Orlando Magic go cold without Cole Anthony

Cole Anthony tried really hard to defer attention from himself following the team’s marquee win over the Utah Jazz.

Fans were chanting “M-V-P” when he stepped to the free-throw line late in the game as he put the finishing touches on a 33-point, 13-for-22 shooting performance to deliver the win. This included a steal and breakaway jam in a big moment and a tough pull-up fade-away jumper over Rudy Gobert.

Anthony may not have been an MVP, but he certainly looked like an All-Star.

Anthony, full of bravado on the court but equal amounts of humility, confidence and swagger off of it, asked fans to stop the chanting. He was not at that level yet, although he was certainly flattered by the consideration.

Cole Anthony has proven himself to be a vital player to the Orlando Magic’s success. The team just goes cold without him.

There is no doubt Anthony has a long way to go to get to that level. His play to this point this season has indeed sparked some debates among fans about what the Magic should do with their trio of guards when Markelle Fultz inevitably returns from injury.

That may still be a little ways away.

The only thing that is clear for the present is how vital Anthony has become to the team. Quite simply, the Magic do not function without Anthony in the lineup. And you did not need Monday night’s embarrassing performance against the Milwaukee Bucks (or really both of those games) to understand how much the team misses him.

The fact Anthony will miss Wednesday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets, his third straight due to a sprained right ankle suffered apparently during Friday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets, is a foreboding proposition to a team struggling still to find its footing and any kind of consistency.

It is hard to believe but Anthony plays and carries himself like a veteran even as a second-year player. He has quickly become the team’s most dependable player.

It is not merely his raw stats. Anthony has put himself up for the league’s Most Improved Player moniker by averaging 19.6 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game and 5.9 assists per game. He is doing this with increased efficiency getting up to a 50.4-percent effective field goal percentage.

Anthony is not likely to be confused with a true MVP quite yet. His stats are certainly not at that level yet. And while Anthony might get some All-Star consideration, his team likely will not have a good enough record to take that seriously.

Do not worry, Anthony is at least a shoo-in to play in the Rookie-Sophomore Game.

But Anthony is proving very quickly to be the team’s most valuable player by a wide margin. When he is not in the game, the Magic struggle to function.

With Anthony on the floor, the Magic have a -1.2 net rating. That only trails deep bench players like Mychal Mulder, Ignas Brazdeikis and Moritz Wagner on the team. Those were mostly built in the fourth-quarter comebacks against the Detroit Pistons and the two games against the Milwaukee Bucks. None of those moments were in competitive games.

Orlando’s overall net rating is -9.7. So such a disparity feels significant, especially at this point of the season.

So too does the fact the Magic have a 107.7 offensive rating with Anthony on the floor (trailing only Brazdeikis). Considering the team has a 102.1 offensive rating overall, the difference is still pretty stark.

That, of course, means the difference is even starker when Anthony is off the floor.

The Magic have a team-worst -22.1 net rating when Anthony is off the floor. Paired with Wendell Carter (-13.6 net rating when he is off the floor) and Jalen Suggs (-11.5 net rating when he is off the floor), it is a sign the Magic’s starting lineup far outperforms its bench counterparts. That is still the central story for this Magic team.

A similar pattern shows itself with the team’s offensive numbers.

Orlando has a 90.2 offensive rating when Anthony is off the floor. Only Franz Wagner, Moritz Wagner and Wendell Carter also have on-court offensive ratings worse than a point per possession.

It again suggests the Magic’s starting lineup and deep bench lineups are the only ones creating a positive offensive rating or outcome for the team. But Anthony is at the bottom of this list. The team just struggles on both ends without him and the lineups he is in on the floor.

The Magic’s starting group without Anthony in the lineup, like most of its lineups when one of the usual starters is removed, has a -65.5 net rating in 13 minutes when replacing Cole Anthony for Gary Harris and a -49.3 net rating in 13 minutes when replacing Anthony for Mychal Mulder.

There is a reason Anthony plays a lot with different lineups and the starters rarely play without him. At this point, despite some of Anthony’s apparent flaws, he remains the best ball-handler and point guard on the roster.

The Magic obviously struggled from the start in both losses to the Bucks with Anthony out of the lineup. Both games were extreme blowouts for all intents and purposes — a fourth-quarter rally made things interesting, but the Bucks led by as much as 32 before their deep bench gave the lead away.

Anthony right now is just key to so many things the team does.

He has a scorer’s mentality, something many of his teammates do not necessarily have. Anthony is often looking to score and set up his own shot. He has clearly gotten better about making plays for others, but Anthony is never going to apologize for taking a shot.

There just are not many players who can create for themselves off the dribble in the same way on this team. And the team clearly hurts when he is out.

Orlando will have to deal with this Wednesday. For how much longer beyond that remains a bit of a mystery too.