Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (finally) arrives for the Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic were already cruising. They were hitting threes at a high rate and making the Chicago Bulls' heads spin. But the Bulls were hanging around within striking distance down by 10 points in the middle of the second quarter.

The Magic needed one more run to put the game away and end any hopes before halftime. That "middle eight" to close the first half and open the second half is so important. It is exactly why a team would invest in a veteran like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

At last, the Magic saw the power that comes from a sharpshooter like Caldwell-Pope.

The Magic withstood that run that cut the deficit down to 10 points thanks to a sequence that saw Kentavious Caldwell-Pope find Moe Wagner cutting along the baseline for a layup with the foul—Caldwell-Pope hit a technical free throw when Lonzo Ball threw the ball against the stanchion in frustration.

The real fun came later in the second quarter. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got a pass from Jalen Suggs to drain a three. He then got a steal at the free throw line and ran up the court to make a pull-up three.

To say the least, this is what the Magic envisioned when they signed Caldwell-Pope in the offseason. They foresaw a player who would be disruptive and everywhere defensively.

More importantly, they saw someone who could put their three-point frustrations to rest. Someone who would be a constant threat from deep.

That last part had not been realized this season. Not until Wednesday night. Not until Caldwell-Pope finally went off in a 133-119 dismantling of the Bulls.

It has been a long time coming.

"For me, it's continuing to keep my confidence at a high level and not get down on myself for missing shots," Caldwell-Pope said after Wednesday's win. "My teammates and my coaches, the support behind me has always been great. It was great to see those six threes go through. I felt like I was in a great rhythm throughout the whole game and just playing free and not really worried about everything."

Caldwell-Pope finished with a season-high 24 points, making 6 of 10 3-pointers. It was a breakthrough game for a player who has not lived up to expectations. It was relief to see it all finally work.

The 3-point relief

The Orlando Magic signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to help solve the Magic's 3-point shooting problems.

But Caldwell-Pope has been stuck in an unusual shooting slump. Entering the game, he averaged 6.8 points per game, the fewest since his rookie year, and shot a career-worst 22.4 percent.

Everyone was trying to figure out how a player who had shot better than 40 percent from three in three of the past four seasons was not delivering even this basic level.

It would take an incredible shooting performance for the final three-quarters of the season for Caldwell-Pope to get back to his career levels. The Magic probably do not expect that. But they expect and know Caldwell-Pope can provide consistent shooting for this team.

They have had to keep the faith in his shooting just like they have had to keep the faith everyone's shooting will turn around with the quality of looks they are getting.

The team always encouraged Caldwell-Pope to keep shooting. They know what he is capable of doing. This felt rewarding.

"They just tell me to keep shooting," Caldwell-Pope said after Wednesday's win. "There really is not much said. Just telling me to keep shooting. Just get out of my own head and play free. Tonight I played without worrying about making shots. Tonight was an all-time high for me. Tonight felt great to be able to see the ball go through and have fun with my teammates and my brothers out there."

The shooting went through everyone else. The Magic made 15 of 39 threes (38.5 percent) and made 6 of 11 in the first quarter to take control of the game. Orlando could rely on its three-point shooting in this one. The confidence from the early makes lasted throughout.

The Magic entered the game with the worst 3-point field goal percentage in the league. Anything they can get from the 3-point line feels like a bonus.

And Caldwell-Pope has gotten a lot of good looks—entering the game he was just 9 for 36 on shots where the closest defender was six or more feet away out of 76 total attempts. The team needed the shot of confidence that comes from their best shooter making it.

Of course, they expected so much from Caldwell-Pope when he arrived. Getting him going is a confidence boost for the entire team. Everyone hopes this is a turning point for him.

"Just keeping that confidence," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Wednesday's win. "We talked about it with this group of guys. They are getting the right shots. Their ability to stay confident in that is great. He was in the gym working yesterday. Just continuously working knowing at some point they are going to fall. Just trusting the process of your work."

Jalen Suggs joined the fun from deep, making four of nine from three for a career-high 31 points. The partnership with Suggs has been one of the most discussed elements for this team.

The backcourt terror

The Orlando Magic's backcourt duo of Jalen Suggs and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have and remain a terror on defense. While everyone wanted to talk about their offensive output, Jamahl Mosley wanted to beam about their defense.

They helped hold Zach LaVine to eight points on 3-for-9 shooting (he did have 10 assists) and Coby White to nine points on 3-for-10 shooting.

Caldwell-Pope recorded four steals in an 18-"stock" effort for the Magic.

While the Magic would not count this among their best defensive games overall, it was stifling enough to deliver a runaway win where the Magic never led by fewer than 10 points in the second half.

For as much as the offense has struggled, there are no nights off for any guards when they face the Magic. And everything stars there. The Magic are not abandoning anything and have been pleased with how that duo has worked together.

In that respect, Caldwell-Pope was already here and already delivering.

"Worked out pretty good," Caldwell-Pope said with a smile after Wednesday's game. "There's always room for improvement. We're not going to play a perfect game. But what we do on the defensive end jumpstarts a lot of defense for the team. I would say early in training camp, it just feels good when you have someone else who can defend and wants to defend. It's always good to have a partner like that."

What the Magic needed was a shooting performance like this one. One that leaves a defense throwing its hands up trying to figure out how to stop this mass of arms and versatility the Magic throw at their opponents.

The Magic are still chasing a perfect game. But they are winning -- 10 of their last 11 -- in the process. They have been winning even with their biggest offseason acquisition not quite delivering what was expected of him.

The Magic got a glimpse of what it looks like when he is clicking on all cylinders. They finally got the Caldwell-Pope they hoped for in the offseason.