Magic Need this Homestand to Find Their Shot, Change Their Fortunes

The Orlando Magic's 0-5 road trip started with an injury to leading scorer Paolo Banchero and went downhill from there. The offense has struggled to replace his production. A five-game homestand, which begins tonight with the New Orleans Pelicans, is an opportunity to make a move in the Eastern Conference.

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) shoots the ball while Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) defends in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

ORLANDO – The road trip was a perfect storm.

What started as a five-city test that would allow the Orlando Magic to prove themselves against some of the NBA's elite quickly turned sour.

In a 3-point loss to Chicago, the Magic arguably played their worst quarter of the season when it mattered most. The next night they learned that All-Star forward Paolo Banchero was injured and would be gone for a month and likely more.

The third-year forward was performing at an All-NBA level, leading Orlando in scoring and assists. He was personally responsible for 40 points a game. The Magic would suddenly have to find that production elsewhere.

So far, they haven't. Without Banchero, Orlando has lost four straight games, three of them beatdowns.

The five-game homestand that begins Friday night against New Orleans could be a critical passage for Orlando. The Magic are 3-6, but four of the incoming teams have losing records.

"When shots fall and we find that rhythm offensively," coach Jamahl Mosley said, "it'll be a different story." Since Banchero went down, progress has been hard to find.

A week ago in Cleveland, both Banchero and Magic players and coach spoke of the opportunity, albeit unwelcome, that his absence offered.

But in the first Magic-Cavaliers rematch since their seven-game playoff series last season, Cleveland ran out to an 18-point first-quarter advantage on the shellshocked visitors. Orlando finished plus-7 over the final 36 minutes, but it wasn't enough to overcome the first 12.

In Dallas two nights later, Orlando was competitive for four minutes, then non-competitive the following 44 in a 23-point drubbing.

Against Oklahoma City, the Magic defense handed a lifeline to its struggling shooters, but for the second consecutive night the offense scored fewer than 90 points.

And in Indianapolis, after the shorthanded Magic clawed back from another double-digit deficit, the their razor-thin margin for error tripped them up again.

Five games, five losses. Orlando finished the trip more competitive than they'd started, learning more about who they are as a Banchero-less team at each turn. But as Franz Wagner said Wednesday night, "we wanna win games, too."

At times, the Magic look more like themselves – turning consecutive defensive stops into offense as they did for an 8-plus minute stretch Wednesday night. A 26-7 run turned an 18-point deficit into Orlando's first lead.

But more often than not, inefficient shotmaking and a lack of consistent defense have made progress harder to come by.

"We hang our hat on the defensive end," Mosley said before Wednesday's game with the Pacers. "Guys know how we're supposed to defend, what we're doing, the game plan going into each game, and what we're trying to accomplish. And so, we have to do that to give ourselves the opportunity first."

The Magic's defense is staying afloat – 13th in the league in Banchero's absence. But as the adage goes about good defense turning to good offense, it's also true that poor offense can become an opposition's best counterattack.

In the first quarters of the four losses without Banchero, the Magic's point differential was a combined minus-51. Trailing by 18 at Cleveland, eight at Dallas, 13 at Oklahoma City and 12 at Indiana after the first, Orlando found itself consistently fighting from behind without its leading scorer.

The Magic's offense has been posting shooting percentages in league-worst territory. Since Nov. 1, the Magic are last in the NBA in made field goals per game (35.8), FG% (41.2), eFG% (45.7), and true shooting percentage (50.2).

They're creating open looks from three – 18.5 attempts a game with the closest defender 6+ feet away – but converting just 25.7 percent of those opportunities, which is 29th in the league.

When Banchero played, the Magic had an efficiency differential of +22.6 (Cleaning the Glass), good for the 94th percentile across the NBA. Without him, the Magic have the worst offensive rating in basketball (98.4).

"Going back and looking at the film – if you go back to the Cleveland game, when they got out to the hot start — obviously guys made tough shots. That's one piece," Mosley said Wednesday night. "But then, you look at the other side of it, when we're missing shots, whether that be at the rim or long threes, it's allowing teams to get out running and get easy baskets.

"So we've got to be more deliberate in our crashing, we've got to be better with our spacing, and then knowing we got to be able to step in and knock shots down. Now, we're playing against a team that's taking the ball out of bounds versus getting out in transition."

Thanks to the struggles so far of other East foes – only Cleveland and Boston are above .500 — the Magic can make a move in the standings during this homestand.

They could use some home cooking right now to help get back on track.

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