The Orlando Magic showcased the offensive system Steve Clifford has chosen to implement this season in their four preseason games.
The Orlando Magic’s 2021 season officially begins on Wednesday when they face the Eastern Conference Champion Miami Heat in their season opener.
With a shortened training camp, multiple injuries limiting the rotation, and newcomers joining the roster, Magic fans may be surprised by how different this team looks given that the organization made so few roster moves in the offseason.
And, quite auspiciously, it is the offense that feels different.
Orlando Magic
Despite his reputation as a defensive coach, Steve Clifford’s offensive game plan in these four games displayed his dedication to preparation on both sides of the ball.
He appears to be as aware as Magic fans that his team will need extra offensive juice this season after finishing 23rd in the league in offensive rating last year. And the playbook he has elected provided it, at least throughout the preseason.
The team felt its offense was rounding the corner last year. The team had the top offense in the league in the 10 games after the All-Star Break before the league went on hiatus. The team did not quite pick up at that level in the bubble, but it finished right in the middle during the seeding round with 111.7 points per 100 possessions.
The team is embracing pace — trying to get out in transition more and play faster within its half-court sets. And it is even starting to play more 5-out sets, encouraging Nikola Vucevic to step out beyond the 3-point line and shoot even more.
Orlando has made some important tweaks to their offense as they try to build up for the upcoming season.
The base set
The most common action the Orlando Magic ran in their four preseason games was a standard “Flex” style set. This appears to be the team’s default motion — that is, the elected system when there is no explicit play call for a given halfcourt possession.
In the first matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, the Orlando Magic opened preseason play with a pin-dow” screen out of the Flex motion to free Evan Fournier for an open 3-pointer.
Flex is usually one of the most simple plays that players learn in middle school when they first play organized basketball. It is a set at that stage that cycles itself naturally with the ball at the top of the key trying to set up a layup for the baseline cut Dwayne Bacon is making here.
This particular inversion of the seminal offense works so well because Evan Fournier sets a back screen for Dwayne Bacon before receiving his own screen from Nikola Vucevic. Second-year forward De’Andre Hunter takes a split second to digest the switch with Bogdan Bogdonavic, and this is enough time for Evan Fournier to make it rain.
What works so well about these sets is how many options a team has to score from them when they set good screens and cut hard.
Another instance running this motion against the Charlotte Hornets provided an easy opportunity for Khem Birch inside.
The initial pin-down screen set for Chuma Okeke provides the space for Terrence Ross to draw the attention of both Jalen McDaniels and Bismack Biyombo.
Okeke shows composure and does not rush the play as it develops — an issue for most rookies — and then makes the right read to the cutting Birch on the slip.
While the Flex motion provided some spark for the Magic in each of the four games, it was their variation sets that provided the more insightful preview of how the team plans to generate offense when their rhythm is disrupted.
Variations
The first was a variation on the ubiquitous Pistol action, in which the point guard receives a screen on the extended wing providing a clear out of one side of the floor.
Here, Cole Anthony receives a rub screen from Michael Carter-Williams to open up the baseline:
Even though Anthony turns it over, his mindset on the play is correct. Attack the rim to either finish one-on-one or find a teammate spaced along the perimeter. He also has the option to call over Khem Birch to initiate a side pick and roll while still maintaining the spacing from the play.
Note the Orlando Magic slotted Evan Fournier in the weak-side corner, which directly puts pressure on his defender to simultaneously serve as the designated helper on Cole Anthony’s drive and the main cover for the Magic’s most consistent outside shooter.
In their second matchup with the Hornets, the Magic ran a similar play to feint the initial Pistol action, providing Markelle Fultz an open lane to make an acrobatic finish at the rim.
Notice on this instance that instead of Dwayne Bacon setting the rub screen, as Michael Carter-Williams does above, he veers to the top of the key.
With the other three Magic players spaced along the arc, there is no early help on Fultz’s drive:
The Horns Set
Another staple of the preseason system was a series of variations to the Horns set, where two players start at the extended elbows and the other two space to the corners.
The first design features a zipper screen by one of the Orlando Magic wing players veering around either teammate at the elbow. The other wing is spaced on the baseline before extending beyond the arc.
