Orlando Magic’s defense breaks down at the point

The Orlando Magic’s defensive problems Sunday stemmed directly from the point guard. At the initial point of attack, the Magic were struggling to get stops.

The Orlando Magic already knew they had a problem in the first half.

They had just cut the lead down to six and Jeff Teague was writhing on the floor at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in pain having just rolled his ankle. It was a momentary reprieve for Orlando as Teague was getting into the lane past D.J. Augustin time and time again to rip the Magic defense apart.

In came Aaron Brooks to replace the injured Teague. And in came Elfrid Payton to provide some stiffened defense.

That did not work either.  Brooks pushed the pace and broke Elfrid Payton off the dribble for a runner. Following another miss by an anemic Magic offense, Brooks juked Payton out of his shoes and hit a one-handed push shot for three to give the Pacers an 11-point halftime lead.

Brooks, Teague and anyone else driving against the Magic’s perimeter defense were having their way getting into the paint and tearing apart the Magic’s defense during an 117-104 Indiana Pacers win on Sunday to start off 2017.

And even with Magic coach Frank Vogel pushing Payton into the starting lineup to start the third quarter, the defense just would not awaken. Specifically on the perimeter. Teague and Brooks again ripped into the perimeter, dumping it down to Myles Turner and Al Jefferson for easy baskets or collapsing the defense entirely for an open 3-pointer.

Vogel said it succinctly. The team has to be better at the “head of the snake.” The point guard’s defense was the primary problem for the Magic throughout Sunday’s game.

Teague scored 12 points to go with nine assists, making five of his nine shots, and Brooks scored 14 points to go with two assists on six for nine shooting. All but two of Teague’s attempts came right at the rim.

The Pacers scored 48 points in the paint against the Magic and had 28 assists and nine secondary assists. They were better at getting the Magic defense to collapse around them. It started at point guard.

This has been a recurring problem not just this season, but also last season. Payton’s poor defense, particularly on pick and rolls was a big reason for the Magic’s sudden defensive drop last year and their overall struggles.

By many defensive metrics, Payton was a weak link defensively last year. His defensive win shares dropped from 2.3 to 1.7 and his defensive box plus-minus rating dropped from 0.8 to -0.5. This year, Payton already has totaled 1.0 defensive win shares and a 0.4 defensive box plus-minus.

Overall, he has been much better this year.

But with the team’s offensive struggles and Vogel’s decision to start Bismack Biyombo, the team has started D.J. Augustin. And Augustin has never been known for his defensive prowess.

In his career, Augustin has never had a positive defensive box plus-minus. This year he has a -3.4 defensive box plus-minus. At least according to this metric, Augustin’s defense has not been good this year and has been really bad even for his poor defensive career.

And that was on full display Sunday against the Pacers.

As Indiana continued to grow its lead in the third and fourth quarters, they all seemed to come on the same kind of play.

Teague or Brooks would drive into the lane, suck in the big men and dump it off to Jefferson, Turner or whomever for a big dunk. In one stretch late in the third quarter, after the Magic had cut the deficit down to nine, Brooks ran that same play three times, finding little resistance.

This has a cascading effect. The Magic’s bigs can play good defense and protect the rim. But crafty point guards know how to suck those bigs in and dump it off to the open man they leave behind or to kick it out to the perimeter.

With few exceptions, Serge Ibaka, Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo did a good job stopping dribble penetration. But there was no one to cover their man behind them. They need a little bit more resistance from their perimeter defenders so they can recover.

The typical corraling and stunting the Magic do to slow down penetration simply did not work. The bigs certainly share their blame. Perhaps they could have set a better angle to guide the point guards where they want them to go.

But ultimately, a defense is only as successful as the individual defender’s ability to stop his man. Or at least make things harder for him.

Throughout all of last season, the Magic learned that first hand as Payton struggled mightily with his defense against pick and rolls and against opposing point guards. He still has some struggles with that.

But considering the point guard brings the ball up and often initiates the offense, having strong defense on the ball at point guard is essential to any strong defense.

Against the Los Angeles Lakers a week ago, the big men told the guards to pressure their man and they would take care of the rim. That resulted in nine blocks in the first quarter. As Vogel joked after the game, that also meant there were nine blowbys.

Maybe that was more prophetic of his team’s issues. And with this team’s inconsistency, they could turn around and be decent in their next game.

Fixing the Magic’s defensive problems likely does not come from anything schematic or reshuffling the big men. It likely starts with the guards stepping up.

Next: Grades: Indiana Pacers 117, Orlando Magic 104

And it certainly starts with the point guards stopping the initial action from the point guard.