Orlando Magic Grades: Miami Heat’s physicality wins on Boxing Day

The Miami Heat are tough for any young team.

They, as much as anyone else, are the standards for culture. Their team always plays the same way no matter who is in the lineup. And a team that is not executing sharply or a team that is not organized enough will always find themselves at something of a disadvantage.

Even when a team is working hard, if they are not willing to work harder than the Heat, that only makes things even more difficult.

The Magic, especially when playing without Cole Anthony (out Sunday with maintenance for his sprained ankle), are behind the 8-ball. They are not a strong offensive team without him. They would have to grind and fight.

Orlando has proven time and time again it is willing to do that. And this game was no different. Just the moments where the team let go of the rope were enough to create distance. And everything the Heat did was enough to make them uncomfortable.

The Miami Heat made the Orlando Magic uncomfortable even as they struggled to pull completely away in a win Sunday.

Orlando trailed by three points at halftime in a low-scoring first two quarters. But the Heat found their stroke from deep and the Magic did not. Miami hit six of its 10 3-pointers in the third quarter.

That was enough to make the Heat’s rebounding advantage stick. That was enough for Miami’s physicality to get to Orlando enough to create some distance.

The Heat built a 15-point lead in the third quarter and were never really threatened. Miami was able to hit a key 3-pointer, grab an offensive rebound or just consistently get a stop to create and maintain distance in a 93-83 win at FTX Arena on Sunday.

That is nothing new for this Magic team, unfortunately. Orlando has struggled at times to maintain consistent effort and production when the team’s bench comes in or for a random 4-5-minute stretch at some point in the game.

That stretch came in the early third quarter when the Heat started getting going from deep.

But throughout the game, Miami seemed to have control even as Miami struggled to shoot itself. The Heat were the more physical team and that showed on the glass where they had 20 offensive rebounds for 20 second-chance points (on 8-for-17 shooting). Miami had 17 extra field goal attempts.

That was the difference in the game.

Player Grades

Gary Harris – A

Gary Harris has turned in an incredible December. After struggling through the early part of the season, Harris has started to find his rhythm and look like the player who was a fan favorite in Denver and a critical player to many of the Denver Nuggets’ playoff runs. Harris has been rock steady for the team during this week of upheaval.

He was the best player on the floor again for the Orlando Magic, scoring 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting. He got himself going early too to keep the Magic going offensively, attacking the basket and scoring around the rim and shooting from beyond the arc.

Harris did a lot of this without forcing much offense. He was playing within the offense and attacking the gaps the defense gave him.

More importantly, Gary Harris played really good defense on Jimmy Butler too. Butler was still working his way back from his extended absence. But Harris helped lock out one of the Heat’s best players. That was key for the Magic to stay in the game.

R.J. Hampton – B+

R.J. Hampton played his first game in a week after getting off the health and safety protocols. There was definitely an excess of energy as he started to feel his way through. And, of course, the Orlando Magic had to rely on him to be the point guard, which is definitely not his best.

Hampton had plenty of rust on both ends. He gave in at times to the wild drives and finishes. Hampton still plays a bit faster than he should. But his good moments were very good. And he should find his rhythm quickly.

He scored 14 points and had five assists, making 6 of 14 shots and just two of his seven 3-pointers. It was a good return for him overall.

Wendell Carter – B-

Wendell Carter is still returning from the leg injury that slowed him down for the last week. He said after Thursday’s loss that the doctors told him it could not get any worse so he felt like he had to play. That is certainly admirable and Carter can still be a major contributor. But he needs to play with more aggression at this point.

Carter ended up with 14 rebounds, which feels like a good number. And many of the team’s offensive rebounds the team gave up were not on him (although Omer Yurtseven got him for a few of them). But the Magic need him to be aggressive.

This is the big key for Carter — his aggression. The Magic need Carter to be willing to shoot, throwing his body around and playing physically. Not to mention a willingness to shoot and score. That part was missing Sunday.

Tim Frazier – C-

The Orlando Magic’s 10-day contracts are getting ready to expire. The Magic’s first batch are set to lapse and they will have to decide whether to renew some of those players or let them head back to Lakeland. Orlando still has plenty of players in health and safety protocols so some of these players may well stay.

But there has been a miss at this point. Tim Frazier has really struggled to run the team effectively. The Magic are struggling in his minutes and it is apparent.

Maybe that is unfair to Frazier. He has been dropped into a team he has little familiarity with and is expected to run the team. And he does it mostly with depleted lineups. But Frazier just has not delivered.

Miami Heat – B

The Miami Heat played their style defensively. They got after things and played physically to speed the Orlando Magic up and get them uncomfortable. Make no mistake about it, Miami was in control for most of this game and it was played to its style. Orlando did not mind keeping the score low, but this was a Miami-style game.

Still, the Heat let the Magic hang around a lot. They missed a ton of threes and found it hard to break the defense down for much of the game. Even as the Heat got offensive rebounds. Even as they got turnovers and runouts. Even as they had control of the game.

Miami was good enough to win. That is a credit to the team’s depth, culture and style. The Heat can win without their best stuff.

Orlando is now 7-27, 4th in the Eastern Conference. They are back in action Tuesday at home against the Milwaukee Bucks.