ORLANDO -- The Orlando Magic tip off their 2020-21 regular season campaign against the reigning Eastern Conference champions, the Miami Heat, on Wednesday at Amway Center at 7 p.m. ET.
The contest will mark the fourth time in the last five seasons that Orlando has opened its season against its Sunshine State rivals with the Magic taking two of the prior three meetings.
The Magic will need to be sharp on both ends of the floor if they hope to emerge with an opening night victory as the Heat feature a number of dynamic two-way players, including perennial All-Star Jimmy Butler and budding superstar Bam Adebayo.
“You can’t give possessions away, to me, that’s what they’re good at,” Magic Head Coach Steve Clifford explained. “They have a way to play at both ends of the floor, obviously, that’s very successful. There are a lot of things that you have to do defensively to make it hard on them for forty-eight minutes.”
Staples of Orlando’s defense under Clifford have been limiting points off turnovers, fast break points, and second chance points. Those will also be critical areas in their contest against Miami.
“We’re going to have to be the team that really starts playing defense first and get stops, because that’s how we get going offensively,” Magic guard Evan Fournier explained. “It’s key for us because that’s our identity.”
On the other end of the floor, if the preseason was any indication of how the Magic would like to play on offense, they will push the pace, play with purpose, and look for drive-and-kick opportunities. That will be no easy task against the Heat.
“At the other end of the floor, they don’t make mistakes,” Clifford said. “They make you execute to get good shots whether it’s the zone or the man-to-man. There’s a lot that you have to do to beat them.”
Magic center Nikola Vucevic will once again be a foundational piece of Orlando’s offense. However, as he displayed in the bubble and in the preseason, his skillset continues to expand. Vucevic has always been effective in the post, underrated as a playmaker, and a knock-down midrange shooter. However, he’s recently become an even more consistent shooter beyond the arc and could put up as many as eight 3-point attempts per game.
“The thing about him playing outside the line is, he does two things; it’s not just his shooting, it’s his passing and it’s his playmaking,” Clifford said. “If you guys remember, go back to the bubble, he has an uncanny ability to drive by even perimeter players when they are closing to him. So, I think the more he shoots and better he shoots the three, it’s going to open up more (of the) other aspects of his game.”
The contest will also mark the first official NBA games for rookies Cole Anthony and Chuma Okeke. Anthony led all first-year players in total scoring in the preseason, while Okeke displayed that he can quickly contribute as a 3-and-D player early in his career.
“It’s business, there’s no more fooling around,” Anthony said. “We have to get better, but I’m excited. Super excited.”
QUOTES TO NOTE: Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac both signed contract extensions with the team on Monday, further solidifying the notion that they’re viewed as foundational pieces within the organization. While the Magic are excited to have both players under contract for the long-term, they were equally elated to remain in Orlando.
“My mindset is the same. I’m here to play the game I love, be able to help my teammates grow, help this organization grow to higher standards, and myself along with that. Again, my mindset is still the same. Although I did just get an extension, the job is just getting started. I’m just extremely happy to have three (more) years to go with this team and hopefully longer.” – Fultz
“To be with this organization means everything to me. I love the coaching staff, I love the team, I love that they have belief in me, and I think that they have it because I have belief in myself. They know how I am when it comes to rehabbing and getting back. That’s my focus right now. I’m glad that we were able to get this done.” – Isaac
IN AND OUT: Orlando’s starting lineup will feature a lot of continuity with Fultz at point guard, Fournier at shooting guard, Aaron Gordon at power forward and Vucevic at center. However, with James Ennis III (strained right hamstring/sore right calf) still out, free agent acquisition Dwayne Bacon will get the start at small forward as he did throughout the entire preseason.
Al-Farouq Aminu (right knee rehabilitation) and Isaac (left knee rehabilitation) are also out.
RIVALS REPORT: In the first regular season edition of our Rivals Report series, I brought in special guest, Heat.com beat writer Couper Moorhead, who’s covered the team for the past 10 seasons. We first met during his two-year stint with the Boston Celtics, so you could say Couper knows all about a number of the Magic's rivals. He was generous enough to take the time to answer a few questions about the Heat and their outlook coming off an NBA Finals appearance.
