3 Numbers that hint at Orlando Magic's potential defensive dominance
26.2: Field Goals Defended at the Rim
One of the perceived weaknesses of the Orlando Magic's defense is that they are not great rim protectors.
Jonathan Isaac and Goga Bitadze are probably the team's best shot blockers. Wendell Carter Jr. can block shots, but is not an above-the-rim center, or at least is not perceived as one. Moe Wagner's rim protection strategy is to take charges, where he finished third in the league last year.
The Magic may have a weakness with rim protection, but they have another secret weapon in that category: They do not give up a lot of shots at the rim to begin with.
According to data from Second Spectrum, the Magic gave up 26.2 field goal attempts per game at the rim, the seventh-fewest in the league. Opponents shot 64.1 percent at the rim, ranking the Magic 12th in the league in that category.
The Magic were led in this category by Isaac, who gave up 52.7 percent shooting at the rim on 2.3 attempts per game. That ranked him 11th in the league among players who played at least 15 minutes per game (fourth among non-centers) and 13th among players who faced at least two field goal attempts per game at the rim.
Bitadze gave up a respectable 55.1 percent field goal percentage at the rim. And the sometimes maligned Carter took a small step back but still gave up only 58.4 percent shooting at the rim. Those are pretty solid numbers if not as spectacular as Isaac or among the best defensive big men in the league.
Knowing the Magic do not have a great individual shot blocker—although they finished 13th in the league with 5.2 blocks per game—their strategy was to limit field goal attempts at the rim altogether. And Orlando was fairly effective at that.
The Magic gave up only 28.7 field goal attempts per game within six feet, according to NBA.com's tracking stats, the fifth-fewest in the league. Opponents shot 62.5 percent on these shots, 0.2 percentage points worse than expected.
The Magic gave up 25.1 field goal attempts per game in the restricted area, the 10th fewest in the league. Opponents shot 65.8 percent on these shots, 11th in the league.
Further, Orlando gave up 16.1 field goal attempts per game in the paint outside of the restricted area, the ninth-fewest in the league. Opponents shot 44.8 percent, one of the few areas the Magic were not among the elite on defense.
All of this culminates in this important number too: The Magic gave up 47.5 points in the paint per game, eighth in the league. They were a solid team on the interior overall.
The point though is the Magic worked hard to prevent shots in these prime areas on the floor. That is something the team was good at. They can congest space and deter shots around the paint.
That is something the Magic should look to improve, even if they are not the strongest team at the rim.