The Orlando Magic opened their schedule after the All-Star Break with a momentous 116-109 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The defense and effort looked sharp and were the signs of a team that seemed fully engaged and focused on the upcoming playoff chase.
The team seems fully locked in with a schedule that should be set up for them to make a push -- their next seven games are against teams with losing records. Orlando is about to make a move in the standings. Or, at least, the team should.
The Magic, as any team would, will go as far as their stars will take them. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are critical players for the team. And with both players averaging more than 20.0 points per game -- the first time a pair of Magic players have hit that mark since Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee Hardaway in 1996 -- they know what they are going to get from those players almost every night.
Both Banchero and Wagner are consistent options for the team. And while the Magic do not yet know how they will respond to the playoff pressure, the Magic know they will need secondary players to step up and support them. They know they need players to make their lives easier.
Thursday's win over the Cavaliers was a major statement then. Both Banchero and Wagner struggled and did not put up their normal scoring output. It was only the ninth time this season that both players failed to hit 20 points. The Magic have still won their fair share of games without it.
But it took a big performance from the Magic's bench to get the win Thursday. Orlando had 63 points off the bench and got a big showing from Moe Wagner (22 points) and Cole Anthony (13 points). The Magic put their by-committee approach to good practice.
Orlando can fill in and form around whatever the game calls for. That has helped them adapt throughout the regular season. But the team will need to have roles more clearly defined and they will need to find someone to give scoring support for Banchero and Wagner.
The Magic are always working at a deficit offensively anyway. For them to succeed, they are going to need an offensive X-factor to tip things over the top for them. They are going to need some players to be more consistent offensively.
There is still a lot for the Magic to accomplish this season. They are within striking distance of climbing the standings and avoiding the Play-In -- they trail the third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks by just four games if they want to get ambitious for the end of the season. The Magic have a lot to play for.
And they will need to find a consistent scoring option to get them over the top. They will need that to get them by in the Playoffs too.
It is not Banchero and Wagner who will determine the direction the team goes the rest of the season. It will be the growth and appearance of these supporting players.
Orlando needs at least one more player to step up consistently or one player to step up each night to get the team over the hump.
3 X-Factors for the Orlando Magic's Playoff Chase
Jalen Suggs
When everyone tries to name the Orlando Magic's core, they include Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner. Those two players are vital to the team's fortunes and essential to everything they do. They are going to be doing a lot of the heavy lifting in the playoffs.
But who else is part of this team's future?
A lot of people want it to be Jalen Suggs. They see a top-five pick from the vaunted 2021 Draft and expect him to be a star. There are still a lot of those lingering feelings and lingering impressions about him even as he struggled through his first two years.
This season has been a breakout season for Suggs. Nothing should take that away from him.
He has broken through to average 12.2 points per game and shoot 44.4 percent from the floor and 38.2 percent from three. These are all career highs and sure signs of Suggs' growth this year. He should get some consideration for an All-Defensive team.
Suggs though is third on the team in scoring. That should signal how much the Magic need to find a consistent third scorer. And it should signal how much the Magic should be hoping that Suggs takes that step up.
Suggs has eight games this season with 20 or more points and 19 with 15 or more points. However, Suggs' scoring can be all over the place. Even during this strong 10-game run for the team, Suggs has scored in double figures in six of his last 10 games and more than 15 points in just three of those games.
The bigger thing was how Suggs -- and, in turn, the Magic -- struggled during the time Wagner was out with an injury.
During those eight games, Suggs averaged 13.8 points per game and made 48.2 percent of his shots and 48.9 percent of his threes on 10.4 field goal attempts per game. Suggs did not increase his volume, but he did step his game up a little bit.
The Magic are a more dangerous team when Suggs is hitting from outside. He has 17 games this year when he makes three or more 3-pointers. Orlando is only 8-9 in those games. The bigger thing might be his efficiency from deep. The team is 10-8 in the 18 games he has shot better than 50 percent from three.
This is all to say the Magic are still trying to figure out how to make the most of Suggs offensively. Suggs might still be trying to figure out how to make his impact offensively.
Regardless of this answer, his contributions are still vital.
And that does not get into his game-changing defense which the Magic will rely on heavily this season.
The gains Suggs has made this year are important. He is an essential player to this team. The question the Magic need to answer as they develop and evolve this team is whether he can do more.
3 X-Factors for the Orlando Magic's Playoff Chase
Wendell Carter
Orlando Magic fans have been thinking about and pondering the team's future, perhaps getting ahead of themselves with a playoff push and (hopefully) series still to come this year. There is a lot to learn about this team in the next three months.
