Magic Defense 'Locking In' at Right Time; Playoff Run Coming?
ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic is figuring things out on the defensive end of the ball.
Over the last 10 games, the Magic rank eighth in the league in defensive rating and have held each of its last two opponents to 105 points.
Against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, the team forced 16 turnovers which led to 22 points for the Magic. Teams who can use their defense to generate offense helps separate the good from the great.
"That’s just why we’ve been excelling so good, because we’ve just been focused on getting a whole bunch of defensive stops and that’s just been leading to our offense," Bol Bol said. "I feel like we’ve been meshing a lot better game by game.”
While the Magic hold the league's 20th-best defensive rating, Orlando has improved as the season has progressed. After the team bottomed out to a 5-20 start, the team has gone 18-13 in its last 31 games.
“As a unit, we’re just really locking in the defensive end," Cole Anthony said. "We’ve just made it a point for us to just try and guard the best we can and kind of let our defense spark our offense. When we can get stops, that gives us momentum as a team and it allows us to get out and run. That’s what we really want to do. At the same time also, I think we’ve been really trying to pack that paint in. I think we’re just doing a really good job as a unit. It’s good stuff.”
While the team still ranks 13th in the Eastern Conference and is outside the playoff picture, if the defense continues to progress at the rate it is going, the Magic may find itself on the inside of the play-in picture at season's end.
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