ORLANDO – Almost without fail, Orlando Magic coach Steve Clifford has reviewed the video footage following games and he’s been pleased with the quality of shots that his team has gotten thus far.
A closer look at the NBA statistics reveals that what Clifford is seeing is right on the money as it relates to the quality of the shots that the Magic have gotten throughout their 2-4 start to the season.
According to NBA.com’s stats database, the Magic lead the NBA in field goal attempts considered to be ``open,’’ meaning that the closest defender is at least four-to-six feet away. The problem, however, is that Orlando is making just 38.1 percent of those shots.
The Magic (2-4) head into tonight’s game against the Sacramento Kings (4-3) knowing that they are working their offense well enough to spring shooters for open looks, but they also know that they must make more of those tries to keep pace as NBA scores continue to soar. After six games, Orlando ranks 30th in the scoring (100.8 points per game), 29th in field goal percentage (41.2 percent) and tied for 26th in 3-point shooting accuracy (31.6 percent) – numbers that must improve going forward.
``They’re going to start dropping,’’ said Magic forward Aaron Gordon, who struggled from 3-point range in Saturday’s loss in Milwaukee. ``But (making 3-point shots) isn’t all it takes to win a game. Obviously, we’ve got to start making those open shots, but when we’re not making those open shots, we’ve got to lock down on defense. We have to make it uncomfortable for the other team like it has been for us until we start dropping those shots in."
A week ago, Orlando sat at 2-2 and was looking to build momentum off of its big victory in Boston. However, the Magic have dropped the last two games because of alternating issues. In the 128-114 loss to Portland, the Magic struggled with their defensive assignments against pick-and-roll plays. In Saturday’s 113-91 loss in Milwaukee, the Magic struggled to make open looks from the early going and ended up shooting just 32.7 percent from the floor in the game. Also, the Magic set a new franchise record with 43 3-point attempts, but they made just 10 of those tries.
Orlando is hopeful that things will turn around on the offensive end because of the solid histories of some of its best shooters. Evan Fournier is a career 37.7 percent shooter from beyond the arc, but he’s made just 29.3 percent of his tries so far. Terrence Ross, who has been one of Orlando’s most productive reserves thus far, is making only 30.3 percent of his 3-point tries despite shooting 37 percent over his career.
``So much of offense is the defense getting to determine it and they’re going to stand where they stand,’’ Clifford said. ``If you look at the last two games, the way (Portland and Milwaukee) have defended us, they’re going to be threes there to take. I feel like we’ve made the right plays and we’ve just got to knock down the shots.’’
Sacramento notched its most impressive victory of the season on Monday night, beating the Heat 123-113 in Miami. Center Willie Cauley-Stein battered the Heat for 26 points on 11 of 17 shooting while also snagging 13 rebounds. Buddy Hield drilled four of the Kings’ 12 3-pointers and Sacramento came within a point of having four players score at least 20 points as forward Nemanja Bjelica finished with 19 points.
``They run after makes also, they’re playing really fast, they can score, they’re athletic and they have good versatility,’’ Clifford said of the Kings. ``They have a number of guys who are capable of really big nights.’’
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