The Orlando Magic lost 92-87 to the Bulls on Sunday night, and rotation decisions and offensive play played big parts in the result.
The only similar aspect about how the Orlando Magic played against the Chicago Bulls compared to the Washington Wizards and Oklahoma City Thunder was the result.
While the Magic dominated for three quarters against the Thunder, they trailed for most of the game against the Bulls and quite frankly did not look very good.
They began to turn it around with about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter thanks to some unlikely heroes. Jason Smith hit a jumper to make the score 81-68, and it sparked a 16-2 run for the Magic.
They had some chances to take the lead, but ultimately fell 92-87. Victor Oladipo and Smith each missed key 3-point opportunities, and the Bulls converted their free throws at the end.
On the last play, down by five with 10 seconds left, they inbounded the ball to Nikola Vucevic, who backed down for about six seconds and ultimately missed the shot. That essentially ended the game.
It was a puzzling play call, as was some of the shot selection during the game.
But more puzzling was the rotation Scott Skiles used.
Victor Oladipo played 39 minutes and Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier both played 35. That made sense: despite Oladipo’s inefficiency in the game, he is generally one of the best players on the team and has the ball in his hands a lot.
Fournier shot 8 for 15 from the field and 2 for 4 from three, but the Bulls outscored the Magic by 15 with him on the court. He seemed to pass up some open shots early, possibly because of his shooting struggles the past two games, but he was effective in attacking the basket.
Vucevic played a solid game, and even contributed two steals and thre blocks on the defensive end.
Aaron Gordon played 25 minutes, more than he did in the first two games, and was fairly effective despite shooting 2 for 7 from the field.
He played strong defensively, grabbing seven rebounds and adding two blocks and two steals to his stat sheet. His defensive effort and hustle validated his increased role.
But Elfrid Payton and Tobias Harris both only played 22 minutes, with both sitting for most of the second half. Payton was in foul trouble for most of the game, which could partially explain his lack of minutes.
In their stead was Shabazz Napier playing 16 minutes, Jason Smith playing 14 minutes, including most of the fourth quarter and crunch time, Channing Frye playing nine minutes and Mario Hezonja only playing five.
Napier was effective, as his plus/minus was +7 and he created offense for the team. Frye was -5 and missed two open threes. Smith was +7 and sparked the rally, but Skiles kept him in for a bit too long and he regressed back to his expectations in the final minutes as the team got close.
Hezonja did not have the chance to play much, and that was especially questionable seeing the Magic needed an offensive boost.
It appeared at times, specifically in the second quarter, Orlando abandoned its ball movement that worked so well for three quarters against the Thunder, and resorted to isolations as Chicago disrupted passing lanes and cutters.
It appeared that the Magic passed up on some open 3-point shot opportunities to attempt to move closer to the hoop, but ultimately would end up taking contested jumpers.
Against a strong defense like the Bulls, the Magic had to take the open shots they could get. There could be no hesitation. The Bulls are fifth in defensive rating so far this year and were 11th last season. Scoring was not going to be easy.
Some offensive confidence was needed and Skiles was clearly trying to pull some levers and try different combinations to find anything that would work.
Another big surprise was Andrew Nicholson checking in with six minutes remaining and playing the next 4:06 in a tight game for his first appearance of the season.
He did not do anything particularly well or poorly, but it was a very bad sign Skiles had three end-of-the-rotation players on the court down the stretch. Maybe it was worse that they were the only ones seemingly effective in the game.
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Generally, it is best to put a team’s best players on the court rather than riding the hot bench hands, because with a high enough amount of minutes, players will usually regress to their typical level of play.
Skiles may have benched some of his underperforming starters to prove a point, but the most important thing in a game is winning, and the team’s best players give them the best chance to win.
Harris specifically could have given Orlando a better chance to score when the team needed baskets. Smith missed his final three shots after the Bulls reloaded facing a close game.
One of the fears many fans had was that Skiles would be that he would play his veterans more than he should and bench his young guys more than he should, and that was the case tonight.
Payton and Harris sitting down the stretch, Hezonja sitting for 43 minutes, and Frye, Nicholson and Smith playing the roles they did were all very surprising and likely detrimental decisions that the coaching staff will analyze in the next few days.
Skiles rode his bench players who brought the Magic back into the game too long in this one. It may have cost his team a win in the end.