Faith Being Kept, but Magic Need More Offense from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

BOSTON – These are the moments for which the Orlando Magic signed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

According to teammate Wendell Carter Jr., little more than a week ago, these are the moments the veteran guard says he "lives for.

"He's telling us we're going to see the 'Playoff KCP,'" Carter said the morning of Orlando's Play-In victory over the Atlanta Hawks. "We all know what that looks like. We've all seen what he's done in the postseason in recent years. I think he's going to help us so much on both ends of the court, shotmaking ability and the way he can defend."

Flash forward a week, the Magic face a 0-2 deficit versus the defending champion, No. 2-seed Boston Celtics in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series. And to this point, Orlando is desperately missing Caldwell-Pope's three-point accuracy that made the usually steady three-and-D veteran and two-time NBA champion a prized signing last offseason.

Caldwell-Pope missed his first eight shots in a nine-point Game 2 loss to the Jayson Tatum-less Celtics Wednesday evening. He finished 1-9 from the field and 0-6 from deep.

Asked postgame about Caldwell-Pope's performance, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said he thinks "he's defending his tail off, running around, flying around."

That's true. Through two games, Celtics players are shooting 7-21 from the field with four turnovers when Caldwell-Pope is their primary defender.

"Whether he's making or missing shots, one thing we can rely on him for is to play awesome on-ball defense and be that vocal leader for us out there," Carter (16 points, eight rebounds) said in the Magic's post-Game 2 locker room.

Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) shoots the ball over Orlando Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (3) during the first half at TD Garden. | Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Regarding how the Magic can get more from Caldwell-Pope's scoring, Mosley added: "They're running him off the line, they're flying at him, they're highly contested shots and I think his ability to keep finding it, keep stepping into it the same way we know he can."

In Game 1, the Celtics' defense completely thwarted anyone not named Paolo Banchero or Franz Wagner. Although Caldwell-Pope made two triples, he was held to just five shot attempts all night, and no one besides the Magic's star forwards tallied double-digit points.

"Boston did a great job of denying me most of the time," Caldwell-Pope said after Orlando's Tuesday practice. "When it was the swing swing, they were in passing lanes pretty good, but I feel like I could be more aggressive, try to get myself open to get the looks."

To change that, the Magic would need to be sharper about on-court positioning and be more intentional with off-ball movement – all the little things that help to get them open. And despite Mosley's comment about Caldwell-Pope getting contested looks, league tracking data suggests otherwise.

Seven of his nine shot attempts in Wednesday's game, including all six 3-pointers, were considered wide open (closest defender 6+ feet away), and the remaining two looks were still considered open (closest defender 4-6 feet away).

That's a sign that Orlando's offense desires to get Caldwell-Pope more involved. He shot 40-plus percent from three the five seasons before this one, and after a below-standard first two-thirds of the year, he connected at a 44 percent clip from beyond the arc coming back from the All-Star break.

The threat alone of Boston's scintillating deep-shooting ability is tough to manage for Orlando, who was the least accurate 3-point shooting team in nine years through the 82-game regular season. Keeping up with the Celtics becomes an even taller task when formerly reliable shooters like Caldwell-Pope aren't hitting shots.

Two games into the series, Caldwell-Pope is shooting just 21.7 percent from the field and 20 percent from three.

Add to the fact that mix-ups with Al Horford and a hard Game 1 foul on Jayson Tatum have led to Caldwell-Pope drawing Boston's ire, and the Magic's relied-upon veteran is having a series short of the standard he's previously set for himself.

As the series swings to the Kia Center for a must-win Game 3, Caldwell-Pope is among a group of cast members Orlando has to get more from on the scoreboard if the series' tides are to change.

His teammates have faith he'll turn it around.

"[We have to] keep finding him when he's open," Banchero (32 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) said. "Keep trusting him."

"Continue to encourage him," Carter said. "He understands what it takes ... We understand, as a shooter, you have off nights. We're not worried at all, we understand he's going to bounce back.

"Us going back to Orlando, being at home, fans behind us, I see him having one of those games that will help us win."

Up Next

Orlando hosts Boston for Game 3 at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, April 25 on ESPN.

To see the full up-to-date series schedule, click here.

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