Magic Need More 'Purpose' to Overcome Zone Defenses

The Orlando Magic are gearing up to face more zone defense, which has caused them to struggle as of late. To defeat it, Paolo Banchero says his team must move the ball with more purpose.

Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) shoots the ball as Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks (9) defends during the third quarter at Toyota Center. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Orlando Magic's possess a subpar offense. But when it puts forth one of its least-efficient nights of the season, like it did Monday night at Houston, even some lows are worth adressing further.

After his Magic team posted only 84 points and shot below 33 percent from the field, center Wendell Carter Jr. said his team struggled to avoid no-pass or one-pass possessions. Houston deployed a zone – an increasingly common defensive approach Orlando is seeing as the season wears on.

Why? The Magic struggle through periods of isolation-heavy play and minimal ball movement. Dribble penetration comes at a premium with teams packing the paint. Orlando's 30.7 percent three-point shooting isn't drawing defenders away, and in turn, isn't allowing the Magic to shoot over the pack of other-colored jerseys standing in their way.

With only 16 games to play, a turnaround in perimeter scoring is unlikely. So, in order for the Magic to find any semblance of offensive flow, they'll have to be prepared to contend with more zone looks.

Carter's comments after Monday's game and at Wednesday's practice suggested that Orlando's offense stagnates. Paolo Banchero took a turn at Thursday morning's shootaround at clarifying those remarks.

"I don't think the ball wasn't moving," Banchero began. "I just think the ball wasn't really moving with any purpose if that makes sense. The ball was moving around the floor, but [there] wasn't really a lot of problems being created. [There] wasn't a lot of penetration to kick outs to create easy looks."

Banchero is one of the Magic's main offensive threats. He and Franz Wagner can stress the defense in different ways – both are 6-foot-10 and are great finishers around the rim, but Banchero utilizes more of the power in his frame while Wagner favors a finesse approach. Both are capable of going off the dribble, but they're helped when Orlando can get them rolling downhill before the ball is in their hands.

That often isn't possible with them playing the Magic's point-forward role. A lack of surrounding shooting means the already immense attention paid to them is increased. The floor tightens, and it limits the Magic's creation opportunities.

Cole Anthony, who is Orlando's most adept rim penetrator still healthy and able to play, can create for himself and others. But few others have that same ability in reliable spurts, and even Anthony's play experiences ups and downs. In this, the Magic further miss Jalen Suggs and Moe Wagner, who could assist in creating offense when needed.

With so much reliance on the Magic's star forwards, Orlando is still searching for ways the duo's supporting cast can alleviate the pressure on their shoulders.

"I think it's just something where you have to remind everybody to be aggressive and attack, create for each other and create for themselves," Banchero said. "Houston's zone slowed us down in that last game, so I'm sure New Orleans will try to do the same thing tonight. Just relazing that and being ready for that, realizing that you have to penetrate the zone to beat it.

"Get the ball to the middle, make the zone collapse and then spray out for open looks. I think that's something that we could take from last game and apply it to this game."

On paper, Orlando faces a lighter task in the Pelicans defense than it did Monday versus the Rockets.

New Orleans allows the most points per 100 possessions in the NBA (118.6) while Orlando's offense scores the third-fewest points per 100 possessions (107.6).

With the Magic needing a win, they'll do battle with the Pelicans at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday.

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