The Orlando Magic have established themselves as one of the best defensive teams in the league. They have done this with a specific strategy that works.
In one respect, playing defense is incredibly simple.
Keep your man in front of you, guide players to the help, rotate to help the helper and scramble to close down passing lanes. That all sounds so simple.
Of course, it is hardly that simple. The offense has every advantage in the league these days. It is extremely hard to bump and take guys off their spots. And even with a hand in their face, there are plenty of players who can make tough shots.
Building a team with the defense as its backbone is a hard thing to do in this league. The Orlando Magic two years ago tried to invest everything they had in rim protection only for that to fall flat on its face — for several reasons not worth diving into at this point.
That does not mean defense is not important. The best teams in the league are still largely the ones that defend the best and can fall back on that to keep the ship steady when the offense goes through droughts.
Coach Steve Clifford has built a reputation form his years with the Charlotte Hornets franchise for his team’s defense. His teams were always competitive because they played defense at an extremely high level. In four of the five years he coached the Hornets, they had a top-10 defense. That got them two playoff appearances, including one in his first year where he led a 22-win turnaround.
When he took over the Magic, they were hoping he would instill the same kind of culture of consistency on that end. From there they can grow.
Regardless of how this season ends up — the Magic currently sit a half-game clear for the final playoff spot — the Magic have successfully built the foundations for their defensive identity.
The Magic are ranked sixth in the league in defensive rating, giving up 107.0 points per 100 possessions. Since the All-Star Break, the Magic are second, giving up 104.2 points per 100 possessions.
Even with these stellar statistics, it is hard to believe the Magic are truly one of the best defensive teams in the league. You do not get to that point of the season ranking that high without having some level of consistency. The Magic are a good team.
But they are not resting on those laurels. They know how quickly things can fall apart defensively and how important it is for this part to be consistent.
When the team does poorly, you can easily point to the defense as the reason why. When things go well — or when the Magic erase 17-point deficits in two of their last three games — the defense is likely to be the reason.
The Magic have won six games in a row now to take the pole position in the playoff chase. And it is bringing up a big question? One that was asked during our recap of episode Locked On Magic with Wes Goldberg and David Ramil of Locked On Heat: How do you beat the Magic?
The answer is seemingly a relatively simple one. It is what Clifford says the team struggles with a lot when the team is finding it difficult to get stops.
The goal for the Magic is to keep opponents from getting to the middle of the floor. By pushing players to the corners they limit passing outlets and can use their length to wall the paint off and force difficult cross-court passes they can recover to in time.
When players, especially in the pick and roll, can get into the middle of the paint, it spells trouble for the Magic.
How exactly do the Magic accomplish their goal of forcing drivers away from the middle of the lane? That is at the very heart of the Magic’s defensive strategy. And their success in doing this throughout the rest of the season will determine whether they make the playoffs or not.