State of the Magic: Defense trying to regain early form

There was a time not so long ago when the Orlando Magic held four consecutive opponents to less than 39 percent shooting from the floor.

Were the Magic a better defensive team than all of the experts had projected? Was this an NBA version of the baseball adage about pitching being ahead of hitting early in the season? Or did they simply catch the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers on subpar nights?

In hindsight, it's clear that the Nets aren't everything they were cracked up to be when the season began. But don't be fooled by the fact that the Magic went into their game Sunday night against the Phoenix Suns ranked 10th among 30 teams in defensive field-goal percentage.

A more telling statistic is that the Magic are ranked considerably lower in the category of opponents' shooting within five feet of the basket. Except for the Clippers and the Minnesota Timberwolves, all the teams ranked below them have gotten off to difficult starts.

The only team which the Magic have held to less than 47 percent shooting during their last seven games has been the Milwaukee Bucks, who had only eight healthy players available but still racked up a 36-point first quarter before eventually running out of gas.
 
It wasn't as if Phoenix was able to wear them down by pounding the ball inside. Far from it. The Suns hoisted up 29 3-pointers, with many of those coming with plenty of time remaining on the shot clock. That certainly was a contributing factor in the Suns' setting a record for fewest free throws attempted (3) and made (1) by a Magic opponent.

But the Magic allowed 16 fast-break points through three quarters and often couldn't get a stop when needed in halfcourt situations in the fourth. First Channing Frye and then Goran Dragic made one key basket after another during the final six minutes. Dragic, whose assists-to-turnovers ratio going in wasn't appreciably better than that of Magic point guard Jameer Nelson, finished with an all-star caliber stat line: 23 points, 13 assists, 0 turnovers.

If Dragic's numbers sound familiar, it's because they were almost exactly what Atlanta Hawks point guard Jeff Teague turned in against the Magic the night of Nov. 9 (19 points, 13 assists, 1 turnover). That was the game which snapped the Magic's run of impressive defensive outings. And who's up next on the Magic's schedule? None other than Teague and the Hawks.

It's one thing for the Magic to be beaten by LeBron James flicking on a switch after halftime and flicking in tie-breaking jumpers in the final minute. There's no shame in that. When players without James' pedigree -- like James Jones, who drilled four 3-pointers in the third quarter Wednesday night while filling in for Dwyane Wade -- go off against them, steps toward correcting that are likely to become a point of emphasis.

"The good thing about it is it's early in the season and we need to work on some things anyway," Nelson said.

The better news is that time is on their side in a conference which appears to be in near-total disarray. Except for the Heat, the Hawks and the Indiana Pacers, everyone in the East is at .500 or worse. And one of those teams with a break-even record, the Chicago Bulls, are now staring at the prospect of another season without Derrick Rose.

"There's a lot more time to correct it," rookie guard Victor Oladipo said. "It's a long season."



Arron Afflalo cooled off somewhat over the weekend, but his 21.6-point scoring average is the 12th-highest in the league and puts him well on pace to increase his point production for the seventh year in a row. Afflalo and E'Twaun Moore are also in the top 10 in 3-point accuracy, with Moore cracking the list after making all four of his attempts in the first half Saturday night at Miami.

Not surprisingly, the return of Glen Davis after he missed nearly 10 full months because of foot problems has led to a boost in the Magic's bench production. Davis and Moore combined for all but two of the 36 points from their non-starters against the Heat, while Andrew Nicholson's 19 points against the Suns paced a 34-point effort against the Suns.



Maurice Harkless continues to fight through a sophomore slump. He has scored in double figures only three times in the last nine games with a high of 12 points (twice). Perhaps most disturbingly, he isn't getting to the free-throw line often and tends to not capitalize once he gets there. He is shooting below 50 percent (13 for 30) in his last nine games.

Jason Maxiell was averaging 5.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in a starting role. While those numbers seem modest, at least the Magic were getting some production from him. Since coach Jacque Vaughn took him out of the starting lineup, Maxiell has yet to play, with Davis getting the bulk of the minutes at center when Nikola Vucevic is not in the game.


"Things have seemed a little more difficult the past few games. That's my responsibility to make the proper adjustment. Hopefully that doesn't linger too long."
-- Afflalo, after he got to the free-throw line only four times and missed his only two 3-point field-goal attempts in almost 36 minutes of playing time against Phoenix. One night earlier, he took only two free throws in more than 40 minutes at Miami.

"What an incredible motor."
-- Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, when asked about his first impression of Victor Oladipo. Although the No. 2 draft pick turned the ball over eight times in his first game against the two-time defending NBA champions, he had just one in more than 27 minutes in the rematch.

"When we keep things extremely simple, we learn that that's OK."
-- Vaughn, referring to the Magic's ability to reduce their turnovers of late by not looking for what he often calls "the home run pass." The 12 turnovers they committed against the Suns represented a season low.



120: The Magic gave up exactly that point amount three times in their first 11 games. The first came in overtime at Minnesota, while the other two took place during regulation in losses to Boston and Miami.

10: Vaughn went with the same starting lineup for that many games in a row to begin the season before having Oladipo open instead of Maxiell against the Heat. The Magic used the same five starters 14 times all of last season, a combination which consisted of Nelson, Afflalo, Harkless, Davis and Vucevic.

1:59: The length of the 104-96 loss to the Suns in which the two teams combined to attempt only 17 free throws. It was not the quickest contest in Magic history; a game against Cleveland in 1990 and at Indiana in 1998 both lasted a mere 1:50.



Nov. 25, 1992: Rookie Shaquille O'Neal faced off for the first time against Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets, a matchup which would take place again in the NBA Finals less than three years later. O'Neal was held to 12 points with no free-throw attempts in 42 minutes, but the Magic got 30 points from Scott Skiles and 28 from Dennis Scott in a 107-94 victory to improve their record to 6-3.

You can follow Ken Hornack on Twitter @HornackFSFla or email him at khornack32176@gmail.com.