3 options to boost Orlando Magic offense going forward
By Luke Duffy
2. Improve from within
The Orlando Magic’s modest improvements offensively recently are a direct result of improved play from some of their better players. So why not see how far they can push this approach? Evan Fournier has been great recently, going back to when Nikola Vucevic went down with injury.
He took the responsibility of being the focal point offensively better than could have been expected, with his past performances typically being inconsistent. Fournier was the team’s closer by virtue of the fact that they had nobody better for the role. Now Magic fans are happy that he has the ball in his hands a lot.
In his last 10 games, he is averaging 24.8 points on a hugely impressive 49.3 percent from deep, a big reason that the offense has lifted off in the rankings. Fournier is still only 27 and if he is now entering the prime of his career, then the Magic should surely be able to get even more out of him for the rest of the season.
Fournier is not alone though. Markelle Fultz had a career-high 20 points in the win over the Wizards, as well as adding six assists. Fultz is quickly making the Philadelphia 76ers look silly for giving up on him so soon, but that is truly in the past at this point. His drives to the basket have been excellent from his first game in pinstriped blue, but the mid-range game is now coming too.
The shot of Fultz still looks like it pauses for a split second when he’s hoisting them up, particularly from mid-range, but they are continuing to go in at a satisfying rate. As long as that is the case it doesn’t matter how it looks when he shoots. Efficiency is also what he is quickly becoming known for, as everything he does seems to have an end product.
His effective field goal percentage of 51.6 percent trails only Fournier (58.9 percent) on the roster. Impressive when you consider that not all of his scores are coming in the painted area, even if he has already shown that he can be elite in how he gets to the rim. Contorting around opponents to lay the ball in, while also having a few highlights slam as well.
If both of these players can continue leading the way, then when Vucevic comes back they will have an offensive trio that not only on paper mix well together, but who have shown individually that they can be scoring leaders on any given night. As long as one actually is, the Magic will creep towards the league average in offensive rating.