Orlando Magic ‘winding down’ in a bad way late
The Orlando Magic start off games as strong as any team in the league. But the numbers show they get progressively worse as the game goes on.
The Orlando Magic have been a great first quarter team. There is no denying the effectiveness for the Magic early in games.
Their 108.7 offensive rating in the first quarter is third in the league and their 94.0 defensive rating in the first quarter is seventh in the league. The team’s 14.7 net rating is third in the league in first quarters behind only the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs.
That means there are some incredible starts for this team. So where do things go terribly wrong?
Scott Skiles has noted how poor the Magic have come out of the locker room.
Unlike those first quarters, the Magic have a 95.7 offensive rating in the third quarter, good for 24th in the league; a 100.5 defensive rating, good for 11th in the league; and a -4.8 net rating in the third quarter, good for 21st in the league.
The script almost completely flips.
“It’s hard to explain,” said Evan Fournier, who also said he expects to play Wednesday after missing two days with a fever. “We start the game so good, we should actually build on it and keep playing this way. It’s the opposite for some reason. I don’t know, maybe it is just a lack of focus. But we definitely have to fix it.”
It has been something Skiles noted several times before Wednesday’s game against the Timberwolves and in the days of practice leading up to that game. The team seems to wind down and see its numbers drop.
The pattern is undeniable:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off. Rtg. | 108.7 | 96.3 | 95.7 | 94.8 | 98.3 |
| Def. Rtg. | 94.0 | 98.6 | 100.5 | 103.9 | 99.2 |
| Net Rtg. | 14.7 | -2.3 | -4.8 | -9.1 | -0.9 |
Yes, that is a pretty clear drop off. The Magic build a lead in the first quarter, only to see it slowly dissipate and evaporate as the game goes on. The team’s offensive rating gets progressively worse and the team’s defensive rating gets progressively worse, culminating in abysmal fourth-quarter performances.
Fournier said he believes seeing these numbers will help get the team to focus and ensure that it does not happen any more. During Monday’s practice, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reported the coaching staff reviewed the second half of Saturday’s loss to Washington in its entirety and asked players to help diagnose the problem.
Nikola Vucevic said some of it might be a lack of energy often found in NBA arenas after halftime — this is not just an Orlando problem. The team has to find something different for the second half.
“I think it’s really the mental part where we have to stay focused when we go into halftime and make sure that we come out with the same aggressiveness that we do to start games,” Nikola Vucevic said. “A lot of times the start of third quarters, the building is quiet and not everybody is there. It just feels kind of flat. we can’t allow that to make us play that way. We have to stay focused on what we do, not focus on the outside or the other team or anything else.”
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The phenomena, as the numbers clearly show, has been fairly consistent throughout the season. So finding some type of answer would greatly benefit the Magic in the end. It is necessary for the team to start winning.
At the end of the day though, the Magic have to make it happen. The whole season has been spent saying the right things, but everyone is waiting for the team to take a step forward in the right direction.
“It’s a fairly common thing that practices sometimes can be better,” Skiles said. “But the approach has to be that when we go out and play the game that we approach it like a practice. For some reason, some times, it’s hard to transfer it over. We’ve had good transfer in a lot of minutes. As we keep saying, just not enough yet.”
Skiles has said several times the team has looked good in practice. They have played with the proper energy and focus through practice but have struggled to transfer it to games. Consistency has continued to elude his team.
This problem of finishing games and seeing the team wind down late in games has become concerning.
“The team last year, when you look at the end of season numbers, they stayed fairly consistent during the game the offensive and defensive rating,” Skiles said. “Both terrible, but consistent. So now, we’re good in the beginning of games, but we’re winding down and we’ve got to figure that out.”