The Orlando Magic are right back at it as they take on the NBA’s best team in the Phoenix Suns on the second night of a back-to-back.
Orlando Magic (13-44) at Phoenix Suns (45-10)
Time/TV: 9 p.m./Bally Sports Florida
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Line via WynnBet: Suns by 16
Tickets: $45-$1,024 on StubHub
2022 Season Series: Tonight in Phoenix; March 8 in Orlando
| Pace | Off. Rtg. | Def. Rtg. | eFG% | O.Reb.% | TO% | FTR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orlando | 99.1 | 103.8 | 111.9 | 50.1 | 25.4 | 14.8 | 22.5 |
| Phoenix | 99.7 | 113.4 | 105.5 | 54.3 | 26.9 | 13.0 | 22.6 |
OMD Prediction
The Orlando Magic went into the pan playing a very good Utah Jazz team even without Rudy Gobert. They came out. . . OK. The Magic gave up an early lead thanks to turnovers and miscues and slowly fought their way back in. A lot of credit should go to the team’s second-quarter defense. It was proof that at least for short stretches, the Magic can play at a very high level.
Utah though eviscerated the team in the fourth quarter and Orlando found itself making too many mistakes and execution errors to stay in the game. The Magic could not make up the deficit and the Jazz won running away.
So here goes the team into the fire. The Phoenix Suns are a much different animal. A dominant team that has very few flaws and perfect role players. This is a game that will likely demand perfection. Orlando is playing far from perfect. And on the second night of a back-to-back, that is really tough.
3 Keys To Watch
A word about pace
At the beginning of the season, Jamahl Mosley talked a lot about his team playing with more pace. Defining pace is notoriously difficult to do. But it is also clear that Orlando is putting more emphasis on playing with the kind of pace you would think the team wants.
Statistically, the Magic have been climbing the rankings in terms of possessions per 48 minutes. They are now 12th in the league in pace with 99.1 possessions per 48 minutes. They are third in the league at 101.0 possessions per 48 minutes in their last 10 games (where the Magic have gone through a nice 5-5 spurt).
The 12th ranking in the league is on track to be the Magic’s highest since 2018 (they were also 12th) and 2008 (they were 11th) before then.
Is that pace effective? Despite the increased possessions, Orlando is 24th in the league in fast-break points at 10.1 per game.
So this means the Magic are getting more possessions in the course of their games. But that does not mean they are the ones dictating the pace of the game.
When Orlando is effective, the team kicks the ball up the floor quickly and plays under control. When the team is not, it is often turning it over and getting run back against it — although Orlando is seventh in the league giving up just 11.4 fastbreak points per game.
Mid-range Suns
The Phoenix Suns are something of an anomaly in the analytics-driven NBA. They get plenty of 3-pointers and have plenty of shooters. They have plenty of guys who can get down to the rim and put pressure on defense or get to the line.
But they are also one of the few teams in the league that finds a lot of success and volume in mid-range shots. It would figure because Devin Booker and Chris Paul are two of the best mid-range shooters in the entire league.
The Suns are second in the league in mid-range field goal attempts per game according to NBA.com, taking 16.4 per game. Notably, they trail the Chicago Bulls who have noted mid-range shooters Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic.
Phoenix hits on 44.8-percent of those shots, third in the league. That trails the Brooklyn Nets (and mid-range savants Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving) and the Chicago Bulls.
Booker shoots the fourth-most mid-range shots per game at 6.7. He hits a stellar 46.1-percent on those field goal attempts. Paul shoots 4.7 per game and hits 51.6-percent on them.
Analytics will tell you mid-range shots are the least efficient in the game. But if you can shoot it that effectively, the analytics will tell you to shoot them.
Big Chum
The latest debate raging on Orlando Magic Twitter really is not a new one.
Everyone has been feeling like the team needs to split the Wendell Carter/Mo Bamba starting group for a while now. And despite the success defensively that starting group typically has, there is still a compelling argument for it.
If the Magic were holding off on it, it might have been because Chuma Okeke was struggling so much. His shot was off and he did not look like he was in much of a rhythm.
Okeke has started to flip that narrative some and is pushing to be back in the starting lineup at some point soon — certainly once the Magic feel ready to start priming themselves for Jonathan Isaac’s return.
Okeke is averaging 10.6 points per game, shooting 49.5-percent from the floor and 43.8-percent from deep. On top of that, he has played extremely strong defense. Okeke has essentially regained his form from last year after dealing with some early-season injuries.
And, yes, he is probably pushing for some more serious playing time with the Magic starting to think about how this roster will actually develop.