Magic's Offense Goes Under the Lens at Wednesday's Practice

The Orlando Magic's offense experienced many of its habitual issues Monday night, which were magnified by Houston's rock-steady defense. Before the Magic's road trip continues Thursday night in New Orleans, Orlando hit the practice court in search of answers.

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) drives with the ball as Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) defends during the fourth quarter at Toyota Center. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

With game 67 of the Orlando Magic's season on the horizon, it's not a secret that the offensive issues that have maintained with this franchise for over a decade will not be rectified this season, either.

When facing a fellow defensive-minded team like the Houston Rockets like the Magic did Monday, those issues can be magnified. And they were.

Orlando scored their third-fewest points and posted their lowest field goal percentage in a single game this year, falling 97-84 as visitors to the Rockets.

Only allowing ninety-seven points, even for a team that struggles to score as much as the Magic do, is generally enough to earn victory. That's with the lopsided disadvantage Orlando played at on the glass, too.

Yet, it wasn't enough to avoid a sixth loss in seven games.

"We're one of the best defenses in the league," said Wendell Carter Jr. at Wednesday's practice. "It's the offensive side that we're just continuing to build. So hopefully, we peak at the right time."

Carter himself said Monday night that the Magic's offense fell into possessions of no-pass or one-pass shot attempts. Going forward, Orlando would need to "do a better job of trusting the process a little bit more."

For the Magic, the most proficient process involves ball and player movement, with good looks created by on-time, on-target passing. Orlando's three-point accuracy still hovers at a league-worst 30.7 percent, meaning it isn't the team that can rely on dribble pull-up triples and individual creation in isolation up and down the roster.

Too often, however, the Magic offense reverts to that mode. They average just 22.8 assists per game, which coincidentally ties Houston for the fewest in the NBA. Orlando's 60.6 percent assist rate is 24th in the league – only climbing because the slow pace it operates lowers the total number of chances Orlando gets to score.

The Magic's 17.0 assist ratio and 1.59 assist-to-turnover ratio are good for 29th and 27th in the league, respectively.

Ahead of Thursday's contest in New Orleans, coach Jamahl Mosley's Magic squad spent Wednesday afternoon focused on trying to find what it's been looking for all season – consistent output and playmaking on the offensive end of the floor.

"There was a focus on creating offense, stepping into shots with confidence, execution," Mosley said. "Those small pieces are what we really honed in on today."

While the offensive struggles are typical, the disparity in total rebounds the Magic faced is not.

Houston, the NBA's best team on the offensive glass, grabbed 20 offensive boards Monday despite the Magic being a top-10 defensive rebounding team. Having that many bites at the apple helped an otherwise inefficient Rockets attack eventually put their visitors to bed.

"You finish every drill with a rebound, making that a focus," Mosley said. "Understanding it's not just on the bigs to get those rebounds. A lot of times, it's the guards rebounding in that free-throw line area. Long shots sometimes equal long rebounds."

Carter finished Monday's game with 12 rebounds, while Franz Wagner had seven and Paolo Banchero had five. No other player finished with more than four while seven Rockets finished with at least that many.

"Our ability to collectively rebound as a team is going to be very important as we continue to move forward."

If there was a get-right game to be had, it could come Thursday night against the Pelicans. No team is allowing more points per 100 possessions than the 18-win New Orleans squad, which has seen this season be washed away by one key injury after another.

They allow 118.6 points per 100 possessions and grab 48.3 percent of available rebounds (27th). Pelican opponents are scoring 119.1 points a game.

As much as anything, getting back on the court after the Houston loss was about "trying to get good vibes back," Franz Wagner said.

A win Thursday could help aid that.

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