Dewayne Dedmon’s energy gets unleashed on Chicago Bulls

Dewayne Dedmon has been a bit of a conundrum all year. Against the Chicago Bulls, his energy was apparent and he was unleashed on a struggling team.

The first play of the game was probably not drawn for Dewayne Dedmon. The sometimes overeager, uber-athletic center got the ball at the elbow and drove across the lane for a wild hook shot.

It was probably not what the team was looking for from the backup center filling in for Nikola Vucevic for the 11st straight game.

The next play was also ran through the post through Dedmon. Another odd choice. And another miss.

From there though, the confidence was being built in the Magic’s young center. The confidence to finish and the confidence to use him within the offense. This would be a career night for the Magic’s young center — he matched his career high by halftime — in scoring 18 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

“He was just really active,” coach Scott Skiles said. “He was on the boards. He got some opportunities that he might not normally get and he was able to finish them. Some games he plays and doesn’t get many opportunities just based on how the other team is guarding. Tonight he got some and he was able to put them in.”

He did not always get the ball in isolations to score. That is not Dedmon’s game. But he was involved early on. And that got him rolling and got him going, setting up his defense and setting up others to stay attached to him around the basket.

Dedmon is not the player that many think of for offense. He averages only 3.9 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game in 12.1 minutes per game. He is more known as the team’s best rim protector than anything else.

He is only a few weeks removed from requesting the team send him to the D-League for a single game before the team headed to the West Coast. That performance — just getting up there to move around and get some game action — set the table for Dedmon’s sudden increase in minutes after Nikola Vucevic went out with a groin injury.

Dedmon has averaged 18.5 minutes per game in the last 10 games, posting 6.0 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He has nearly doubled his production with this added playing time.

The one constant with Dedmon though has always been his energy. That is typically his lasting impact on the game.

“It’s always important to bring energy,” Dedmon said. “That’s what I do. To be able to come out and provide energy and the ball was falling for me, so it worked out.”

On this night it called for him scoring. And that helped free everything else up.

Payton said Dedmon’s strong play early around the basket helped free him up to drive the lane. The centers were just a little more hesitant to shift over and leave their man. The Magic — and Payton especially — were always willing to make the extra pass and find Dedmon down low. He still had his troubles catching the ball, but was good gathering himself and converting on those plays.

What Dedmon’s strong game is really a product of is how great the ball was moving for the Magic throughout the game. Dedmon was a beneficiary of that.

And his strong offense led to good defense from him. It was all a reward for the work Dedmon has put in — mostly behind the scenes — and the work the team put together.

“Dewayne definitely plays hard every single game,” Evan Fournier said. “I was really happy for him to get some touches and get some dunks. It is good to be rewarded after all that effort.”

A game like this Dedmon came at just the right moment. The Magic needed the boost to recover from a six-game losing streak and needed the energy with playing their fifth game this week. Dedmon set that tone very early in the game.

There were still moments where Dedmon reverted to some of the inconsistencies that have made up his year in Orlando.

What was important was how he pushed  through those times. He kept coming at Chicago. The Bulls are in such a state of disrepair that they could not handle it.

With Dedmon’s own uncertain future coming up — he is a free agent this summer, most likely a restricted free agent — this is the kind of game he can point to as what he can be when he is rolling at his best.

“Every game is important,” Dedmon said. “Every time you get an opportunity, everybody is watching. Now to get this opportunity now that Vuc is injured right now, to start bringing energy and start playing basketball the way I play, just kind of show off what I can do.”

The ball was coming to Dedmon on this night. The ball was moving flawlessly and Dedmon was a big part of that both by what he did when he had the ball and by his presence.

Next: Orlando Magic come together, wake up, stomp Chicago Bulls

Here was Dedmon unleashed in a way he had not before.