TORONTO – The Orlando Magic’s group of reserves don’t have a catchy nickname, and the individual pieces don’t necessarily have a lot of name recognition throughout the NBA, but what they do have is the shared belief that they must prove themselves every night.
Forward Wes Iwundu is a second-round pick fighting for his basketball life every night on the floor, while Khem Birch is just three years removed from playing basketball professionally in Turkey and all the while thinking the NBA was far out of reach. Michael Carter-Williams is a former NBA Rookie of the Year, but he’s also playing on his second 10-day contract and for his sixth NBA team after spending a major portion of this season out of the NBA. Then, there’s Terrence Ross, who has been driven throughout by the bitter memory of missing 57 games last season with a serious right knee injury that made him feel isolated and alone.
Put them all together and they make up a bench unit that has become quite the formidable weapon for a Magic team on the fringes of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. On Saturday in Indiana, the Magic’s reserves outscored the Pacers’ reserves 45-31 and keyed a fourth-quarter rally that allowed Orlando to escape with a 121-116 victory. That effort allowed the Magic to pull off their 10th victory of the season when trailing after three periods. They are now tied with the Houston Rockets for second most come-from-behind wins in the fourth quarter behind only the 11 of the Detroit Pistons.
``That just shows that we don’t really know how good we can be,’’ said Birch, who battered the Pacers for 10 points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals on Saturday. ``That’s what Coach (Steve Clifford) told us after the game. Also, a lot of people don’t know that we’re a pretty good team.’’
Good enough to remain a half-game back of the rival Miami Heat for the final playoff spot in the East. Orlando (38-39) beat Indiana for a third time this season on Saturday, allowing it to keep pace with No. 8 Miami (38-38), No. 7 Brooklyn (39-38) and No. 6 Detroit (39-37) – all of whom also were victorious on Saturday night. The Magic know that pressure will extend to Monday when they face the second-seeded Raptors (54-23) in Toronto. With them having just five regular-season games left and no margin for error because of the deficit in the standings, the Magic need all hands on deck, especially from a bench unit coming on strong late in the season. They certainly did just that on Saturday, turning a two-point deficit into a six-point lead before turning the game back over to Orlando’s starters to close out.
``The whole team, and not just the second unit, comes out and plays with the mindset that when we carry a certain ego, it’s hard to beat us,’’ said Iwundu, who had nine rebounds, two rebounds and two steals against the Pacers and was a plus-13 in his nearly 20 minutes on the floor. ``When we’re on top of our game, we’re going to give ourselves a good chance to win. Down the stretch over these last few games, we’ve got to keep carrying that same mindset.’’
The mindset that bonds the Magic’s bench players, Iwundu said again and again on Saturday, is one of having to prove themselves every night out. They use that as motivation when smothering foes on the defensive end of the floor and while being opportunistic offensively.
``We have a lot of guys (on the bench) who have a chip on their shoulder and have something to prove,’’ said Iwundu, who has become a key cog on the Magic with his elite abilities as a defender against guards or forwards (he’s tied for third in the NBA in holding foes to 40.2 percent shooting on defended field goals among players appearing in at least 50 games). ``(Having something to prove) is 100 percent true of our guys. In this league, you have to come out with a chip on your shoulder no matter who it is (across the way).’’
Out to re-establish himself as one of the best sixth men in the NBA, Ross has enjoyed a career year this season while averaging a personal best of 14.6 points per game. Whereas in past years Ross would often defer to teammates such as DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry when he played in Toronto or Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier last season in Orlando, Ross has established himself as a true threat this season. Some of his best work has been in the clutch moments against Indiana, scoring 13, 16 and five points in the fourth quarters of Orlando’s three defeats of the Pacers.
``He’s a really aggressive and he’s letting it fly,’’ Indiana coach Nate McMillan said. ``He can put the ball in the hole. He’s doing a lot of the things that he did in Toronto, but he’s the guy who’s coming off the bench for them and they are running a lot of action for him. He’s an elite shooter in our game, a catch-and-shoot guy who has range to knock those shots down.’’
Added Detroit’s Dwane Casey, who coached Ross throughout his five-plus seasons in Toronto: ``Those days (of Ross deferring to others) are gone, long gone. He’s a man now. He’s a terrific young man and I remember that I used to get on him and say, `Terrence why do you seem like you’re so tired all the time?’ Come to find out he’s playing those video games against (friends) from the West Coast all night. He’s really outgrown those (days) and he’s a tremendous young man who’s playing at a high level. He’s one of the top perimeter players in our league right now. He’s shooting the ball with the ultra-green light when coming off screens.’’
As for Birch and Carter-Williams, their almost instant chemistry on the court comes with a small secret. Birch, a native of Montreal, went to high school in Massachusetts – not far from where Carter-Williams hails from. The two of them have known each other since they were 16 years old when they played on the same AAU team for several tournaments.
``We have mutual friend and (Carter-Williams) told him, `I’m going to be out there throwing Khem lobs,’’ and I was like, `what are you talking about?’’’ Birch recalled of a recent conversation prior to Carter-Williams signing his first 10-day contract with the Magic on March 15. ``My friend told me Mike was going to get signed (by the Magic), so I knew he was going to get signed here before even coming. I was so excited for him.’’
Birch, 26, took over the back-up center job behind Vucevic on Feb. 2 when rookie Mo Bamba went out with a stress fracture in his left tibia. In the 25 games since then – 17 of which have been Magic victories – Birch has averaged 6.2 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 65.5 percent from the floor.
Of late, he’s noticed a change in how teams look at having to go up against Orlando’s formidable second unit.
``Last year Toronto had the (nickname of) `The Bench Mob,’ and I think we should have a nickname, but really we’re all just underrated,’’ Birch said. ``We’re just going out there and playing hard and there aren’t a lot of second units that can match up. Sometimes, teams will put their first unit in at the start of the fourth quarter because we’re doing so good.’’
Carter-Williams, who was out of the NBA following a short stint with the Houston Rockets early in the season, is having a good time with a Magic team that looks to him for defense and offensive tempo. His stat line from Saturday’s win in Indianapolis – 10 points, five assists, two blocked shots and even a made 3-pointer – is representative of what he’s brought to the Magic over his 6-1 start with the team. Carter-Williams said of all he’s done in the NBA – winning the Rookie of the Year award in 2014 and averaging double digits each of his first three seasons – he might be having the most fun he’s had as a pro now in Orlando.
``We don’t try to go out there and prove anything to anybody; we just focus on ourselves and help the team win,’’ said Carter-Williams, who has averaged 5.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 blocks in 17 minutes a night over his first seven games with the Magic. ``This is very fun for me and it’s an amazing time. I’m just going out and playing hard and having fun. Coach (Clifford) has a lot of trust in me and I’m thankful that my teammates have put me in such a great position to successful. So, it’s just a great time for me right now.’’
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