Orlando Magic should embrace being the new grit and grind

The Orlando Magic are struggling to score, but they have an identity that can still deliver plenty of wins. They are the new grit and grind of the NBA.

Orlando Magic fans are rightfully wringing their hands over the team’s poor offense.

The Magic are last in offensive rating (94.6 points per 100 possessions, last by 2.5 points per 100 possessions), last in effective field goal percentage (44.9 percent, last by 2.7 percentage points) and last in true shooting percentage (48.0 percent, the only team with a true shooting percentage worse than 50 percent in the league).

Things are bad on the offensive end to start the season. Statistics are not significant — a 120-point game would change these fortunes dramatically and have the Magic shoot up the rankings at least a little bit — but the team is losing games right now because it cannot score.

Orlando already knew its offense would be a weakness this season. There are still hopes it will improve and get better and do better than it did last year, finishing 22nd in offensive rating in 2019.

The team will have to score at some point.

But does the team have to score that much more? How much more offense does this team actually need?

Nobody is asking this team to be elite on that end. But the team’s early start defensively has shown they do not need a whole lot to win. And it is becoming clearer this is the key to the magic’s success.

Maintaining their strong defense and being elite on that end could hide almost all of their offensive shortcomings.

After all, the Orlando Magic have had the lead in the fourth quarter of all six of their games, except one (the loss to the Milwaukee Bucks). This team that has by far the worst offense in the league could probably feel like it should be 5-1 — or at least has a chance at 5-1 — rather than 2-4.

This is why the Magic are far from panicking and far from concerned about the long-term outlook.

Orlando’s defense is elite. And it is time to embrace this and time to believe the Magic’s defense can rescue them from almost any offensive inefficiency. The only goal in a game is to score one more point than you give up. And the Magic can give their offense enough space and cushion to wake up late and win.

Entering Monday’s games, the Magic are fifth in the league in defensive rating, giving up 99.0 points per 100 possessions. That number is weighed down with a massive outlier from Friday’s loss to the Bucks. The Orlando Magic have given up more than 100 points per 100 possessions just one other time (the loss to the Atlanta Hawks).

As bad as the Magic have been on offense, they are at least playing as well defensively.

Orlando is eighth in opponent effective field goal percentage (48.4 percent) and fourth in opponent offensive rebound rate (23.9 percent). Coach Steve Clifford would say the Magic’s rebounding has been a weakness too. But the team has every indicator of a strong defense.

The Magic are giving up the third-fewest points in the paint (41.3 points per game), fourth-fewest second-chance points (10.3 points per game) and sixth-fewest points off turnovers (15.3 points per game). This despite the Magic’s struggles with turnovers and rebounding this season.

At least for the early season, Orlando has been among the best defensive teams in the league. And with the offense continuing to struggle, why not embrace this part of the team’s identity?

Clifford often says the Magic have to find their way to win. Perhaps that way to win si to keep scores low and find the one big offensive spurt to take control of games or execute late to win. All the team really needs is a chance to win.

Orlando can at least hang its hat on defense. Teams will know it will be difficult to score when the Magic are lined up against them.

The Magic were always going to have to rely heavily on their defense to win this year. The team has some solid offensive options, but no one who is going to create and keep defenses completely off balance. Not consistently at least. All Orlando could hope for is an improvement.

The team aimed to do this through pace and internal improvement. That part is still a work in progress. The Magic have 9.7 fast break points per game (again a two-point outlier against the Bucks weighing things down) and they are playing at the third-slowest pace in the league at 99.0 possessions per 48 minutes.

The Magic’s failure offensively is as much about these numbers as it is the shooting numbers. Orlando is missing an abnormal number of open shots. But the team is also failing to get easy opportunities in transition.

The team should continue to work on all of this. The Magic will need more consistent offense, especially late in games. Their execution has been poor and sloppy throughout the early part of the season. That has hurt the team in its hopes of securing these early wins.

The Magic have had some notable defensive breakdowns late in games this year that have cost them. They let Trae Young come across a screen without pressure on his game-winning 3-pointer. Kyle Lowry came across a similar pick with miscommunication on a switch. And several defensive breakdowns occurred at the end of the game against the Denver Nuggets.

Orlando will have to execute offensively. And a defensive-minded identity will take a ton of discipline. That is the hardest thing about all of this. It is easy to let go of the rope and the margin for error is small. Orlando may only be able to win a certain type of game.

But it was not long ago the Memphis Grizzlies tried a similar style. That celebrated Grit and Grind team eschewed the 3-point shot and slowed the pace to a crawl. Playing that team was a battle every night.

Orlando Magic

The Magic have some elite individual and team defenders, but not at the level of that Grizzlies team that featured Marc Gasol, Tony Allen and Mike Conley as defensive anchors. But that team can still be a model for a how the team can be successful.

Obviously there are differences. The NBA’s offensive revolution has changed and expanded. The Grizzlies were forced to embrace the 3-pointer to mixed results. They had to change and pick up their scoring to keep up in the league.

The Magic will have to do so too. Their shooting has to come around. And to play a defensive style requires a team to execute late in games and win a lot of close games. That is the part the Magic have not done early this season.

They can grind games to the end, but they are not crossing the finish line quite yet. Not against potential playoff competition.

But the Magic have clearly shown they can defend well enough to win, even if the team’s offense is less than stellar. So why not embrace that identity? Why not let that become who the team is?

But this team is not going to outscore anyone. They probably will not struggle to score 100 points all season. But there is no need to hit some arbitrary number. There is no reason to be so freaked out about the team’s offensive statistics as long as the team finds a way to win.

All the Magic have to do is score one more point than their opponent each night. And their defense can give them a chance to do it. They should take pride in that and make that the key to every game.

Orlando should embrace that identity and stay committed and focused on their defense. The offense will come and do enough to give them a chance to win and make their push.