Orlando Magic not worried about offense, just need to see shots fall

The Orlando Magic are struggling on offense. But they are not complaining about their shot quality. They are more worried with how it affects their defense.

Coach Steve Clifford looked back at the tape of the Orlando Magic’s 113-91 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and was not happy with what he saw.

Clearly, the team’s defense was horrid and struggled to contain a Bucks team that was constantly on the attack and stretching the team thin. It was a rout very quickly.

The focus in the box score likely turned to that 91 number. Especially with the way the league has gone with higher scores. The Magic were never expected to be a dominant offensive team. That is not really in their DNA.

Surprisingly in a game where the Magic made just 10 of 43 3-pointers, setting a franchise record for 3-point attempts in the process, and 32.7 percent shooting overall, Clifford seemed pleased with his team’s offense. A review of the tape confirmed to him, at least, the Magic took good shots and simply missed them.

"“If you look at our 3-point shots, those are shots I feel comfortable saying we are going to make a lot of those,” Clifford said. “We had a lot of good looks at 3s. If you look at guys’ numbers, I feel comfortable that the quality of shot we got the other night, I felt like we can shoot a lot better.”"

According to NBA.com, the Magic lead the league in field goal attempts considered “open” (the closest defender 4-6 feet away) but they are making just a 45.1 percent effective field goal percentage on those types of shots.

Orlando is shooting 38.1 percent on shots that are open or wide open — closest defender is four-plus feet away — with a  47.9 percent effective field goal percentage. Those are not good shooting numbers despite those comprising a healthy amount of their overall field goal attempts.

In Saturday’s game, the Magic were 17 of 58 on those same kinds of shots with a 37.9 percent effective field goal percentage. Orlando took 101 total shots.

So it would seem there is something to what Clifford said about the Magic’s offense in Saturday’s game.

The problem was not the quality of the shot the team was taking. They got plenty of good looks.

"“I think more of that is just a focus level of making shots,” Jonathon Simmons said. “I think sometimes when teams are making runs at you, your defense kind of slacks. Plus if you can’t make shots, your defense slacks up. It’s just a focus. We got great shots the other night. But when we didn’t see shots go in, we kind of let up on our defense.”"

The defensive consistency is a growing concern for the Magic. Clifford said the team has to be a top-10 defense in order to be successful. He said he would be disappointed if the team did not realize its potential on that end.

That remains a continuing process.

Orlando is giving up 110.8 points per 100 possessions. That is currently 18th in the NBA. The team’s small margin for error offensively has made the defensive shortcomings that much more obvious — the team’s early season -10.6 net rating is the third-worst in the league.

Orlando’s early-season offense has left a lot to be desired then. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder are scoring fewer points per 100 possession. The Magic are scoring just 100.2 points per 100 possession and shooting a 46.7 percent effective field goal percentage, again the second-worst mark in the league.

Orlando was not expected to have a strong offense. But there are still signs the team will make improvements.

Several players are seeing numbers well below their career averages (again, early on). Evan Fournier is shooting a 29.3 percent on 3-pointers as a 37.7 percent career 3-point shooter. Terrence Ross is at 30.3 percent as a 37.0 percent 3-point shooter.

There are some key shooters and floor spacers who are performing well below their expected value. The law of averages would suggest they will begin to bump up at some point.

It is still early in the year and teams are still forging their identities. But the biggest thing for the Magic is to not let their offensive struggles affect their defense.

"“It happens leaguewide whether there is frustration when you miss or whatever, but so many nights in this league you see games where the lack of shotmaking or the lack of creating good offense impacts the other end of the floor,” Clifford said. “To have the right defensive mentality, which isn’t easy, you are going to defend every possession every night regardless of what the score is.”"

This is the key to the Magic’s success at this point. Clifford, at least, is not overly concerned with the team’s offense. His focus is still on finding the team’s spirit defensively.

He said it takes a while for a team to find its togetherness and intensity. Even among teams that have experience playing together. The frustrating part, Clifford said, is the team is making mistakes on things they have done before.

Clifford said the team can only take the shots the defense gives them in a lot of ways. Teams right now are giving Orlando shots from beyond the arc. That is the kind of shot the Magic have to make to break those defenses. Teams are daring this team to shoot right now.

Still, Orlando seems to be getting good shots and breaking down those defenses. They are getting the kind of looks a coach can be happy with.

The game still comes down to making or missing shots. Right now, Orlando is missing. And it is negatively affecting the defense.

"“I love our potential,” Jonathon Simmons said. “I love us against anybody else. It’s a focus we have to have and an energy and an effort that we have to have every single night. We’re not one of the top-tier teams. We just have to do everything with better focus and better energy.”"

All the Magic can do is work to get better each day.