The Orlando Magic have begun February with big offensive displays. Paolo Banchero has continued to put up big scoring numbers. The team might be shooting fewer threes, but they are starting to heat up.
Health looks good on this team. Slowly but surely the Magic are revving up as the playoff chase heats up and the All-Star Break comes into focus for that final sprint this season.
Even when the team looks ugly, they still show signs of life on offense. Everything is starting to come together.
Everything started to come together in a 111-99 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, the Orlando Magic's third straight win, marking their first three-game win streak since the end of the nine-game streak in December.
Sunday's game showed Orlando can be hard to stop heading into the All-Star break.
A standard look into the Magic's offense shows they have shot better than 45 percent from the field in the past four games. They are 3-1 in that stretch, with their only loss coming in a close one with the Dallas Mavericks.
In that same time, they are also shooting better than 35 percent from three point range as a team.
The Dallas loss was also one of the best shooting nights in recent memory. They shot better than 50 percent from the field as a team and had an astounding three-point percentage of 47 percent.
Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner also combined for 57 points, which usually creates a winning formula. But 129 points were not enough, even with that being the highest they scored in the calendar year 2024.
Still, it showed what this team was capable of offensively. It showed things were moving back in the right direction and that the team was starting to get control and comfort since everyone returned from injury.
So where has all of this offense spurred from?
The win on Sunday in Detroit came from Wagner, who had a career-high-tying 38 points on 68 percent (17 for 25) shooting from the field. He hit four three-pointers to boot. And he did that all without getting to the foul line.
He has been pretty solid in the four-game stretch mentioned, with scoring totals of 21, 20 and 19 points leading into the explosion he had inside Little Caesars Arena.
The 19-point outing against the Minnesota Timberwolves was not his most efficient night scoring, as he missed five threes and went 7 for 17 from the field. Still, the games against the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs saw him have a field goal percentage better than 50 percent.
Since returning from injury, Wagner is averaging 20.4 points per game, shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from beyond the arc. He is getting back his aggressiveness and driving as he gets more comfortable after the injury.
He is starting to look more like the Wagner of the past two seasons and early this season.
"I thought he was incredible," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Sunday's game. "I thought he played with a level of poise. He attacked the basket 22 times. To score 38 and not shoot a free throw is highly impressive. That's high level."
Banchero's scoring has also been there when the Magic needed it.
He scored 20 or more points for the sixth straight game Sunday. And his shooting has looked great during this good four-game offensive stretch with a field goal percentage better than 50 percent in each game except the Pistons win -- he went 6 for 16 for 20 points in Sunday's win.
But Banchero kept his three-point shot rolling with two threes on Sunday. He has also hit all his free throws in the past two matchups against Minnesota and Detroit. Banchero has become more reliable and consistent as a scorer and a tone-setter. It is something a true All-Star does.
It has been said all season so far. But the one-two-scoring punch of Banchero and Wagner puts Orlando in situations where they have to beat most, if not all, NBA teams if they are both rolling. Their efforts during this four-game road trip have the Magic's offense buzzing as February hits.
Orlando has posted a 115.2 offensive rating in its last four games, a huge step up, especially with the defense playing significantly better, too.
The offensive production has not stopped there for the Magic either.
In what has been a revival season shooting the ball, Jalen Suggs also came in with nine points on 50 percent shooting with a three-pointer in the Orlando win over Detroit. His long-range shooting during this effective offensive road trip has been there, too, with a 41 percent mark from three that reflects and is slightly above his season rate of 39 percent.
Markelle Fultz, too, has stepped up despite lingering concerns over his offense and offensive production.
Despite not playing in Dallas, the three games after saw him in double figures during each contest with a field goal percentage of 50 percent (10 for 20) against the Spurs and Timberwolves. During the Detroit win, Fultz shot 4 for 9 and scored eight points all off of field goals.
All in all, the Magic have looked good on offense as the All-Star break creeps closer and closer into view. It had led to some much-needed wins after an "okay at best" month that saw the team go 6-10 and have team shooting percentages in the bottom half of NBA rankings.
This four-game road trip has been pretty kind to Orlando offensively, as they have turned it around after a lackluster January. The Detroit win on Sunday saw the continuation of that. It bodes well for the Magic with the all-star break right upon us.