Orlando Magic may have discovered an offensive plan in Milwaukee
The Orlando Magic used a similar spread-them-out play to ice the game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, discovering some consistent offense.
The Orlando Magic needed two big 3-pointers to complete a comeback and put the Milwaukee Bucks away Saturday.
With Elfrid Payton running the point, the thought with an ideal roster would be to spread the floor and let the rookie point guard get to work. Of course, the Magic do not have a ton of recognized and respected shooters and so spreading the floor does not always give Payton or Victor Oladipo the room to drive.
Yet, in Saturday’s win, the Magic banked on their ability to make 3-pointers to secure the game. And Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris delivered on two separate plays.
Credit James Borrego for making the change and sticking shooters in the corner to take advantage of the short 3-pointer, as related by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel:
"So the Magic concocted a plan. They often would place a shooter in the left corner, another shooter in the right corner and ask Elfrid Payton and Nik Vucevic to run pick-and-rolls down the center of the court. As a result, the Bucks’ defenders in the corners would have to travel farther than usual to confront Payton if he dribbled into the lane. Payton, in turn, could pass to Vucevic for a midrange jumper, or Payton could kick the ball to the corners for a 3-pointer."
That would seem to make a lot of sense. Again, if teams respected the Magic’s shooters. The Bucks did not and banked on the Magic missing 3-pointers. They did not.
But let’s dig a little deeper into the strategy here:
In this first play, the Magic and the Bucks are tied at 88. As Robbins noted, the Magic set up a 1/5 pick and roll and put Victor Oladipo in one corner and Tobias Harris in the other.
Aaron Gordon is the odd man out here and is not someone who can spread the floor. That actually congests things as Vucevic does not go to the top of the key to run the pick and roll. Payton drives the lane as the two bigs set up on either block.
Payton thinks better of this mid-flight and dishes off to Vucevic. Giannis Antetokounmpo gets caught peaking at Vucevic in the post and he finds Tobias Harris for the open 3-pointer.
So, the Magic get a little lucky here. But the basic gravity Vucevic’s post touch and the spacing given to Harris by sticking him in the corner remains.
The player movement graph from NBA.com (below) shows this well how getting Payton into the paint with shooters in the corner can free up space for scoring, even when things break down.
Maybe if Harris is a better shooter, Antetokounmpo does not dig in so hard. And that could give Vucevic the chance to finish in the post. And one area Vucevic has improved passing out of double teams. The scouting report might still say “Let Tobias Harris shoot” and “double Nikola Vucevic.”
The Magic needed one more 3-pointer to ice this game and ran a very similar play to get Victor Oladipo the 3-pointer.
Instead of using Vucevic as a screener, the Magic run a 1/3 pick and roll with Payton and Harris. Oladipo goes to the corner and Aaron Gordon goes to the other. The p;lay is designed to get Tobias Harris isolated at the top of the key if Payton cannot penetrate. The Bucks switch leaving Michael Carter-Williams on Harris. Oladipo cuts along the baseline to clear the space for Harris to work.
So Harris gets to work. The Bucks are a solid defensive team though and, even with the switch, can competently defend Harris. But the isolation play is a red herring of sorts.
While Vucevic does not pull all the way out to the corner, he begins to cut to the opposite block/pinch post area as an outlet for Harris. This leads to Zaza Pachulia to come up and attempt a double on Harris and Khris Middleton to pull toward Vucevic. The double works to get the ball out of Harris’ hands, but the Magic are ready.
Payton screens Antetokounmpo to free up Aaron Gordon on the wing. Ersan Ilyasova has to react as he is now guarding both Gordon and Oladipo, who has now completed his cut to the corner.
Ilyasova makes the wrong decision as he moves to close out Gordon aggressively. Gordon moves the ball immediately to Oladipo for a wide-open, game-clinching 3-pointer.
The pass from Gordon to Oladipo is immediate, a great instinct from the rookie forward. He is not even thinking shot, but Ilyasova is committed to closing out. All Oladipo has to do is make a clean catch, lift and fire.
In both these plays just having a player available and ready in the corner to shoot that corner 3-pointer is invaluable in stretching the defense. It was pretty clear that with some crisp and confident passing, the Magic can create good offensive opportunities.
And, as the team proves it can shoot the ball, the ability to spread a defense out will create driving lanes.
Against the Bucks, this strategy worked and the team trusted the next pass and the shot would be there.
This is a positive step for a team trying to end the season with some momentum and carve a little bit of an offensive identity. The drives here set up the potential for quick ball reversals.
Will the Magic continue to put players in the corner and at least present defenses with the threat of shooters? How does the team proceed from here? We will find out in these final five games.