Orlando Magic struggle to find their pace when the pressure is on

There are three definitions of pace that get tossed around NBA circles.

The first is what you find on NBA.com’s stats page that describes possessions per 48 minutes. It simply measures how many possessions a team plays on average in a game. A “fast” team gets up and down the floor more and gets a lot more shots. A “slow” team is more methodical and stretches its possessions.

The second is often how coaches define pace. It is about how quickly a team executes and gets into its offense. It is more about the intensity and speed at which the team plays.

When coach Jamahl Mosley says he wants the Orlando Magic to play with pace, he often talks about “21-offense” or initiating the offense within three or four seconds of the shot clock, giving the team more time within the offense to run its sets. He also refers to the speed and intensity in which those sets run.

Then there is the third definition for pace. One that is about more individual play.

It is about the comfort and control a player exerts on the game. The pace they want to play.

Some guards are often described as never getting sped up. They are always in control over the flow of the game. When the ball is in their hands, there is no panic even when defenses do their best to speed them up.

That is often what pressure defenses are trying to do. They are trying to make players uncomfortable and out of their comfort zones.

The Orlando Magic struggle at times to control their pace, allowing opponents to speed them up and throw them off kilter.

A sped-up player is one more prone to mistakes or throwing off the timing of the defense. Or, perhaps even better, retreating and slowing down so much the defense can recover and reset.

Pace like this is something that can be innate — just watch Franz Wagner play — but it is something experienced too. It is something young players have to get better at and learn how to break through.

Every game is a battle of pace and control. Who is going to dictate the tempo of the game?

The Los Angeles Lakers decidedly dictated the tempo in a 106-94 win on Sunday. Even with Orlando holding onto a lead through much of the first half, Los Angeles was able to speed the team up and force turnovers to feed its fast break.

Eventually, there was going to be a breakthrough. Especially when LeBron James, who scored 14 of his 30 points in the tell-tale third quarter, started to dictate his terms on the game.

The Magic are a young team and learning how to manage the pace of a game, especially when teams like the Lakers try to force their tempo on them and speed up this young squad, is going to be one of the most important points of growth for this group.

"“I think we let our offense dictate how we played on the other end as well,” Wagner said after Sunday’s game. “They got most of their points in transition with easy threes and easy points at the rim. There are going to be stretches in a game where we don’t hit shots or I had a couple of bad turnovers in that stretch. We need to do a better job doing what we did in the first half of playing solid defense and getting into the ball too.”"

That is seemingly the solution: Use the defense to regain control of the pace and match any attempts to make them uncomfortable by making the opponent uncomfortable. In the end, getting stops and getting easy baskets is the way to build these kinds of runs.

Orlando got caught flat-footed and got beat up on both ends as they were unable to grab hold of the rope again.

The Lakers ended up putting on a 23-0 for nearly eight minutes in the third quarter in outscoring the Magic 36-10 in the decisive period. In that period, the Magic turned the ball over six times and made just 2 of 23 shots.

Mosley said after the game he felt the team got some good looks and missed them, a common refrain from him in postgame after some critical runs like the one against the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls before. But the team’s misses and turnovers fed a Lakers team that loves to get out in transition.

Orlando was uncomfortable in every sense of the word and trying to scratch their way back. The team’s inability to find any breakthrough only sped them up more as they tried to fight their way back. Their collection and desire to fight were used against them when the team needed to take a step back and take a breath.

The way out of this is seemingly the non-intuitive method of executing harder, setting better screens and slowing the pace down to find that comfort. Too often it is individuals trying to make home-run plays rather than resetting the offense and trying to get back into the flow.

The other way out is to up the pressure back on defense and use the defense to create advantages in the offense, turning the tide. That is essentially what the Lakers did to create their run.

"“You’ve got to sit down and understand what we’re trying to execute in those moments,” Mosley said after Sunday’s loss. “Understand the shots you are going to get. We got some great looks. We just happened that those shots didn’t go in. Those are the times we need to make sure we sprint back in transition and set our defense. When we set our defense, we can get out and run and get some easy baskets in those moments.”"

It all comes down to controlling the tempo of the game and being the aggressors at all times.

Wendell Carter, something of a veteran with this young group, said the team has to focus on making the simple plays when the pressure comes up. As a big, he said he has to set better screens and come further up the floor to relieve that pressure and get the guards on the attack again.

Right now, when teams up the pressure, the team makes mistakes and turns the ball over. And that only buries the team deeper.

There is still a lot of work to do. But Carter said he also takes the pressure as a sign of respect. It’s a challenge this young team has to rise to.

"“It’s understanding we’re in this league for a reason,” Carter said after Sunday’s game. “Whenever someone is up trying to pressure you, in my opinion, you’ve won their respect. They understand you are really good when you’re comfortable. We have to take that challenge on so we can play when things are uncomfortable.”"

It is still a challenge for this team. They are still finding their pace and their way to play.

That is as much a product of their youth — especially at point guard — as it is anything else. But to be sure, teams are going to continue putting pressure on them and forcing them into mistakes.

It is up to the Magic to figure out their way out of it.