Here, the Magic run Michael Carter-Williams off the initial screen and have Dwayne Bacon space on the baseline. And on this play, the Magic included an additional wrinkle with Khem Birch screening over for the other big, Gary Clark, to pop towards the strong side.
But by the time the secondary action has developed, Carter-Williams is already attacking the paint.
The Magic like going to the Horns action after a stoppage in play, and in this instance, they set a double drag screen for Markelle Fultz at the top of the key.
The first screener, Clark in this case, then rolls to the hoop and receives a back-door screen on the weak side.
The Magic leaned heavily on this action when both Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz were on the floor. They ran some variation of Horns on three straight halfcourt possessions in their first matchup with Atlanta.
On this play, Cole Anthony is the lead ball-handler, and the Magic’s two wings (Markelle Fultz and Evan Fournier) line up in a box formation around the key. The Magic added a twist with Markelle Fultz and Evan Fournier setting a “Spanish” pick-and-roll back-door screen for Nikola Vucevic.
Markelle Fultz’s initial screen alters Clint Capela’s path enough for Nikola Vucevic to find a rhythm right-handed hook shot from the left baseline.
The Magic were likely practicing the “Spanish” pick-and-roll wrinkle because they ran it again in the second matchup against the Hawks.
The play begins with the initial Horns action (prior to the start of the below clip), and this time Bacon sets the back screen for Vucevic in the middle of the lane.
With two methodical rhythm dribbles, Vucevic finds his right-handed hook shot again:
Play Calls
Steve Clifford also mixed in design sets with an explicit play call.
This action, called “Thumbs Down,” features a high pick-and-roll at the top of the key with the three other players flat on the baseline for spacing. Cole Anthony uses the space to let his 3-pointer fly, one of his few misses from outside in preseason play.
The other design play that is sure to be a crowd favorite is the “One” series, which features an initial option to find a teammate extended on the perimeter for a back-door cut and easy look near the basket.
Both Terrence Ross and Aaron Gordon have been featured in this set, with a particular highlight reel connection between Chuma Okeke and Terrence Ross coming in the first matchup against the Charlotte Hornets:
The play works so well because of the initial misdirection. “One” begins with the same “Horns” alignment, in this case with Chuma Okeke and Khem Birch at the top of the key.
But, instead of Anthony coming off the screen, the action is inverted with Okeke becoming the lead ball handler. Ross times his cut perfectly, switching from a bystander to finisher in a split second.
Playing for pace
It was also clear Steve Clifford has placed an increased emphasis on generating easy offense in transition. The Orlando Magic were the seventh most-active team in transition during the preseason, according to Cleaning the Glass.
And it paid off — the Magic were the league’s second most-efficient transition offense through their four preseason games.
Both Cole Anthony and Markelle Fultz displayed a propensity for creating for themselves and their teammates in the open court.
Here, Anthony picks up the loose ball and commits early to push the tempo and displays his strength with a smooth left-handed finish against Malik Monk:
Fultz one-upped his rookie teammate when he went into his bag and found a euro-step reverse finish on Monk.
Against the Hawks, Fultz put on an offensive display in the open court, hinting at the growth that Clifford and the rest of the staff are so excited about.
Fultz has never been afraid to attack in a crowd, and he rarely makes up his mind before the play develops. He digests the action and then reacts.
The combined patience and athleticism show why he was so highly-touted coming out of the University of Washington.
Improved Offense
From their four preseason matchups, the Orlando Magic offense has looked much better than expected. And the numbers match the eye test.
Orlando’s offense ranks 11th best in the preseason due to strong offensive rebounding and stinginess with the ball. The Magic averaged a mere 15 turnovers per game.
The second unit, which featured Cole Anthony alongside Terrence Ross and Chuma Okeke, transformed the minutes when Nikola Vucevic and company sit. The Magic bench averaged 6.3 made 3-point field goals in the preseason, compared to just less than five for the 2020 season.
The hope is the Magic have found a solution for sustaining their offense when the starters rest.
While the preseason only offers a small sample, and Orlando’s competition was not the NBA’s best, these performances should provide Magic fans some comfort in the team’s ability to generate offense this season.
We’ll start to receive some real answers when the Magic’s thirty-second season tips off on Wednesday.