Orlando Magic lose their offensive heartbeat in Nikola Vucevic

Just as the Orlando Magic were beginning to regain their rhythm, they will lose their offensive heartbeat in Nikola Vucevic. His value is easy to quantify.

Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic is not known for his defense. He has done a lot to improve in that area and be lane-protector, if not a rim-protector for the Magic’s defense.

His main role is to keep the Magic’s offense on pace and be a consistent heartbeat on that end. Someone who can hit from the outside, run the offense through the high post and crash the lane on post-ups. He forces the defense to be aware of him at all times.

His defense still has taken the biggest step. He is better at tracking and directing players where he wants and occasionally challenging shots at the rim.

It was that kind of play that got the team’s All-Star in trouble.

With about five minutes left in the second quarter of Wednesday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, Nikola Vucevic was tracking Norman Powell and forced him to the far side of the rim. He went up to challenge the layup and landed awkwardly, rolling his ankle.

Vucevic lay crumpled on the floor, holding his foot. This did not appear to be any simple sprain. He would leave the arena in a walking boot and crutches. A MRI scheduled for the team’s off-day Thursday.

The reality hit the team almost immediately on the court. The Magic had a 116.7 offensive rating in Vucevic’s 10 minutes on the floor. The team cratered without him, finishing with a 99.0 offensive rating for the entire game.

That is what Vucevic does. He attracts attention and frees up space for his teammates.

Even in a game where he was 1 for 7 and struggling to get good looks — there is plenty to say about his willingness to get physical in the paint especially against centers like Marc Gasol — he still made a positive impact. His five assists in 10 minutes were a big reason why the ball moved so freely and the offense was so strong to set the pace early in the game.

The Magic are a team without a true star player. They always need all their players working together to make things go. And Vucevic was always someone who could put up his points, but also worked to make things easier for everyone else.

Vucevic is the team’s true offensive heartbeat. A steady beat the team can turn to and make good things happen. The guy opponents know they have to eliminate — see what the Raptors did to him in the playoffs.

With the team trying to turn a corner last year, coach Steve Clifford put a lot of trust in Nikola Vucevic to run the offense. Clifford tried to leverage Vucevic’s skills as a jump shooter and passer to make the most of a team that did not have a true creator or driver.

Vucevic took more shots last year (16.9 field goal attempts per game which was down to 15.7 before Wednesday’s game) and his usage rate shot up to 28.0 percent. The Magic ran a lot of offense through Vucevic.

As much as anything, it was Vucevic’s consistency that led to his jump to All-Star levels — to a career-high 20.8 points per game. Vucevic scored fewer than 10 points just twice last year and had only 13 games scoring fewer than 15.

A lot of Orlando’s struggles this season came because Vucevic lost some of that consistency — he already has two games with fewer than 10 points (including Wednesday’s game that he left early).

Vucevic was starting to rediscover his offensive rhythm. He said Tuesday after practice he might have suffered some fatigue from the FIBA World Cup and playing games late into the summer. But his Eastern Conference Player of the Week award from last week was a sign he was turning the corner — that 21.7 points per game, 14.0 rebounds per game, 4.0 assists per game is an All-Star line.

But he also had a career year passing. Even this year, Vucevic is at 3.5 assists per game. That is seventh among centers. And it was a number that was surely increasing as Vucevic rediscovered some lost rhythm after a training camp injury — 4.7 assists per game in his last seven games including Wednesday.

The offense still struggled. It was 22nd in offensive rating last year and still sits at 28th at 103.3 points per 100 possessions despite that five-game homestand where the team posted a 114.7 offensive rating (fourth in the league from Nov. 8-17). The Magic had the same kind of offensive spurt in their 22-9 run to finish the season.

Vucevic is not a perfect long-term answer as a featured star. But for this team, he made the team the best version of itself.

In each case, the offense was significantly better with Vucevic on the floor. To end last year, the Magic had a 112.7 offensive rating with Vucevic on the floor and a 108.5 offensive rating without him during the playoff run last year.

This year, this disparity is even greater. The team has a 109.1 offensive rating with Nikola Vucevic on the floor (only Evan Fournier has a better mark) and a team-worst 90.2 offensive rating with Vucevic off the floor.

It is safe to say that right now, the offense dies when Vucevic comes off the floor.

He knows his individual play is critical to the team’s ultimate success. And he works because that is ultimately what he is about.

Orlando Magic

"“Obviously I played well individually,” Vucevic said after practice Tuesday when asked about his Player of the Week award. “But the main reason I won the award was we went 3-0 as a team. I was able to play as well because we were starting to play better as a team offensively. It is all connected. To get certain individual awards, you need to have team wins. That was a great way to finish our homestand. I know that’s what gave me the award.”"

Vucevic will not get the chance to defend his award or build an All-Star resume for a second bid.

And now the team will have to find a way to operate without its highest usage rotation player. Maybe the good news is the team showed more balance this year and relied more on Vucevic’s passing — Vucevic leads the team with 44.4 front-court touches per game according to Second Spectrum well ahead of Evan Fournier (34.4 front-court touches per game), a number that is down from last year slightly.

Orlando is running more off him and through him rather than relying solely on his scoring. But others have taken on more scoring and creation load. Evan Fournier has turned a small corner as a playmaker after a slow start and Markelle Fultz can get into the lane, create and finish at the rim.

But Vucevic was always the fulcrum for the team’s offense. Everything played off the attention he received.

It was clear in Wednesday’s loss how difficult it would be to run the offense the same way. the Magic are going to have to find a new way to play. The team’s ball movement will be even more vital.

The team will have to find its pace and its rhythm again. The heartbeat of the offense is likely gone for a little while. And the Magic will have to survive.