Wendell Carter's game has never been much for flash.
Through eight seasons, he has established himself as a dependable defender and a solid offensive player.
Things do not always click for him, though. He has had some wild swings and ups and downs.
As the Orlando Magic begin to consider how they will build their team into a title team, those wild swings of confidence and intensity will go into the decision on what to do with Carter.
The week of the Play-In Tournament showed just how up and down Carter can be and how that can impact the Magic.
A frustrating 1-for-7 shooting performance that saw him score only five points as a contributing factor to the loss in the 7/8 Play-In game against the Philadelphia 76ers. He followed it up with one of his best showings.
From the jump, the Magic found Carter as an outlet, and he delivered, scoring 10 of his 16 points in the first quarter, including two threes in the early 13-0 run. He made six of his seven shots. He was also crucial in limiting the Charlotte Hornets to seven offensive rebounds, battling Moussa Diabate early and setting a physical tone in the paint.
Wednesday was Carter when he can be at his worst, down on himself and often compounding mistakes. Friday was Carter when he is at his best, calm and physical and owning his space wherever it is.
"Just playing free," Carter said of the difference between the two games after Friday's win. "Sometimes, I get in my own head when things aren't going my way on the offensive end. All it ends up doing is snowballing. One thing I say that I do pretty well is move on. I had two pretty rough games before this one. But I move on, make sure it didn't happen tonight."
While the Orlando Magic may be long underdogs to upset the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, they will be using these next 4-7 games to make final decisions about their roster for the offseason.
It is the last chance to make an impression.
Regardless of what anyone thinks, Carter has a huge role to play against the Pistons. This is a chance to prove his worth.
Carter's impact without scoring
Wendell Carter is often the flashpoint for a lot of fans as they try to figure out how to help the team improve. Someone is always that player. And someone is always the fifth starter.
In the Orlando Magic's more egalitarian style of offense, it can be a problem.
But Carter is coming off a solid season, averaging 11.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He shot 51.2 percent from the floor. More importantly for Carter, he played in a career-high 78 games.
The Magic had a 111.3 defensive rating with Carter on the floor, 2.3 points per 100 possessions better than the team's season-long average.
Opponents shot 61.2 percent at the rim against Carter, according to data from Second Spectrum. That is in the middle of the league compared to other players who played at least 24 minutes per game and defended at least four field goal attempts per game, settled right behind Jalen Duren.
Statistically, at least, Carter provided everything the Magic would hope for. Especially considering he was not viewed as a player that they would run a lot of plays for.
Carter still has a lot of warts.
For a team that struggles offensively, Carter is merely expected to be a jump shooter and spread the floor. Thet eam wants to feed him chances in pick and rolls. But he made only 32.5 percent of his total catch-and-shoot opportunities.
In pick and rolls, the Magic scored 113.8 points per 100 possessions, according to data from Synergy Sports, putting him in the 62nd percentile.
With Carter unable to play above the rim, he does not space the floor vertically. He does not really space the floor at all offensively. And that is why it feels like he can be underwhelming.
It is why he sometimes looks invisible as if the Magic are missing something critical.
Carter's key matchup
There will be a lot of key matchups for the Orlando Magic in their series with the Detroit Pistons.
None may be more important, set the tone or have the potential to swing the series like the one between Wendell Carter and All-Star Jalen Duren.
In a series that is expected to be physical, how Carter dishes out physicality from the paint and absorbs physicality will determine a lot.
The Pistons were third in the league with a 35.4 percent offensive rebound rate and fourth in the league with 17.0 second-chance points per game. Duren is a big part of that with his presence and size on the interior.
But the Charlotte Hornets were also among the best teams in the league in attacking the offensive glass. The Magic held them to seven offensive rebounds -- and a 15.6 percent offensive rebound rate -- and 11 second-chance points.
Wendell Carter only had six rebounds in the game, but his effort to keep Moussa Diabate and Ryan Kalkbrenner off the glass were vital in the Magic running away with the win.
"That's a big credit to Wendell," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Friday's win. "Yes, the scoring is the thing. But his ability to keep him off the glass, our guards making a commitment to come back and help him, them holding each other accountable when things didn't go the way they needed to when they got a couple of 50/50 baskeballs. That's what this team is about, and that's what it will continue to be about."
Carter said he made it a point to keep the Hornets off the glass. His job was to prevent them from getting those rebounds. He was not credited with many boards, but he did his job. And the rest of the team felt it.
The Pistons will almost certainly dare Carter to beat them with jumpers so they can commit more to stopping drives from the Magic and collapse the paint. This series has made it vital for Carter to be a factor.
And the Magic may see this apparent weakness on full display as they plan what comes next.
That is among the reasons this is a big series for Carter, who is coming off a solid series last year against the Boston Celtics. The Magic's hopes to steal games and score an upset will come down to Carter.
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