The Orlando Magic have struggled to close games out. When they have, you can bet Tobias Harris has played a big part of it. No one wants the ball late more.
There was a time earlier this year, when it seemed certain the Magic had someone to turn to late in games.
For the first win of the season, Jacque Vaughn drew up a play where Tobias Harris came off a pin down screen and got a feed from Evan Fournier. He pulled up and silenced the 76ers’ home crowd. First win secured.
His legend grew (not that it needed anything more after that game-winning dunk against the Thunder last year) when Harris drove in and got the buzzer beater against the NBA-darling Hawks.
Harris has proven his late-game chops.
“He has a lot of confidence,” Nikola Vucevic said. “He plays with a lot of confidence. And that comes from him working so hard. He put in a lot of time this summer to improve his game. And he did. Every day you see him work out and try to get better and it shows on the court. It all comes from that. It is the same for everybody, if you work and you put the time in, you’re going to be confidence. He’s a confident person in general. That translates onto the court as well.”
No one doubts how hard Harris has worked. But even he had his issues late in games.
Harris missed a potential game-tying layup against the Bucks on Wednesday. Harris said after the game that he was caught a little too far under the basket and felt the pressure of the Bucks’ long defenders coming from behind.
Still, even he would not offer an excuse. It was a shot he knew he should have made.
The Magic’s late-game struggles have been well chronicled. They have blown seemingly impossible leads time and time again and got snake-bitten by Stephen Curry and Bradley Beal heroics. The Magic would say they still had the opportunity to win those games and failed to execute and finish. This is all true.
The Magic are still looking for consistency — and a bit of experience — late in games. As statistics show (that is coming a bit later), two of the Magic’s three main offensive players see their effective field goal percentage plummet late in games, suggesting they get tight or struggle in the added pressure of late-game situations.
Something clearly changes for this team when the game gets tight.
Theoretically though, they have plenty of options. As Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com notes, Ben Gordon has had a history of taking and making big shots, but is rarely used in late-game situations. Willie Green has had a knack for scoring in the fourth quarter –3.8 of his 5.7 points per game come in the fourth quarter.
Nikola Vucevic has seen his efficiency dip in the fourth quarter but his ability to knock down free throws makes him unique as a center.
Then there is Victor Oladipo. He has had his strong finishes in the past, including the driving layup that delivered an emotional win over the Heat in December.
Tobias Harris though is the guy that has long gotten the last shot and delivered when the team needed him to. He is the one getting the momentary dance with glory.
“Coach has given me the confidence and he has put the ball in my hands in those situations,” Harris said earlier this season. “For me, I can’t take that for granted. I’ve got to be able to produce for our team. That’s what keeps me to continue to work on my game each and every day and get better as a player, to study my teammates and to watch film.”
Harris has produced, scoring 20.9 points per 100 possessions in 28 games where the score is within five points with five minutes to play. In the final minute with the score within five points, he is posting 33.1 points per 100 possessions in 23 instances.
Take a look and compare the full game stats with late-game stats from the Magic’s big three players:
| Player | Full Game Pts/100 | Full Game eFG% | Clutch* Pts/100 | Clutch* eFG% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tobias Harris | 24.4 | 50.6% | 20.4 | 58.7% |
| Victor Oladipo | 24.8 | 48.3% | 19.1 | 33.3% |
| Nikola Vucevic | 28.2 | 53.1% | 23.2 | 39.3% |
*Clutch defined as under five minutes within five points
Confidence seems to be at the root of many of the Magic’s late-game issues these days. The team seems to wilt and wither under the pressure. This is where Harris has risen to the moment on several occasions, as the numbers show.
Vucevic puts up solid scoring numbers, but his efficiency goes way down late in games (unless he gets to the line which he has done 14 times in 29 instances of the Magic being down by no more than five points within five minutes to play). Victor Oladipo’s shooting goes way down too.
While Harris has not increased his scoring in the hyper pressure of late-game situations, he seems to become more efficient late in games. It might behoove the Magic to turn to him more and the proof has been in the pudding as shown in the highlights above.
Harris has grown in this area. The Magic have relied on him more in these pressure situations and Harris has both risen to the occasion and failed in it, as anyone would.
“I think that’s the biggest component of making those shots is wanting to take the shot,” Vaughn said at one point this season. “I really believe there are few people on both benches who want to take that shot at the end of the game.”
So now that the Magic are competing at a better level and have had a chance to win several games, it is about executing and getting Harris the chance to take those shots and prove himself all over again.