Savage: “We saw Adebayo and Tyler Herro take further steps in the bubble, what do you think are the next steps in the evolution of both of their careers and what are the Heat looking to get out of them this season?
Moorhead: “I’ll start with Bam. In preseason we already saw him expand his game into even more ballhandling and a little bit more shooting than we’ve seen from him before. First possession of his first game last week, there was a cross-screen for him to come across the lane and shoot a turnaround jumper, which is very unusual for him, considering he’s always been the pass-first hub of our offense. Always looking for handoffs to create looks for our shooters. He usually doesn’t shoot until the end of the shot clock when he has to create something, but now, in preseason, we’ve seen him try to be a little bit more aggressive. Granted, Jimmy Butler didn’t play either of our preseason games, so there was room for experimentation there. I think there’s a good possibility that we’re going to see him evolve his role from just playmaker first, all-defensive kind of guy to someone who ups his usage a little bit and becomes, on occasion and with the right matchups, a first option on offense similar to what you saw in game six against Boston last year where he clinched out the series going to the rim on six straight possessions or so.
As for Tyler, that break between March and the bubble, was unbelievably important for him. He took that time and ran with it as almost a break between his rookie season and that little second season that lasted a few months. He improved his finishing at the rim. As most rookies do, he had a little trouble adjusting to height in his first stretch. Then he came in and he was suddenly finishing with his right hand, left hand, touch shots off the glass, little floating semi-hook shots, scoop shots, quick shots that could catch defenders off guard, and things like that. He really improved there and with his playmaking as well. He played a ton of fourth quarter minutes in the bubble, not just because he’s a good shooter, not just because he’s a competitive guy that the team trusts, but because suddenly he was a capable ballhandler, who against a playoff-level defense can create shots for both himself and others. I think you’re only going to see that more. On this team, I wouldn’t say there are any traditional point guard, point guards – even Goran (Dragic) isn’t always that. But I think you’ll see Tyler being a little more of that guard-playmaker kind of guy. Whether that’s in the starting lineup or off the bench, he’s going to play a ton of minutes and he’s going to have the ball in his hands a little bit more.
Savage: “Who’s someone on this team that may have a role that people aren’t quite talking about and that fans of opposing teams should be paying attention to?
Moorhead: “It’s hard to say right now, because there are so many playable and rotation-worthy guys on the roster at the moment. Also, we never saw a dress rehearsal in preseason, so we don’t really know what direction (head coach) Erik Spoelstra is going to go in right now. But for now, I’m going to say KZ Okpala. He scored twenty-four points in the preseason game on Friday. He’s this incredibly long, stretchy athlete. He’s got a smooth handle and he made six threes the other night, which I don’t think he had done in his two college years at Stanford or during his limited time in the G League last year. His strength has improved and most importantly, he’s been injury free for the last stretch of time, so he’s actually been able to be on the court practicing consistently. He can do a little bit of everything. The team lost Jae Crowder, who went to the Phoenix Suns. He was really important in the playoff run as a stretch, flexible four next to Bam Adebayo when Bam was playing at the five. Moe Harkless is in and Mo is a veteran presence who could be really useful in that spot too. There’s a sense that there are minutes to be earned in the rotation. KZ is very talented. We saw it the other night. We saw it during preseason. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some minutes coming his way if he keeps playing like that and approaching the game that way.
Savage: “What will the biggest challenges be for the Heat this season? Heading into the year what do you see as the biggest question marks?
Moorhead: “That’s tough to answer when a team makes a run like that in the bubble, but then, there are all the questions about what was the bubble and how does that translate? If we assume that it does translate, which I don’t see a real reason for it not to, I think most of the questions surround what’s the rotation going to look like? What are their best lineups? That sort of thing. The most interesting thing to me, which may be boring to the general public is that during the regular season, before the suspension, we were a lot like the 76ers in that we had an outstanding home record. We won like eighty percent of our home games and then on the road, we had some struggles. Then, going into the bubble, there’s no home or road, so that got taken off the table. We were just such an unbelievably good shooting team at home and that changed on the road, so I’m curious to see if those splits carry over this year.”