The Orlando Magic return to Toronto after their playoff defeat working to be better. They will get a test of that progress against the Toronto Raptors.
D.J. Augustin said during training camp he had not really watched his most famous moment in an Orlando Magic uniform.
Maybe it came on once or twice during the summer. But he mostly ignored this famous moment. He was already focused and moving on to the next season.
The veteran is usually a good leveler for the team. He rarely shows a ton of emotion and keeps up steady play to fill in gaps for the Magic at any time he is in. D.J. Augustin is not flashy. He is steady. And every team needs that steady presence.
But Augustin became an Orlando Magic legend when he beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to deliver the team a Game 1 win over the Toronto Raptors. That was a moment that buoyed Magic fans throughout the summer — proof the team could hang with the eventual NBA champions, even for a moment, and good things were on the horizon.
The rest of that series played out like a nightmare.
The Raptors continued to push and harass Nikola Vucevic, holding him well below his season average and mucking up the Magic’s offense. Orlando struggled to create consistent dribble penetration against Toronto’s swarming defense. Nobody in the league had an answer for Kawhi Leonard.
The Magic’s playoff run was a joyous journey. The team had to rally to make its push for the postseason. The team had to find a way to play and stick to it.
That 22-9 run helped the Magic forge an identity. An identity that is already clearly developing this year.
But the playoffs revealed the weaknesses for the team. The things the Magic could really count on in the regular season got taken away.
It left a lot for coach Steve Clifford to ponder as he reviewed his team. He had to find a new way for his team to attack consistently — with largely the same pieces he had last year.
That experimenting is clearly still in progress. The Magic might have newfound confidence, but the results are certainly mixed through two games (as small as they might be). And this week will offer Clifford a real chance to check on his team’s progress and begin adjusting and growing.
The Magic return to the Scotiabank Arena for the first time since that playoff series defeat last year. They face a markedly different Toronto Raptors team — Leonard is gone to the LA Clippers — but all the same beats are there. Later in the week, the Orlando Magic will host a pair of title-contending teams in the Milwaukee Bucks and Denver Nuggets.
Those tests loom large. Clifford will have a clearer picture of his team after this week. But it starts with what will surely be an emotional return to Toronto on Monday.
There is still Marc Gasol battling on the glass and being a brick wall in the paint. Pascal Siakam, fresh off signing a max extension, is tearing up the league in the early part of the season with his versatility and confidence. Kyle Lowry is steady as ever, especially defensively. Serge Ibaka is providing a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate worth of energy plays and defensive stops.
There are rough edges to this team for sure. Their depth has taken a hit and new players are still acclimating to their surroundings. But this Raptors team will still battle on the glass, defend hard and beat you in transition on every mistake.
In that sense, Orlando gets a chance to see exactly how far the team has come from last year and exactly where they are at early in the season.
Clifford said before the Orlando Magic’s first game Wednesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers that he was curious to see where his team was at. He wanted to get a progress check so the team would know what to work on.
The first two games have seen a defense that can be downright dominant — the team’s 92.2 defensive rating is second in the league in the early part of the season. It has generated a lot of highlight plays and fast-break opportunities.
The offense is still a work in progress. Orlando has yet to eclipse 100 points in two games and the team’s 95.1 offensive rating is the second-worst in the league.
Despite shooting 35 percent from the floor and just 5 for 31 from beyond the arc in Saturday’s 103-99 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Clifford said he was encouraged by the looks the team got. He told reporters in Toronto that Orlando’s analytics team told him Orlando could have reasonably expected to score 117 points with the shots the team generated.
Saturday’s loss, it appears, came down to making or missing shots.
Orlando certainly needs to correct that against a team like Toronto. The Raptors will run off misses and make the Magic pay for any turnovers or mistakes. Toronto is a strong defensive team that will play physically.
For the Magic to win in this game, they will have to hit on one of Clifford’s biggest concerns through the early part of the season — the team’s physicality.
Clifford has pointed to the team’s poor rebounding throughout the preseason as something that has to improve. That will go double against a Raptors team that tested the Magic physically last year and will do so again tonight.
Toronto is currently sixth in the league giving up 98.5 points per 100 possessions. The Raptors have hit the glass too with a 27.6 percent offensive rebound rate (ninth in the league). Toronto will attack every mistake and try to force turnovers while securing rebounds and putting pressure on teams to stay attentive and disciplined.
Orlando Magic
The Magic are likely a little bit better than their record indicates too. The Magic are eighth in the league in defensive rebound rate (77.2 percent) despite Clifford’s rebounding concerns. That mark is better than last year’s third-place finish too.
And offensively, Orlando is getting open looks and just missing. The team still has to execute at a higher level and stay focused on their decisionmaking. But they simply need to make shots to reap the rewards on that front.
If Clifford wanted to see where the Magic’s attention, physicality and execution are at, he could not have picked a better opponent to face than the Raptors. They will test all these areas and a whole lot more.
It is still very early in the season. Most of these numbers are still hardening and becoming significant. Outliers could easily swing the Magic one way or another. If there is unease among the team, it is because things are still settling in.
The Magic are still setting their habits. If there is good news, it is that defense already appears to be a strong habit for this team. That is something the team showed commitment to in less-than-stellar offensive games to open the season.
The Raptors will test the Magic’s commitment to their budding principles on both ends. Orlando will have to move the ball and find pockets to attack. They will have to stay committed defensively and secure the glass to have a chance.
Orlando learned a lot from that playoff series last year. They are still applying those lessons.
Clifford will get a clearer picture of what his team is and how they need to play after Monday’s game.