The Orlando Magic have slowly begun to develop some three-point shooting during the past week. It had been a problem that has plagued the team up until this point as they were 28th in the league in three-point shooting but have now jumped up to 25th thanks to this hot streak from deep.
Although not a significant jump yet, it is a start.
Much of this has come from shooting guard Jalen Suggs who has begun to come into form with shooting from beyond the arc.
Last season, Suggs found himself as the Magic player with one of the worst field goal percentages for someone who plays 20 or more minutes. But, he has turned it around entirely this season.
Suggs struggled in his first two seasons, shooting 21.4 percent from deep in his rookie season and 32.7 percent last year.
To see Suggs jump up to 39.9 percent from deep this year on a career-high 5.3 attempts per game is quite astonishing. That is the most attempts of any player on the Magic this season.
This has completely revolutionized his game as a player as he now takes more than half of his shot attempts (50.8 percent of his total attempts) from beyond the three-point line and 46 percent of his total points have come from threes during this year.
The high volume and successful three-point shooting has not only helped himself out. But, it has also helped Orlando's jump among NBA teams and their longe range shooting as 32.7 percent of Orlando's made three-pointers come from Suggs.
The Magic's shooting seems to go as Suggs goes.
That makes sense considering how well Suggs has shot the ball recently.
Orlando has seen Suggs' three-point shot all year but in the past three games against the Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks, it had become very apparent.
In that stretch, he made 17 of 28 3-pointers (60.7 percent) to average 22.3 points per game, giving the undermanned Magic a huge lift when they needed support for Paolo Banchero. He took a minimum of seven 3-pointers in each of those games and an astounding 12 attempts in Orlando's thrilling double-ovetime loss to Sacramento.
This shows just how much Suggs' shooting helps the Magic stay in close games, in that Kings game in particular. Suggs shot 50 percent from beyond the arc and it led to a 24-point outing.
He did the same against the Nuggets as he delivered a 27-point game on an incredible 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) game from three. He had a similar game against Atlanta, shooting 57 percent from three and it led to a close Magic win in overtime.
Suggs has been inconsistent from three. But it is undoubtedly one of the big areas his game has grown this season.
Before this stretch, he was struggling to shoot, showing he can still reach some pretty deep lows. He shot 10 for 33 in his five games before the breakthrough against Sacramento. This was coming off the injury to his left wrist that was clearly bothering him.
Suggs admitted fairly openly he still battles with staying optimistic and maintaining good mental health. But when he works through that, his performance on the court is undeniable.
Suggs is in a very good place right now and his play exemplifies that. He is playing with tons of confidence and his shot has come a long way to help give an important boost to this Magic offense.
Going forward, this will only help Suggs grow as a player and the Magic as a team through improved long range shooting.
The jump in team three-point shooting seen this season has come from the high volume and highly efficient shots in Suggs' arsenal. It has allowed him to become Orlando's third scoring option and it is helping the team's three-point revival.