Orlando Magic returning to defense, seeing improvement

The Orlando Magic have begun to climb out of their hole thanks to a defense that is surging back from the dead. It gives them at least a chance to win.

There was disappointment for sure after Nikola Vucevic made his second of two free throws, completing a crucial split and leaving the Orlando Magic with a one-point deficit and 30 seconds to play. The Magic would have a second chance to tie the game or win it, but whether it would be a one- or three-point deficit, or worse, would be dependent on that next possession.

Frustration and disappointment from points left on the board would have to wait. There was still work to do to have a shot at winning the game.

It was hardly perfect, but the Magic effectively got the stop. Aaron Gordon and Victor Oladipo switched as Monta Ellis came across the screen. That prevented Ellis from driving and Gordon was able to lightly contest an Ellis fall away as Oladipo grabbed the rebound in front of Myles Turner. The Magic still had a chance to win.

That kind of a stop was similar to the stops the Magic had to get constantly in Friday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks failed to score in the final four possessions of regulation and scored just one point in the final three minutes of the game. The Magic only had two points, so they needed every single stop.

Considering how low the Magic’s defense had sunk in the past month, that kind of play was absolutely critical to the Magic eking out a win.

“We’ve been better,” coach Scott Skiles said. “We took a step back [Sunday] night until the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter was pretty solid. We’ve been better at it. We are hoping we can continue that. That end of the floor is important. When we haven’t guarded we have given ourselves no chance to win hardly. We need to continue to do that.”

The Magic indeed played their best defense in the fourth quarter Sunday. The Pacers shot just 9 for 25 in the final 12 minutes, by far their worst of the game after shooting 50 percent or better in the previous three quarters. The Magic gave up a paltry 93.8 points per 100 possessions in the quarter.

It was their defense that kept them in the game and it weighted the Pacers down to a 97.9 offensive rating. The Magic defense was well below its season average and its average for much of the past two months.

Put that on top of the 95.5 defensive rating the team posted in the win over Dallas, and the Magic have their first back-to-back games with a defensive rating better than 100.0 points allowed per 100 possessions since Jan. 6-8 in a loss to Indiana and a win at Brooklyn.

“We’re helping each other,” Payton said. “Even when we break down, we’re not giving up buckets. We’re finding a way to scramble out of it, forcing turnovers things like that.

“[Defense is] very important,” Payton continued. “We know that. That’s why we’re making a real concerted effort these last five games. We just need to keep that up. I think we’ll position ourselves well at the end of games.”

The last five games, the Magic have a 99.0 defensive rating. Among team’s last five games that is the fourth best in the league. So it would seem the Magic have put themselves back in a position to win largely on their defense once again.

That was how the team won a lot of games earlier in the year too.

Before this big January dip, the Magic had a 100.3 defensive rating in their first 32 games. That mark was good for 11th in the league. Since January 1, the Magic have a 107.5 defensive rating in 19 games. That would be 25th in the league in that time span.

To go from where the Magic were at for much of the 2016 calendar year to better than they were when they were above .500 is a good sign that the team is making its way out. In those five games — again a small sample size — the Magic are 3-2. Their offense has been as bad as it ever was.

With the Magic relying more on their defense, they are giving themselves a real chance to win.

This is a good and encouraging trend. For the Magic to take advantage of this critical stretch of the schedule, they will have to do it on the defensive end first.