Elfrid Payton has the keys to the Orlando Magic offense

Elfrid Payton has been given the wheel to drive the Orlando Magic’s offense. Right now, he is expertly guiding the team to wins with his playmaking ability.

Elfrid Payton can be very sneaky. He has to be to sneak past the defense even when they know what is coming and they know the best way to defend him.

Teams think the best way to defend him is to lay off him and let him shoot. And, sure that can work. Payton’s jumper has improved moderately but his field goal percentage has still decreased to 41.2 percent. Still, Payton has proven himself effective.

He takes that space up and gets into the paint. He does so not necessarily looking for his shot, but he does so aggressively looking to make that defender make the impossible decision and try to stop him.

What Payton does for the Magic is not necessarily something that comes from his own line score. His effectiveness comes from the way he drives into the lane with ease and creates the rhythm for the Magic’s ball-movement, motion offense.

He slinks and yo-yos through the lane initiating the offense and the collapse of the defense to give players like Tobias Harris and Victor Oladipo driving room. He is the one that initiates the pass out for the Evan Fournier or Channing Frye 3-pointer.

If the Magic need someone to initiate the offense and instigate things to set the chains in motion, it is indeed Payton who does it.

“When people are scoring, they play a lot better on defense,” Elfrid Payton said after the Magic’s win over the Hornets. “That’s something I try to take pride in. I just try to get into the paint and make plays for others. They really collapsed tonight and guys knocked down shots.”

Payton did suffer an injury to his left ankle during Friday’s win over Portland. Coach Scott Skiles said Payton participated at the beginning of practice but felt discomfort and missed the rest of practice. However, Skiles said Payton should be ready to play Sunday.

Every bit of Payton has been important to this point in the season. Despite seeing his field goal percentage go down a bit, Payton is averaging 12.1 points per game, up from his scoring last year, and staying on par with assists at 6.3 assists per game.

In that win over Charlotte, Payton scored 12 points and nine assists. He was aggressive getting into the lane and Charlotte had to account for him even without the consistent jumper. Against Portland on Friday, Payton scored 19 points and got to the line for 17 free throws.

Scoring-wise, Payton has scored at least 10 points in 10 of the last 12 games. He is getting the ball in the basket and that has helped boost his play too. Payton has been unafraid to shoot too — he has taken more than 40 percent of the field goal attempts he has taken all of last year already — a huge sign of his confidence.

His impact goes beyond that.

“The position has always been vital,” coach Scott Skiles said. “I will lump all the perimeter guys, it’s just so crucial that you’re in your proper spacing spots, that your body is ready to shoot, that you can drive and make a read and kick it to an open guy. All the decisions, it’s crucial now. Most nights when you are watching NBA games, the teams that are struggling offensively nowadays it’s because the perimeter people that night are struggling with those decisions.”

Payton right now is making those good decisions.

While Payton is on the floor, Orlando is posting a 100.3 offensive rating, slightly below the team’s average. However in the last 10 games (the Magic have won seven of those 10), the Magic’s offensive rating with Payton on the floor jumps to 103.9, well above the Magic’s season average and above the Magic’s average in the past 10 games.

Dec 9, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton (4) dribbles the basketball up the court during the second half of the game against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Suns won 107-104. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports /

He is posting 5.8 assists per game and 1.6 secondary assists per game (up from his 1.2 per game average for the season) in the last 10 games. He is driving more — 4.3 points per game on 7.3 drivers per game this season and 5.3 points per game on 7.5 drives per game in the last 10 games with a 10.5 percent assist rate.

Payton is getting to the lane and wreaking havoc on defenses.

The Magic are better on the offensive end with Payton on the floor right now. That much is clear. He is aggressive and getting into the lane. The shots and opportunities he creates with his penetration have helped key the Magic offense. Their unselfishness has helped finish the possessions off.

“Elfrid is a good student,” coach Scott Skiles said. “He likes to learn. Because he’s quiet, you can fall into the trap of thinking, questioning his basketball IQ or whatever. That would be a mistake because he has a high basketball IQ. And that’s another thing that’s happened to him, he has become much more verbal in the last month. We encourage all of our guys to do that, but it’s much more important from that spot.”

It took Payton some time to get settled in the Magic’s new offense. It relies less on pick and roll as a beginning which was different for Payton. And his hamstring injury during training camp did not help push his development forward.

Especially since he still struggles as a shooter, Payton has to be more aggressive and get into the lane and be in attack mode. Without it, defenders would simply lay off him too much.

There may have been some uncertainty with Payton attacking earlier in the season. That uncertainty appears to be gone.

Part of it is comfort and part of it is maturity for him.

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“He is starting to develop his habits of just being turned on all the time,” Skiles said. “It’s human nature when some things aren’t going your way to lose a little energy. A lot of young guys create habits for themselves to not let that happen because all you end up doing is shooting yourself in the foot. He’s really just starting to get his habits straight of being into every possession. It’s one of the reasons we give him a lot of freedom to run the offense so that he’s always mentally thinking the game. It’s just a matter of being turned on energy wise all the time. He’s done a much better job at doing that.”

Payton is beginning to bring that consistent energy and focus to the games every time. He is beginning to form better leadership — working on being more vocal was a part of Payton’s offseason regimen and he and his teammates are taking more responsibility for the team and its results.

“I have been putting in work,” Payton said. “It’s the result of hard work. Simple as that.

“I always expect more of myself. Even now I expect more of myself. I was disappointed with injuries. I wasn’t able to put in as much work as I wanted. It’s part of the game.”

Next: Orlando Magic beginning to get into paint more

Payton is playing at an extremely high level and is driving the engine for the Magic’s offense like a good point guard should. There is more he can do for sure, but he continues to keep pushing and driving the team forward.