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

How Isaac Got His Shots

The way Jonathan Isaac got his shots was similar to those big games he had last year.

Isaac floated to the corners and stayed ready to shoot. The ball worked its way inside-out and he took advantage of defenses willing to let him shoot.

Isaac started the game with two 3-pointers, setting a strong tone for his game and building his confidence as a shooter. Isaac tends to have his big scoring games when he gets going early. And these two shots showed his understanding of the offense and awareness of how to be available.

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On this play, Aaron Gordon runs a pick and roll with Nikola Vucevic. The Toronto Raptors show no respect to Isaac as a 3-point shooter and commit three players to guard the action. Marc Gasol drops to cover the middle and the roll, OG Anunoby is trailing the play and Pascal Siakam crashes in to defend Aaron Gordon as a shooter.

The Raptors do this a lot. They try to use their length with these three players especially to clog the lane and force the Magic to stay on the outside or settle for 3-pointers. This is the kind of shot the Raptors choose for the Magic to take.

But Isaac is really smart here. He understands the spacing he needs to shoot and slides down to the break. Gordon makes the read and fires it to Isaac sliding down. All Isaac has to do is hit the shot.

His first 3-pointer came after Gordon got blocked at the rim. Isaac returned to the play and slid to the corner, right in Gordon’s passing vision. He calmly drained the shot.

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This is a lot of how Isaac hit his 3-pointers. He understands spacing and where to slide to be available to the pass. Isaac, at this point, knows defenses are going to leave him open.

Isaac’s 5-for-7 shooting performance Monday brought him to 5 for 11 from beyond the arc for the year. Yes, Isaac has only made 3-pointers in one game. He was largely a non-factor offensively in his first two games.

But once Isaac gets a few shots under his belt, the hesitation in his shot goes away. And he can hit over anyone when he feels confident enough to do it. Unlocking this confidence — really from the start of the game as a shooter — is the biggest thing for Isaac on the perimeter.

After his first three makes, Isaac started hitting even contested 3-pointers. He was not wide open and had defenses flying to him trying to contest. But Isaac calmly fired and hit over them. And even with a few misses, he was not afraid to keep going.

Adding to his 3-point shot is how Isaac can score off his defense.

He is good running the floor and can turn his own blocks into transition opportunities by streaking down the floor when the Magic get these kinds of impact plays.

The biggest thing for Isaac is finding a way to get him to finish around the basket. He can slash to the basket and sneak behind the defense while he is standing on the perimeter. But he is really strong in the open court as much as anywhere.

The big thing for Isaac offensively is to be available and finding positions to score. That is where he holds his most value. The work off the dribble will come as growth from that.