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Orlando Magic: 3 best things from season so far

By Luke Duffy

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JANUARY 04: Nikola Vucevic #9 and Markelle Fultz #20 of the Orlando Magic walk away from an official moments after a call in favor the Utah Jazz in the second quarter at Amway Center on January 04, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry Aaron/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JANUARY 04: Nikola Vucevic #9 and Markelle Fultz #20 of the Orlando Magic walk away from an official moments after a call in favor the Utah Jazz in the second quarter at Amway Center on January 04, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry Aaron/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) /

2. They sparked to life offensively

If you watched many Magic games this season, then there were a couple of common themes that you would have spotted before long. Chief among them was how ugly a lot of their offensive possessions were, and how difficult they found it to score the basketball consistently.

Opponents certainly zeroed in on center Nikola Vucevic after an All-Star campaign last year, and once that happened it became painfully apparent that his teammates wouldn’t be able to pick up the load consistently. To Fournier’s credit, he tried, pouring in a career-high 18.8 points per contest while shooting 40.6 percent from deep.

In the run-up to the All-Star break however, it was clear something changed, as the Magic were suddenly capable of hanging with the highest scoring teams, coming out on the right side of contests that they ordinarily would have lost. In fact over the last 12 games, before the season was suspended, the Magic somehow had the best offense in the league (118.2).

But how did this happen? Certainly, the bench we’ve already spoken about getting hot really helped here. Ross, Iwundu and Augustin were the key reasons for this. Aaron Gordon continued to chip in with some scoring when playing, while Fultz had scored at least 14 points in seven of his final 11 games (averaging 12.1 points per contest on the season), breaking 22 points twice as well.

Shots that they had been attempting all year suddenly started to go in, and not just through one person. Over the aforementioned 12 game stretch the Magic shot 37 percent from deep, still only just above the league average over that time (14th). For the season as a whole though they were down at 34.1 percent (25th).

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To really highlight how much things changed after the All-Star break, those numbers were even lower again (33.7 percent, 27th) before the exhibition game. To add to this, before the All-Star break the Orlando Magic ranked 29th in field goal percentage (43.4 percent). Their last 12 games? 48.6 percent, good for second in the league.

Other than guys letting hot together at the right time it is hard to explain this sudden offensive explosion, but with the defensive play continuing to slide, it came at an excellent time. It also included notable wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies (after being worse than awful to start that game), all away from home. Really encouraging for when play resumes.

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