It was a familiar sight in the Orlando Magic lose to the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. The Magic tried to make an initial move but got there too slowly. When the Pacers put pressure on the Magic and blew it, the Magic didn’t have time to do anything else.
They now had to scramble to find a shot. And this often resulted in a contested plan like this:
The Magic had to reset their offense late with Paolo Banchero staying on the perimeter. Caleb Houstan has unbalanced the field and Paolo Banchero has to wait for him to clear the area. That leaves Banchero with just five seconds to try and attack Myles Turner and create something.
That left him with very little to do and a rushed pass to Franz Wagner in the corner for a contested three. Not much else to do. And not a quality shot.
The Magic often had to make plays like this while falling behind, trying to reset and rush into a loaded defense with an unbalanced floor.
They made 36 3-pointers, the most attempts from three this usually stingy team has made in seven games (loss to the Atlanta Hawks). These kinds of rush plays are usually what leads the team to settle for threes and gum up the Magic’s offense.
It’s a perfect visual for what went wrong offensively for the Magic in the last two games. The team had no rhythm or fluidity. The results were quite striking.
Orlando struggled offensively this weekend. It’s not rocket science. The reason seemed quite simple: The team stagnated and allowed defensive pressure to slow down their already deliberate attack.
The cure? Understand how to better control their pace and speed to find that flow. The solutions are less about defense and more about controlling their mindset and what they can control.
“I just think about a lack of ball movement and the fact that our actions are not happening with the rhythm that we would like,” Paolo Banchero said after Tuesday’s training. “Our communication wasn’t really there as a group. Watching the film, we didn’t seem connected.”
There is a lot to explore. But this perception that Magic moved more slowly and started late certainly seemed to ring true.
It starts with overall production.
Magic scored a season-low 74 points Friday against the New York Knicksthe fewest points the Magic have scored since March 13, 2018. They followed up with just 97 points in Sunday’s loss to the Pacers, marking the first time with consecutive games without 100 points since January 9 and 12.
They also failed to eclipse a point per possession in either game, the first time the team has done that in consecutive games since the end of last season, when the team packed it after his elimination from the playoffs.
The Magic’s offense was just plain wrong.
If this is what the Playoffs will look like for the Magic, they have some work to do.
“In the game against New York, that physicality, that level of play and what we saw in that game planning was great for us to recognize right now,” coach Jamahl Mosley said after practice. Tuesday. “It’s going to give other teams what they think they can do to us. But being more of who we are gives us more opportunities every night. Indiana has increased the tempo and the pressure more. But we always say ‘ It always comes back to what we do. If we do these things the right way with the right level of pace, intensity, physicality and endurance, we give ourselves a chance every night. “
The Magic have lost many of their habits and things they usually do. These were of course sub-par offensive games, so the team’s numbers are expected to decline. But the Magic hit low marks that were concerning and clearly showed a team that was playing a step behind.
The Magic averaged a pace of 92.5 possessions per 48 minutes (their season average is 97.6). This already shows how much the team has slowed down its pace in these two games thanks to the defensive pressure the team has faced. This physicality forced Orlando to become much more stagnant.
The Magic are not a high-volume passing team, averaging 279.1 assists per game and 44.0 potential assists per game according to Second Spectrum data. Over the last two games, Orlando has recorded 259.0 assists per game and 34.0 potential assists per game.
Additionally, the Magic shot 5 for 25 and 2 for 12 on three shots in the final four seconds of the shot clock and an additional 7 for 14 on shots with 4-7 seconds remaining on the shot clock. The Magic are averaging 8.9 attempts per game in the final four seconds of the shot clock and are shooting 38.0 percent on those shots.
The Magic’s offense may need to address many of these issues to become more efficient and get better shots in the future. The team needs to play a little faster and more decisively to be successful.
“Our ability to make quicker decisions and get the ball back quickly, get around it, move forward with tempo,” coach Jamahl Mosley said after Tuesday’s practice. “Teams are doing a great job being physical with us. We’re looking for ways to combat that. Teams are changing more and it’s harder for us to get into the paint. That’s been our strength all year to be able to get there. Let’s just go back to those fundamentals: the angles of our screens, the way we cut, how we open our setups, all those little things.”
That’s ultimately what things come down to. It’s not so much about pace, throwing more shots or passing just for the sake of passing, it’s how quickly the Magic make decisions.
Orlando looked slow because teams were blowing up their plays and the Magic had less time due to their naturally slow pace. This made the problems worse.
And Orlando was already a team struggling offensively. It also didn’t help that Orlando made just 10 of 32 and 8 of 29 3-pointers in the last two games when the nearest defender was six feet or more away. Sometimes it’s really about doing open shots.
This is just one point in the season where the Magic need to lock down and be more efficient.
“We beat everyone we’re supposed to beat, but the teams that are in the same range as us in the standings are going to play with a chip on their shoulder,” Banchero said after Tuesday’s practice. “We have to be prepared. We have 17 games left, we have to lock in, turn up the intensity for these playoffs and come together as a group.”
Everyone then understands that the problem is not a question of selfishness. Paolo Banchero echoed what Cole Anthony said after Sunday’s game: Everyone is trying to do the right thing. But sometimes that can mean they force things.
dark. Following. Paolo Banchero Eastern Conference Rankings. Where Paolo Banchero stands in the Eastern Conference
The goal for now is to play with better rhythm, pace and intensity. This will help breathe some life into the offense.
