Orlando Magic Week 4 Takeaways: The search continues
A search for consistency
By Sean Guest
This week we learned that this Orlando Magic team will struggle for consistency.
The past 10 days have delivered an impressive win over the Utah Jazz, a fatigue-addled defeat to the Washington Wizards, an overtime thriller against the Minnesota Timberwolves and a lackluster loss to the Sacramento Kings.
As well as the Magic played against the Jazz and Timberwolves, the drive and desire exhibited in those victories was sorely absent in defeat, most notably when the Kings came to town.
Led by DeMarcus Cousins’ 29 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks, the Kings were a step ahead of the Magic all night, in no small part because of a 31-8 free throw differential.
Interestingly enough, the defensive effort was there, as Sacramento shot just 38 percent from the field and 35 percent from deep. But an inability to get to the line when the shots were not falling cost the Magic dearly, while the Kings did a much better job of creating contact throughout.
Against an opponent that has itself found consistency hard to come by this year, Orlando would have hoped for more, especially as just a few nights before it notched a close-fought win against a hungry young Timberwolves team.
That one came courtesy of Evan Fournier’s game-winning 3-pointer with just 3.1 seconds left on the clock.
There was more to it than that though, as Elfrid Payton put in his best performance of the young season, recording 24 points on 11-for-23 shooting in the win.
For contrast, Payton scored just seven points on 3-for-12 shooting against the Kings and then missed all seven of his shots Monday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, epitomizing the inconsistency plaguing the team at the moment.
Part of the problem appears to be adjusting to Scott Skiles’ offensive system, which relies on a lot more movement and screening than most of Orlando’s current roster is used to.
Entering Monday’s games, the team’s offensive rating is 101.6 (27th in the league), and that may not improve until the rotation settles down (assuming it does!) and players learn to adapt.
Right now the Magic are working hard to establish a winning culture and identity. And without a strong veteran presence on the court this kind of erratic form is to be expected.
For now at least.
Next: A search for wins