Orlando Magic give Charlotte Hornets too many second chances

The Orlando Magic have done a good job locking down the glass as they built up their defense. Friday, they reminded just how important that can be.

Defense has a few simple steps. Keep your man in front of you. Rotate to cover. Help the helper. Close out.

The schemes to make these steps easier may differ, but defense has a very basic premise. There is not a ton of complexity. Just different rules to accomplish these basic precepts or confuse an offense as you execute.

One thing, though, remains constant. One skill and attribute has to be the same no matter the defensive scheme or personnel. No defense can be successful without the last step to finish the possession.

Getting the initial stop is great, but it is meaningless without the rebound. Finishing a possession is critical. Without that final piece, the previous 24-or-so seconds is irrelevant. Because giving up an offensive rebound leads to easy buckets, or kick outs to the 3-point line as others prepare for that change of possession.

As the Charlotte Hornets broke down the Orlando Magic’s defense time and time again they twisted the Magic out of position and ate up the holes left behind for offensive rebounds. They finished those for second-chance points or kicked out for 3-pointers. And the added offensive rebounds led to more frustration for a Magic defense already getting beat.

Crashing the offensive glass can still be a somewhat controversial strategy. Many teams prefer to concede the offensive rebound to get back in transition. That makes giving up offensive rebounds all the more killer.

And the Hornets barrage against the Magic in a 109-88 win at Spectrum Center on Friday night came because the Hornets were quicker to loose balls, beating the Magic to the offensive glass. It made things more difficult for Orlando throughout the night.

The Magic gave up 13 offensive rebounds and 20 second-chance points. At one point in the third quarter, Frank Vogel informed his team Charlotte had made four 3-pointers off offensive rebounds. The Hornets had a 29.5 percent offensive rebound rate.

The Magic were giving up an offensive rebound on nearly one-third of every Hornets miss.

That put even more pressure on the Magic’s defense. A pressure the team could not withstand. Not with all the fatigue factors that might have been playing into things. The Magic needed to finish their defensive possessions to build momentum. And consistently, they could not.

The Magic have typically been a strong rebounding team. Particularly during the good stretch of defensive play, Orlando did a number on the defensive glass.

For the season, the Magic have given up a 23.2 percent offensive rebound rate, 13th in the league. Generally, Orlando has done a very good job controlling the defensive glass and finishing off possessions.

Since Nov. 11, when the Magic first made a lineup change, the Magic have given up just a 21.1 offensive rebound rate. That was good for fifth in the league.

The Magic’s defense did all those important steps to finish possessions and it cemented their place among the league’s best.

Friday, Orlando was in the game even into the second quarter. Charlotte opened its lead by stealing extra possessions away on the offensive glass and beating Orlando in transition after missed shots.

The Hornets, in other words, took advantage of the Magic’s lackadaisical play. Orlando’s poor defense fed into their effort on the glass or put them so far out of position they could not react to the glass.

There was more than one possession where a rebound caromed off the rim and landed between two rebounders to the Hornets. Or they just got flat out beat to the ball. In one instance Cody Zeller beat three Magic players to a rebound for a putback.

Orlando was failing to box out and keep Charlotte off the glass. And it paid dearly for it on the scoreline.

The Magic’s poor rebounding is clearly seen in the box score. Usually sturdy rebounders like Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo were held well below their season averages. Vucevic grabbed four rebounds and Biyombo just three.

Orlando’s struggles on the glass were very real and reminiscent of when the Magic were at their worst defensively.

The defense from the last three games has been more reminiscent of the first weeks of the season. The Magic have now given up three consecutive 100-point games for the first time since the first four games of the season.

Back then, the Magic’s defense was too porous. They gave up offensive rebounds often then too.

In those first nine games, the Magic had an offensive rebound rate of 27.4 percent. That was 27th in the league. This was when the Magic were near rock bottom at 3-6 and forced to make a lineup change.

Orlando is not at that desperate moment yet. But struggling on the defensive glass is as much a sign the Magic’s defense is struggling as any other. It is all part of the formula for Orlando.

Locking down the defensive glass is both a sign of effort and execution. There is no strong defense without that last piece on the glass. And there is no sure sign of a team struggling to rise to the occasion than a team struggling to secure rebounds after missed shots.

Next: Grades: Charlotte Hornets 109, Orlando Magic 88

Friday night, Orlando struggled with this basic tenet of every defense. And it cost them big.