The Orlando Magic are a bad team this season. They rank 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 15-27 record and are in the bottom third in the league in both offensive and defensive efficiency. Coach Jacque Vaughn's seat was getting warm after a six-game losing streak.
The Magic are winning by pushing the pace
The Magic might have stumbled into an identity as a running team thanks to the play of Elfrid Payton.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
When asked about the key to the win, Victor Oladipo told the Orlando Sentinel that it was all about speed:
“Pace. Changing the way we play. Realizing how we’re effective and what we have to do in order to win. We’ve just got to continue to keep doing it,” he said.
"Sometimes you just figure things out, and we figured it out," Oladipo continued. "I credit the young fella. I don't know about anybody else. I credit Elfrid Payton. He sets the tone. When he pitches the ball, when he gets us going. It's him. He's out there pressuring the ball, pushing the ball. It just makes me want to do it even more."
Grantland’s Zach Lowe explored the Magic’s transformation into a high-pace, spread pick and roll team recently, and the last two games showed exactly what he was talking about. After playing at one of the slowest paces in the league for most of the season, the Magic have averaged over 101 possessions per game over their past five contests, six up on their previous average and the second highest mark in the league during that span. In their two wins, they averaged 104 possessions a game. They eclipsed 120 points both times.
Obviously a high pace doesn't always translate to high scoring. The top five teams in pace include the Warriors, who have the most potent attack in the league, and the 76ers, who are the least efficient scoring team in the NBA. Whether it works for a particular squad has everything to do with talent and fit. The Magic have two quick guards in Payton and Oladipo, a slithery driver in Evan Fournier and have given minutes to another ball-handler in second-rounder Devyn Marble. That gives Orlando four palyers who can receive an outlet pass and push the pace.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of the decision to run more is Channing Frye. As Lowe pointed out, Frye hasn’t been getting as many open looks in Orlando simply because defenders don’t have to respect Payton and Oladipo from the perimeter. But by pushing the ball up court, the Magic can find quick opportunities for Frye to take advantage of a defense that is not set already, like in this situation against the Rockets:
Frye runs the floor well and stations himself in the corner. Donatas Motiejunas is still in the paint, as the Rockets haven’t completed their defensive transition yet. A quick screen gets Frye open and he connects.
There’s a reason everyone mentions Payton when talking about the change going on in Orlando. Payton is better suited to play at a fast pace than in the half court at this point. He can get the team into its sets, but his inability to shoot kills their spacing and makes his drives predictable, resulting in a lot of his attempts being blocked.
To compensate, he's been pushing the ball and the results have been good both for him individually and the team. He's smart about what to do on the break even without the ball, as that quick screen to Frye (above) shows. When he's leading the attack, catching the defense off guard in the secondary break makes finishing much easier for him, as we see in this play against the Trail Blazers:
Payton’s field goal percentage in transition is 54.4 percent, according to Synergy Sports Technology. That’s nothing special for transition opportunities, but it’s much better than the dreadful 37.1 percent he shoots in half court sets.
Equally important: pushing the pace gives Payton, and by extension the Magic, an identity. Not only have his teammates praised him for it but also his rivals.
“I just think it started with their point guard, the guy with the crazy hair,” Dwight Howard said, via the Orlando Sentinel. “He’s the one that started everything. He got into our guards on the defensive end. On the offensive end, he just pushed the pace and he made things happen.”
The Magic have ball handlers who thrive in transition in Oladipo, Payton and Fournier. They have a killer three-point shooting big man who can take advantage of an inattentive transition defense. The final piece of the puzzle for any team that wants to run is rebounding. It’s much easier to run after misses than after makes, but the team needs to secure the board first and have someone with the awareness to make good outlet passes.
Nikola Vucevic fills that role for the Magic. Vucevic is a terrific defensive rebounder who rarely leaks out (only on 10 percent of rebounding opportunities) and his 2.4 points per assist in transition rank him 14th among big men, according to Synergy Sports Technology.
Does this mean the Magic fully embrace their identity as a speed team? Yes, but there's still a ways to go. Oladipo and the injured Tobias Harris are a terror on the break, and the personnel to push the ball is there.
But there’s more to being a high pace team than fast-break points. Ideally, getting into half-court sets early allows a team to try different half-court options looking for a good shot. The Magic are not particularly good at that. The ball sticks, particularly when Harris and Oladipo try to break the defense on their own, which negates the advantage of setting up quickly. And Vucevic, the Magic’s best player, is a post behemoth who still needs his touches down low.
It’s too soon to say the Magic will make a playoff push thanks to their new high-pace style, but these last two games give a team that looked aimless just a few days ago an identity to hold onto for now. Considering the team’s youth and the coaching staff’s inexperience, that’s big progress.
Whether the franchise can build on it or not remains to be seen, but there’s finally a foundation in Orlando.
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