Orlando Magic still finding balance with bench rotation

Everyone knows the Orlando Magic have a problem.

Part of it is the injuries that have decimated the roster, sitting at least three potential starters to start the season. Part of it is the youthful nature of the team. the Magic are looking for consistency and young players rarely give it.

Part of it is the overall philosophy of playing a team’s five best players as much as possible. It just happens that four of the five best players on the team play the same two positions.

But they already know where the team struggles. In many ways, they can feel the energy drain that comes as they break the lineup and deal with the change from starters to reserves.

The numbers show it plainly and clearly. The vibe of the game shows it too.

Whenever Orlando goes to a primarily bench lineup, it is like the team is holding its breath.

The Orlando Magic’s starting group has dominated to start the season. The bench unit has struggled as the team cannot find good rotation balance.

Each game this season has followed a similar pattern. The Magic’s starters are by far the team’s best regularly used lineup. The bench is by far one of the worst.

The Magic are trying to strike a better balance between their starting group and their bench group. Jamahl Mosley has settled on a different rotation — pulling Cole Anthony earlier in the first to line him up with the reserves in the second quarter alongside Wendell Carter.

But at least until the team gets healthy again — with the promise that comes from Chuma Okeke’s return first and then Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz in the more distant future — the Magic are struggling to sustain whatever rhythm and momentum they start games with.

"“We came out with a lot of energy, we kind of just lost it,” Wendell Carter said after Wednesday’s game. “I don’t know where it kind of came from. I tried to rally my teammates. My teammates tried to help me. We tried to help each other get that momentum back. In the fourth quarter, we gave up a lot of timely turnovers and they got a lot of offensive rebounds and we’ve got to have those.”"

The Orlando Magic broke the lineup in its 120-11 loss to the Charlotte Hornets with a 13-8 lead to bring in Terrence Ross and went to their seventh man (Gary Harris) with a 12 point lead and 5:42 remaining in the first quarter. The Hornets proceeded to go on a 23-11 run to finish the quarter tied at 31, erasing an eight-point deficit with 3:10 to play.

If not for a Terrence Ross scoring binge — two 3-pointers in the final 34 seconds — things could have gotten much worse at that juncture of the game.

The overall numbers are pretty staggering.

Through five games, the Magic’s starting unit has a +26.9 net rating on the season (114.8 offensive rating/87.9 defensive rating) in 55 minutes on the floor together. The group with Terrence Ross subbed in for Jalen Suggs has a +0.2 net rating in nine minutes.

Considering the Magic have an overall net rating of -14.3, it is easy to surmise that the team’s other groups have been really bad. Orlando has struggled with sustaining itself and going through long droughts of anemic offense.

That certainly happened in Wednesday’s game. Every member of the bench outside of Ross was at least -15 (Ross was -8). And Hampton especially struggled in the second quarter as he manned the point with two turnovers and three fouls. Harris struggled more in the fourth quarter and second half, tallying five turnovers.

"“I think it’s going to continue to be the case of the game is a game of runs,” coach Jamahl Mosley said after Wednesday’s game. “Our guys understand that now and they know that. If a team scores, you’ve got to get the ball out and go. And help them understand that teams are going to score. You’re not going to hold teams scoreless. When they get the ball and make the shot, we’ve got to make sure we don’t hang our heads and stay the same no matter what happens in the game.”"

Weathering runs has been another big story for the Magic this season. And many of the killer runs the team has conceded this season have been at moments when the team’s bench units are on the floor.

The Magic have groups that have worked, although the minutes are still too small to draw too many conclusions beyond the starting group. But Mosley has been unable to piece together a rotation that can at least tread water.

Too often right now, the Magic are getting the doors blown off them for key stretches where starters are resting.

"“I feel like as a team, we didn’t handle their runs real well,” Carter said after Wednesday’s game. “We tried a lot of quick hitters after they made two or three shots in a row. We can’t just come down and take the next shot. That fuels their run. Once they go on a run, the best bet is to stop it as soon as possible. We didn’t do a good job of that. We turned the ball over too many times. They got a lot of offensive rebounds. A lot of effort plays that we didn’t do tonight. That cost us the game tonight and we know that.”"

Nobody is expecting the Magic to be perfect or ready-made to win at this point. The team’s fourth-quarter struggles to finish Wednesday’s game off were proof of that. But the difference between being competitive and winning and getting run out of the gym has consistently been the team’s starting and bench units.

At least the Magic were able to compete this time around, finding something that worked by limiting minutes from deeper bench players.

Orlando missed some opportunities for sure to expand their lead or retake the lead with a solid defensive effort when the team could get set — the Magic ultimately lost the game because the team committed eight fourth-quarter turnovers and gave up three offensive rebounds in crunch time.

This has been a puzzle the team has struggled to solve all year.

"“I just go off the feel and the way the flow is going and using the numbers a little bit,” Mosley said before Wednesday’s game. “Trying to designate how that second unit is pulling through is where we are navigating through. You’ll see different looks sometimes but I think we’re going to find that flow with the second unit as they come into the game.”"

Mosley did try some different combinations in Wednesday’s game. After the team struggled in the second quarter, he tightened his rotation. He nixed lineups with Hampton at point guard. Moritz Wagner did not play much in the second half either.

Orlando played a much more competitive second half, avoiding those killer runs and giving themselves the chance to win.

The game came down to execution, as it should. If anything, the criticism levied on Mosley was not returning to Anthony and Carter quick enough. The problem was simply he had to lean on both to carry his team through the game.

And that is really the issue the team faces. They do not have the depth to balance their lineup. And so they are seeking to find it until their reinforcements come.

And probably holding their breath hoping they can retain a chance to win.