All preseason long, the Orlando Magic talked about their defense.
It was at the center of the early days of camp as the team tried to change their mindset and become a more aggressive, attacking defensive team. The team implemented the bell for training camp to emphasize the kind of hustle plays it would take to be successful.
The team even admitted pretty late into the preseason how far their offense was behind their defense. Defense was going to be the team’s backbone and the way they would find their success.
The team certainly has the players to get the job done. They feel they have the versatility to do so and be a great defense.
The only thing is . . . the team is not a great defensive team yet.
Arguably, the Magic’s defense has been the biggest weakness for the team this season. At least, it is by the numbers.
The Orlando Magic are last in the league in defensive rating to start the season. But there are plenty of signs improvement is on the horizon.
But there are plenty of reasons for the team’s defensive struggles — most of them the same bench/starter issues that have plagued the team along with several of the other weaknesses you would expect like the team’s poor rebounding and turnovers.
So despite these numbers, Orlando has had some impressive defensive sequences and stretches. And, in the long run, it seems like the Magic will be more than capable of defending at a high level.
The Magic sit in last in the league in defensive rating, giving up 113.2 points per 100 possessions. That is obviously not where the team wants to be. They certainly did not expect to be in the bottom of the rankings, even with the team’s depleted roster.
It is still very early in the season and the Magic certainly can still climb those rankings. More performances like Monday’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves will go a long way to accomplishing that goal too.
Orlando turned in by far its best defensive performance of the season, giving up just 39 points in the second half and a 98.0 overall defensive rating. The Magic have only two games where they have allowed less than 110.0 points per 100 possessions this season. The other one besides the win over the Minnesota Timberwolves was the team’s win over the New York Knicks.
Obviously, the team’s best defensive outings have been the team’s two wins. That correlation feels pretty strong and will likely remain fairly strong throughout the course of the season.
Monday’s performance was especially strong. Orlando played its best defensive quarter in limiting Minnesota to just 19 points in the fourth quarter.
They did it with plays like this:
Chuma Okeke does a good job here playing physical with Karl-Anthony Towns while Cole Anthony crashes down and provides some pressure before Mo Bamba comes over to clean things up with the block.
Slowing down Towns was one of the big struggles in the game and Orlando did a good job locking him up in the fourth. Okeke played a big role in that, forcing his share of turnovers on Towns.
Orlando was doing a lot of overhelping and trying to lock down and pressure players in the paint throughout the quarter. The Magic were able to bet on the Timberwolves missing shots and won that gamble.
No play from the weekend probably better encapsulated the team’s defensive potential than one early in the third quarter against the Detroit Pistons.
It is not seen in this clip, but Franz Wagner started the possession on Saddiq Bey and Chuma Okeke on Jerami Grant. The two switched seamlessly and cut off any penetration into the paint. They suffocated the Pistons into this difficult shot from Bey.
Orlando certainly is envisioning this with Jonathan Isaac back there able to switch and defend all five positions too. And Bamba’s added confidence has given the team a new shot-blocking threat.
Other positive signs from the Magic include Jalen Suggs’ strong play.
The rookie guard has struggled to make shots on his own, but there are indicators of how good he has been defensively throughout the season. Opponents are shooting 38.9-percent when he is the closest defender, nearly five percentage points worse than expected.
Suggs gets after players and plays with intense effort. It is hard not to notice him on that end and be excited about his potential:
Wagner has been solid defensively too. Opponents are shooting 40.8-percent against him, 5.8 percentage points worse than expected.
Orlando’s two rookies have been among the Magic’s best defenders. That bodes well for how the team wants to defend. And the Magic have had some surprisingly good defensively lineups — especially their stellar starting lineup which is giving up just 91.0 points per 100 possessions.
With all of these solid indicators — the strong defense from the rookies, the defensive versatility, Mo Bamba’s shot-blocking and the reputation of several other good defenders like Wendell Carter — why are the Magic struggling so much on defense? Where are all these points coming from?
Predictably, that starter/bench split that has concerned everyone all season is a big role in this. The Magic’s second-most used lineup of Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Terrence Ross, Wendell Carter and Mo Bamba has a defensive rating of 112.5 points per 100 possessions in 15 minutes across six games.
Jamahl Mosley is still settling on his rotation and the team is still using different lineups every night as they settle into the season.
The other issues are the other ones that have been self-evident — the team’s issues with turnovers and rebounding.
Orlando has a 17.3-percent turnover rate, the third-worst in the league. The Magic giving up a lot of turnovers predictably creates fast-break opportunities — 14.0 fastbreak points per game (20th in the league) — and tons of points off turnovers — 18.3 points off turnovers per game, 18th in the league).
Still, it is moderately encouraging that despite the high turnover rate, Orlando is not at the bottom of the league in those indicators off turnovers. As long as the Magic defense can get set, it seems they can make the initial stop.
The offense reducing its turnovers would help on this front.
The bigger issue is the team’s rebounding.
Orlando is 24th in the league with a 70.3-percent defensive rebound rate (29.7-percent offensive rebound rate). But the team gives up 15.8 second-chance points per game, 27th in the league.
This has been the biggest issue. Both Wendell Carter and Mo Bamba have been inconsistent rebounders and often the team has needed Cole Anthony or R.J. Hampton to help on the glass. This takes away from the team’s ability to get out in transition.
These are small things that add up and hurt the Magic’s defense.
But very clearly, there is something beneath the numbers. It is still early in the season and everything can change quickly. Another couple of strong defensive performances and the team’s defensive numbers will dramatically improve.
Right now, the Magic are still getting all the pieces together. But there are plenty of positive signs even if the defensive numbers are overall poor.