and downhill all of the time, that would seem to be a recipe for success. Linking in Vucevic here, and we still have not seen the best of what these two can to together in pick and roll action or by mixing attacks up with Vucevic as the ball handler.

We could turn to Terrence Ross or Isaac next, two players who are either regaining some form (Ross), or showing the kind of offensive game we haven’t seen from them up to this point (Isaac).

Both are valid points, although with Isaac out for the last two games through injury it is also interesting to note that they have continued to find a rhythm even with Al-Farouq Aminu sliding into that starting role.

He was borderline unplayable for stretches in the playoffs last season because of his offensive inefficiencies as the Portland Trail Blazers made it to the Western Conference Finals. He hasn’t looked much better on that end in Orlando, although he’s been excellent defensively, and yet his introduction has coincided with the uptick in fortunes of other guys on the roster.

The final piece to the offensive puzzle away from home is continuing to get the best out of Evan Fournier. Perhaps no player divides fan opinion like the Frenchman and although he is often made the scapegoat of the Magic’s shortcomings, particularly offensively, he has looked revitalized in recent weeks.

During the team’s 4-1 run, he has averaged 21.0 points and 5.4 assists per game. On the season as a whole those numbers are a more modest 16.8 points and 3.5 assists a night.

More than that though Fournier looks comfortable taking over when needed (he is the Magic’s best closer right now, not including those times Ross goes supernova), but also deferring to both Vucevic and even Fultz.

He looks to have used the homestand to find his own space in the offense and that is great news for a Magic outfit that are beginning to get back to what we saw last season and put everything together. The next four games are huge, and the offense won’t remain this hot for the whole year, but they have found a solution to their offensive woes. Time to take it on the road.