The Pace Factor
The Magic from the beginning of the season said they wanted to run and push the pace. Even with the team’s added size, the team wanted to get out and run and score in transition.
The idea was to use the team’s youth and athleticism to score easy points off the team’s strong defense. It made logical sense. But it was difficult to execute. The team’s shooting did not work out that way.
Obviously, the Magic increased their pace after the All-Star Break. It was more of an emphsasis, and having Aaron Gordon at power forward helped add another breaker in transition.
But there was a notable increase in fast-break points. That was an emphasis but was a bigger deal for the team after the break.
Before the All-Star Break, the Magic were 15th in the league with 13.3 fast-break points per game. After the All-Star Break, the Magic were seventh with 16.0 fast-break points per game. That is a significant raw increase.
Orlando was seventh with 15.7 fast-break points per 100 possessions after the All-Star Break after scoring 13.4 fast-break points per 100 possessions (14th in the league).
The Magic were always pretty good getting out in transition. This is a team that wanted to play this way. But they did so at a pretty average pace. When they increased their pace, the production increased too.
And it proved itself to be pretty effective.