Orlando Magic Weekly Preview: January 19-24

Dec 28, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic forward Channing Frye (8) reacts to making a basket during the second quarter of a basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic forward Channing Frye (8) reacts to making a basket during the second quarter of a basketball game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
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Jason Smith, Orlando Magic, DeMar DeRozan, Jonas Valanciunas, Toronto Raptors
Jan 14, 2016; London, United Kingdom; Orlando Magic forward Jason Smith (14) drives to the basket against Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) and center Jonas Valanciunas (17) during NBA Global basketball games-Toronto at The O2 Arena. Mandatory Credit: Leo Mason-USA TODAY Sports

What We Learned This Week

By David Iwanowski

The Magic still have some progress to be made if they want to make the Playoffs.

The Magic lost their sixth game out of the past seven Thursday, and they have struggled with consistency.

The Magic bench, which was a big weapon in the team’s hot December, got completely outplayed by the Raptors’ bench. They are still 13th in the league in bench points per game, 11th in the league in bench field goal percentage, seventh in bench points against, and fourth in bench field goal percentage against. Those stats suggest their depth has been a strength all season.

However, the bench unit combined for 20 points in this game, with four of the five reserve players having a negative plus/minus rating. Toronto, on the other hand, had 43 bench points from four players, all of whom had very positive plus/minus ratings.

The Magic are now 2-10 against teams currently aligned to make the Playoffs in the East, and they will need to start winning some of those games in order to make a serious push at a playoff spot.

Next: Power Rankings Roundup