Orlando Magic Playbook: Jonathan Isaac an expert at spacing, finding ways to score

Hints of Isaac’s Spacing

The biggest play in Jonathan Isaac’s career to this point came early in the season. The Orlando Magic were in Boston taking on the Boston Celtics and the game was on the line. orlando was doing the same thing it has done, trying to work through its offense. They were trying to figure out their way to play.

And that is when Jonathan Isaac found his space.

This was a simple confident play from a player starting to figure himself out in the league. D.J. Augustin stared down a trap and swung the ball to an open Jonathan Isaac. He gave the defender a pump fake, stepped in and drained a jumper to ice the game and deliver the Magic a win.

This play was really the first time Isaac seemingly felt confident to show everything he could do. Isaac scored a then-career-high 18 points, making 8 of his 12 shots.

He spent a lot of that game filling in gaps and taking advantage of the defense putting its priority elsewhere. He cut to the basket for finishes at the rim. He slid in behind defenders to attack the offensive glass and finish there. He ran the floor in transition.

Isaac’s role in the Magic’s offense is still fairly small. Orlando is asking him more to be a defensive force than an offensive weapon even now. The Magic might look to get him more opportunities — defenses certainly want to give that to him — but his main scoring output will come on these chances.

And this is where Isaac’s understanding of spacing is so important. He cannot find offensive opportunities — on cuts or on the perimeter — without understanding where to be to receive the pass.

Watch how Isaac cuts into space here:

This is an interesting little horns set the Magic run. They set up a dual-screen for D.J. Augustin. It was relatively rare for Isaac to be the roll man in a pick and roll — just 0.3 possessions per game last year, according to NBA.com. But Augustin uses the Isaac screen, even though it is a bit of a dummy.

The main action here is Nikola Vucevic diving from the rejected screen to the strong side block. This brings Bam Adebayo with him to the block, leaving Derrick Jones Jr. and Josh Richardson to deal with the pick and roll.

The Miami Heat are in a zone though and Isaac recognizes this. Since Adebayo goes with the dive and the two wings deal with the perimeter players, there is a gaping hole in the middle at the free-throw line. And Adebayo has vacated a lot of the area.

So with a simple reversal to Evan Fournier, the Magic create a better angle to feed to the flashing Jonathan Isaac. From there, he smartly uses the space to finish near the rim.

Isaac could get used more in pick and rolls as the roll man — they have not used him there much this season — but here he shows his understanding of spacing and how to make himself available.

Here is another cut he makes in a game last year against the Milwaukee Bucks:

Jonathan Isaac sees his man leave him to stop the drive from Isaiah Briscoe. Knowing that the pass to the opposite corner will be a difficult one, Isaac cuts hard to the basket and gets rewarded with an easy pass and a two-handed jam.

These are the kind of plays and awareness Isaac brings to the game. He has had to work off the ball a lot in his first two years. To stay active and engaged he has had to put himself in positions to score and make shots. And he has largely done that.

There is no trailing on that so far. Against the Toronto Raptors on Monday, Isaac had his breakout game.