Magic's Defense Back in Top Form Heading into Hosting Play-In Tournament

ORLANDO, Fla. – The journey may not have been as smooth as they'd have liked, but here the Orlando Magic find themselves: In the postseason and playing some of their best basketball to date.

Including the final two games with starters sitting out, the Magic won nine of their last 12 regular-season games to finish .500, clinch the No. 7 seed and lock up a second straight Southeast Division title.

More: After late turnaround, Magic feel well-positioned as postseason journey begins

Orlando did it the way it's become accustom to, dominating defensively and converting on chance creation. The Magic possessed the NBA's best defensive rating (106.7) and 19th-best offensive rating (115.1) in that 12-game span – the latter being less eye-catching until considering they were 6.2 points per 100 possessions better over the final three weeks before the postseason.

"I think that says something about the group," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said Monday, "the coaches and the way in which they're teaching, guys buying into the roles that they've been given and executing exactly what they've been asked on a nightly basis."

While the upward offensive trend is noteworthy, the ticket to playing time in the Magic's system starts with defense. In those categories, Orlando is no stranger to the league's top echelon.

Magic opponents scored the second-fewest points per 100 possessions (109.1) and, aided by a slowed pace, the least total points per game (105.5) throughout the 82-game slate.

"They're a team that has a real identity as a tough-minded, phsyical, defensive team," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Friday night in Indianapolis. "They've been one or two in the league all year in defense. They have great rim protection, they've got really good perimeter defenders.

"They play with attitude and Jamahl is a coach that coaches that way," Carlisle said of his long-time peer and former assistant. "He's done an amazing job creating an identity and a culture there."

"I think Orlando is a good team," said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who leads a Boston team that awaits Tuesday's winner of the Magic and Atlanta Hawks. "They're well-coached, they're physical, they play bhard on both ends of the floor and they test you. That's a good team."

Those characteristics the title-winning coaches rattled off is what led Orlando back to the postseason last year – a valuable learning experience the Magic still call back on as they aim for a return trip to the playoffs.

Experiencing last year's playoffs – the first taste of postseason play for many Orlando players – left the Magic with many lessons still applicable a year later. Franz Wagner said the intensity and physicality of the game ratchets up, while the game slows down more to the Magic's pace.

All elements that play into the hands of Orlando's distinguishably elite defense.

"[I expect] for us to be playing Orlando Magic basketball," said center Wendell Carter Jr. Monday. "There's no other time than now that we should be playing that way. We've had our ups and downs throughout the season, but there's no excuses now. It's a must-win game for us to go on the trajectory that we've been playing for this whole year.

"I'm not going to say we're going to win or lose, but as long as we play the right way and we do what we're supposed to do, we're gonna have the best chances of winning that game."

The Magic also learned the importance of hosting such a high-stakes game at home.

Orlando won all three playoff games contested at the Kia Center a year ago. But, in a seven-game series with the Cavaliers, Cleveland also didn't lose at home.

As the Cavs were the top seed, they won four games to the Magic's three, spelling the end to a breakthrough season for Orlando.

The follow-up hasn't all gone to plan. Ask the Magic in October about their plans for homecourt advantage, and they'd have talked at length about winning a top-4 seed in the East – not only through the Play-In.

But, with a late-season run fueled by the play they've been capable of all year, Orlando will take it and run.

"These guys have earned that. To be able to do it – we’ve talked about homecourt one way or the other, and I think in this moment, it’s very big to have homecourt in this situation," Mosley said.

"We have some of the most amazing fans in the league, and we understand that Kia Center is going to be rocking, ready to go, and that support is going to be needed for us to continue to make this push.”

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