Everyone knows what they are facing when they face the Orlando Magic. They know about the length and the physicality they play with. They know that it is not going to be an easy night.
It is the same deal when they face the Indiana Pacers. They know they are dealing with a unique fast-breaking offense. It is a challenge you have to be prepared for.
The question when these two teams meet is: Who wins between the unstoppable force and the immovable object?
The rest of the league has been trying to figure out how to crack this impenetrable Magic defense for the last two years. And that includes the Pacers.
There are simply not many ways to crack through the defense. Once the Magic find their groove, they are all arms and hands swiping at the ball and collapsing and pressuring anyone who ventures near the paint.
The Magic know defense is their identity. When it works seamlessly, it is something special. It is something devastating. It is downright exhilarating.
And it is something not even the Pacers can crack to devastating effect. The fourth quarter became a cascading problem as they suddenly found themselves trailing and trying to break this vaunted Magic defense.
"It's just so contagious," Jonathan Isaac said after Wednesday's win. "What's so great is you can feel the momentum coming on. When one guy gets one stop and you just feel that energy. It's almost like you can sense this is going to be our run when we get stops. Shots started to fall toward the end of the game, that's all we need. With defense like that and shots falling, we can stay with any team in the league night in and night out."
A stifling fourth quarter
The Orlando Magic used that defense to shut down the high-powered Pacers for a 94-90 victory. They used an 18-point defensive fourth quarter to silence the Pacers and turn a four-point deficit into as much as a 12-point lead in the quarter.
Indiana shot only 5 for 19 in the quarter, going four and a half minutes without a field goal. The Magic flipped the game to a nine-point lead before Pascal Siakam made a three to cut the deficit to six. Indiana missed its first seven shots and turned it over three times.
As coach Jamahl Mosley put it after the game, the Magic were everywhere. And they still left points and opportunities on the board.
It all came in a wave of plays big and small. Anthony Black recording a block or a steal. Jonathan Isaac flying in for a rebound. Franz Wagner eating up a board or Jalen Suggs diving on the floor for possession.
The Magic turned enough of it into offense to eke out the win. But their defense is more than enough. It is enough to help them compete and devastate teams in critical junctures of the game.
Indiana's frustration was Orlando's joy in this one. They stifled any hope for the Pacers, even when they had to hang on at the end with their offense going into slow mode or even when they started slowly, giving up 27 points in the first quarter.
The Magic play defense to an incredibly high standard. They expect an elite performance every time.
"It feels great," Goga Bitadze said after Wednesday's game. "The only thing with us is if we are able to do this, it feels like sometimes when we don't we're not locked in. We can't be perfect all the time. As long as we can get close to that and stay consistent with it, it's a nightmare.
"We're getting better. We've just got to be more consistent and don't let the team score in the first quarter. But we're going to get there and we're going to be fine."
Defense is the identity
This is the Orlando Magic's identity. The team has talked about being committed defensively all season. Even though the team has to reach a high standard, the Magic's defense has been mostly good this year and most dominant too.
Orlando entered the game with the second-best defense in the league. But on the second night of a back-to-back and against one of the best offensive teams in the league, any defense would feel challenged. Any defense might let up.
If there is a sign that something is different about this team or that this team is starting to find itself after an odd start to the season and that this team can still accomplish all of its goals, look no further than its devastating defense.
The kind of defense that can shut down a team like the Pacers and their high-powered offense on the second night of a back-to-back on a night where the team struggled to shoot.
The Pacers scored only 92.8 points per 100 possessions, their second-worst offensive showing of the year. Orlando has put together defensive ratings of 91.7, 100.0, 88.1, and 92.8 during this home stand. The opponents and their relative weaknesses might help with that. But it is still a difficult thing to do in the NBA with how offensively tilted it is.
The Magic defend with ferocity, forcing turnovers (17 for 17 points in this game, helping counteract 10 first-quarter turnovers on their part), blocking shots (10 blocks including three from Jonathan Isaac) and digging in for steals and deflections (eight steals, including four from Anthony Black).
Orlando's defense is disruptive and aggressive.
The dream of playing two dominant guards on the perimeter has proven fruitful, even giving them room to chase steals and hound their opponents. Tyrese Haliburton finished with only nine points on 3-for-14 shooting, tallying eight of his 11 asissts in an offensively-minded first quarter.
Quite simply, the Magic's defense is playing at another level right now. This is a team playing with extreme confidence in its ability to stop opponents from scoring.
If there is one truth the Magic should know and quickly realize in their time without Paolo Banchero, it is that their defense should never waver. Maybe it took some time to find their footing again, but the Magic's defense is back with a vengeance.
"Just feeling their frustration with each other and seeing the looks on their face is definitely something we talk about," Anthony Black said after Wednesday's win. "Just relentless pressure. I think that's what we brought tonight. Throughout the game that breaks teams down. When they get to that breaking point, they break."
Defense is the key to the team's goals
This is who the Orlando Magic always knew they needed to be. If they were going to accomplish all of their goals, ti was going to come on the defensive end.
That they can put together these kinds of devastating defensive performances—put this fourth quarter on the pile with the Orlando Magic's third quarter against the Miami Heat or the third quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies or any part of the games this week on this homestand.
That Orlando dug deep on a back-to-back and erased a 12-point deficit in a meaningful game also speaks to the kind of grit and resolve a defensive team like this needs. This is what the really good teams do. These are the kind of games the really good teams build on.
"It wasn't a pretty one, but it's the way you have to try to get it done in this league," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Wednesday's win. "These guys embraced it. They could have easily given in. We talk about how much grit this team has. They fought through the shooting lulls at times and the turnovers early and they found a way. I think that's part of this league and part of the growth of the group that understands you find ways to win."
The scary part is the Magic are right too, they still can be more consistent on defense. They can still get a lot better.
They are far from done putting opponents in their traps and in their grips. They are not done watching with dread as the Magic defense springs on them.