ORLANDO - For 96 minutes this season, the Orlando Magic have rolled out an all-reserve unit featuring Moe Wagner, Cole Anthony, Jonathan Isaac, Joe Ingles and Gary Harris.
And the results, somewhat unusual without a single starter on the floor, have been favorable, especially defensively.
The Magic’s defensive rating with those five on the court is 101.4, which is the second-best mark among the eight five-man combinations that have played at least 50 minutes together for Orlando this season. The only grouping better is the one that has Franz Wagner in there with his brother Moe, Anthony, Harris and Isaac.
So, when head coach Jamahl Mosley and his players say they do things by committee, they really mean it, and it’s supported with stats.
Offensively, they haven’t been too shabby, either. In fact, together, they are shooting 48.5 percent from the field. The Magic, in these minutes, have outscored their opponents by 19.
The addition of Ingles, signed by Orlando as a free agent last summer, has made a major difference. He has a way of calming things down when other teams go on runs. His ability to set teammates up when he’s orchestrating in the half court has been big, as has his 3-point shooting. He’s currently second on the team in 3-point shooting percentage (40.2 percent). Only Wendell Carter Jr. has a higher mark.
Then, of course, there’s Isaac, arguably pound-for-pound the best defender in the league. Opponents are shooting just 39.3 percent with him as the closest defender this season, per Second Spectrum tracking data. Among players who have been the nearest defender to at least 200 shots, that’s the second lowest mark. Only Patrick Beverley, now a member of the Milwaukee Bucks after getting traded from Philadelphia at the deadline, ranks higher, but Isaac and Jaden McDaniels are the only two non-guards who are in the top 10.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Harris said of Isaac. “The way he plays defense, it’s fun to watch. It’s exciting. Sometimes, we put him in bad positions just to see what he will do. And then, he’s going to protect that rim, he’s going to play hard, he’s going to talk, he’s going to communicate. (He’s) a game-changer. (We are) a different team when he’s out there, especially defensively.”
The last two games, Anthony has looked like more like the player that started the season as a leading Sixth Man of the Year candidate than the one that had been going through a rough patch for a few weeks. In the win over the Spurs, the 6-foot-3 guard scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, and then in the victory over the Bulls, he had 14 points and a season-matching-high 11 rebounds.
“It felt good just to be out there with him,” Carter said of Anthony. “Knowing that he’s been struggling, even though we were winning some games or losing some – whatever the case may have been – for him to kind of get his groove back I think was just very important…He’s going to be a focal point for us, so I’m glad he’s starting to pick it up. We all know what he’s capable of, so it was just a matter of time.”
The Magic’s bench ranks fourth in points (41.7), fifth in field goal percentage (47.5), fifth in rebounds (17.2), fourth in blocks (2.2), sixth in steals (3.2), and are tied for first in free throw attempts (9.6).