Orlando Magic: Evaluating the season heading into the hiatus
By Chip Murphy
1. The Threes Aren’t Falling
The Magic’s mediocre offense last season got by on the strength of their 3-point shooting. It wasn’t spectacular, 11th in percentage and 12th in makes, but good enough to keep them in games.
This year that hasn’t been the case as the Orlando Magic dropped to 25th in 3-point percentage and 23rd in 3-point makes. A big part of that is the play of Terrence Ross.
The Human Torch has made a name for himself as one of the best players in the league at coming off screens or taking the handoff.
Last season, Ross led all bench players in 3-point makes and shot nearly 40 percent from beyond the arc. He was rewarded with a $54 million contract.
This season hasn’t gone as planned. Before his unreal post-All-Star Break stretch, Ross was shooting it at just 32.2 percent from downtown.
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A big part of Ross’ struggles has been the decline of Nikola Vucevic.
According to pbpstats.com, Ross made threes at a 38.7 percent clip last season while on the court with Vucevic. Conversely, Ross was shooting at a 32.7 percent clip with Vooch in 2019-20.
According to Cleaning the Glass, Ross and Vucevic were +6.5 points per 100 possessions (87th percentile) last season. During 2019-20, the duo barely cracks a positive at just +0.8 (57th percentile).
Speaking of Vucevic, let’s continue.