3 players who will determine Orlando Magic's postseason outcome

3 players who will determine Orlando Magic's postseason outcome

Wendell Carter

Orlando Magic fans' chosen scapegoat for much of the season has been Wendell Carter. Really, he has become the team's Rorschach Test. Everyone kind of sees what they want to see in Carter.

The reality is that these Playoffs, the first in Carter's career, were always going to be a major test for him. It is something everyone has been looking forward to seeing from him to see how he stands up.

Carter had a rough year statistically, averaging 11.0 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game, both lows since his arrival in Orlando. He took only 7.7 field goal attempts per game.

If there is a silver lining, it is that Carter made a career-best 37.4 percent from three on roughly the same volume as last year. But that was also the problem because, with fewer shots, most of Carter's baskets became threes.

Carter had a weird season without a doubt as the early season hand injury slowed him down and kept him from ramping up. But still, even beyond that, Carter had a lot of games where he seemingly floated in and out of attention.

A good Carter game usually sees him aggressive around the basket and active and mobile on defense. A bad Carter game usually sees him floating around the perimeter and getting pummeled on the glass.

That is the biggest concern in this series. The Magic finished the year second in the league with a 73.7 percent defensive rebound rate. They gave up the second-fewest second-chance points at 12.1 per game. Despite perceptions to the contrary, this has been a good rebounding team.

But against the Cleveland Cavaliers, they had a lowly 69.5 percent defensive rebound rate. Cleveland pummeled Orlando on the glass, averaging 13.8 second-chance points per game.

To say the least, this feels like one of the swing factors in this series. Orlando is going to have to be attentive on the glass to win this series.

That is going to fall heavily on Carter who struggled with rebounding all season and is not a volume rebounder. With Jarrett Allen having a clear size advantage, the Magic are going to need Carter to do his best to keep him off the glass. This is not a series where either team can afford to give up second chances.

Carter has had big games before -- he averaged 11.0 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game against the Cavaliers -- but that has been his most inconsistent spot this year.

Orlando needs his spacing and shooting to loosen the paint and keep Allen from crashing the driving lanes. The team is also going to need him to be a presence on the glass.