The Magic have always valued continuity. It seems unlikely the team is going to make drastic or dramatic changes in one offseason even if everyone can see the team has to make some major changes. Expect the team to start piecing together these changes offseason by offseason as the team grows.
Or maybe they surprise everyone and do something more dramatic.
Point guard is looking like the focus for this offseason with Markelle Fultz still dealing with injury and availability issues in addition to his shooting regression (and that he is a free agent this summer). But the Magic could easily focus on any number of needs.
Fans are already starting to think about the center position and whether Wendell Carter is the right center for the team. Whether that is a question that needs to be answered this offseason, it is a question that his play has started to raise.
Orlando knows it can get a lot from Carter. But it still feels like the team needs more as he has struggled with injuries throughout the season.
Carter is averaging 11.4 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game this season, all lows since joining the Magic. He dealt with a hand injury and knee tendinitis that has slowed him down all season -- he has appeared in only 30 of 58 games. Since returning from those injuries, Carter is averaging 14.0 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game -- while also shooting a robust 41.5 percent from three.
Still, a lot of people will decry that he should get in the paint and be a bigger force around the basket. There is a point to that. His rebounding has to improve and he has to do a better job playing tougher around the basket against the bigger, stronger players in the league.
Carter though still has a positive impact on defense, even if those numbers are down too. Opponents shoot 3.1 percentage points worse at the rim than expected against Carter, according to Basketball-Index.
Opponents shoot 60.1 percent at the rim against Carter this year according to data from Second Spectrum. That is up from 64.0 percent last year.
All this is to say, Carter makes the most of his positioning and does well to protect the rim. But nobody is afraid to drive on him. He is not a paint deterrent even if he does well to guard his area.
Everyone has to ask how much of Carter's struggles are purely about his injuries. But the Magic know he is still their best current ticket to success. He is versatile defensively, and he can defend the paint and the perimeter well. And his ability to step out and hit threes is valuable for a team with few shooters and ball-handlers who like to get downhill.
Like with so many of the Magic's young players, what they have to learn is the consistency necessary to compete at a higher level. And Carter being a better anchor defensively will go a long way to establishing the Magic as a much more dangerous team.
All eyes will be on Carter throughout the postseason. How he plays could determine how serious this team is about advancing and scoring an upset.
3 X-Factors for the Orlando Magic's Playoff Chase
Cole Anthony
Thursday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers was a great showing and a reminder of how important the Orlando Magic's bench is to their success.
The Magic are fourth in the league in bench scoring. Their ability to get production off the bench has been essential to their success. And any number of bench players could be major X-factors for the team moving forward.
Moe Wagner was the hero Thursday night with his 22 points. He is dominant with his scoring around the basket and never does more than what is asked of him. He is always available around the basket.
Joe Ingles is big for his shooting and passing. With Markelle Fultz in and out of the lineup, Anthony Black becomes more intriguing with his defense and improving jumper to help fill those minutes.
No one though could flip the team and give them the spark off the bench to dominate the second and fourth quarters and stake the Magic the lead like Cole Anthony. Anthony's struggles through the middle of the season were a big drain on the team and it left them trying to fill things in.
It is no coincidence the Magic have played better when Anthony plays better.
In the first 20 games of the season, Anthony averaged 15.2 points per game and shot 37.2 percent from three. The Magic were 14-6 after those games. Anthony was in the running for Sixth Man of the Year.
In December and January, Anthony averaged 10.7 points per game and shot 28.3 percent from three. There were some really rough moments in January when the Magic were really struggling.
In the Magic's last 11 games, Anthony is averaging only 8.3 points per game, but he is back to shooting 38.9 percent from three. That is a good sign that things are starting to pick up.
If Anthony is feeling healthier, that could mean they have more faith and trust to increase his minutes load and get him back to those early season numbers.
Orlando probably does not need him back at 15 points per game again. But the team needs him to be efficient, especially with his mid-range game to make the most of his minutes.
Getting this impact back from Anthony could be truly transformative. The Magic being able to steal minutes of rest for their main stars because other players can carry the creation and scoring load will be a huge boost for the playoffs.
Anthony will be an important player for the Magic in their playoff push for this reason. He could truly tip the team over the top in a playoff game and in a playoff series because nobody expects such a dynamic scorer off the bench.
Seeing him start to get revved up at this point is a good sign for the Magic.