Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
The Orlando Magic have played better in recent weeks and have surged to 7th in the East.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Kelley L. Cox/USA Today.)
I suppose you can look at the Orlando Magic as the perfectly average team. They are 7th in the East at 19-21. They are last in scoring. They’re in the bottom five of offensive rating (that is points per possession). But they also allow the least points per game and are in the top five of defensive rating (that is points allowed per possession). They screech everything to a halt when they play (bottom four in pace).
I mean, that’s fine but it had been a while since they were perennial contenders. They did make the postseason last year after a six-year absence but it’s been such a slow build for Orlando. The franchise has whiffed on draft picks and trades that have made the quest back to respectability longer than it should.
In 2013, Victor Oladipo was the first lottery pick they got after Dwight Howard left the team in a rubble. Oladipo is a star now but it took two trades for him to become that guy. The problem was that the Magic gave him up AND Domantas Sabonis (along with Ersan Ilyasova) for Serge Ibaka. The Magic promptly dealt Serge halfway through the season for Terrence Ross and a first round pick that turned out to be Anzejs Pasecniks, who didn’t even play for the team. Both Oladipo and Sabonis were traded again to Indiana for the Paul George trade. Like I said, Oladipo made the huge leap in Indy while Sabonis has become a double-double machine there.
Aaron Gordon was the Magic’s lottery pick in 2014, which I suppose it’s fine but you just feel like he could do better than how he is right now (he did make that game-winning three-point play against Sacramento on Monday night. Their other lottery pick turned out to be Elfrid Payton (acquired from Philadelphia). The Magic dealt Payton before the trade deadline in 2018 for a second round pick. In 2015, they picked Mario Hezonja, which turned out to be a huge whiff. 2016 was that Sabonis pick and, as mentioned, was immediately traded as part of a package for Serge Ibaka.
They got Jonathan Isaac (who was becoming a great defensive player until that hyperextended knee) in 2017 and Mo Bamba in 2018.
They have made some good deals. Nikola Vucevic was acquired in that four-team deal that jettisoned Dwight out of Orlando and he’s still there. The Magic were able to get Evan Fournier in a trade with Denver for Arron Afflalo. Terrence Ross became a useful gunner off the bench as the result of the Serge Ibaka trade but remember that he was the ultimate result of a Victor Oladipo/Domantas Sabonis trade package. D.J. Augustin has been good as the veteran point guard of their team (whether starting or back-up). And Markelle Fultz has been a great comeback story this season.
But while they have good core players, they haven’t gotten that impact player that could take them to the next level. Maybe Fultz can still be that guy down the line. We thought Gordon could be but it turns out that he’s probably not going to be beyond a second banana. Fournier is a very good scorer and so is the mainstay Vucevic but neither player is on that upper tier. They are a scrappy team that slows the game down to a snail’s pace so they can methodically get a good shot. Then they will make the opposing team work for a score. It’s what… teams tend to do to get a win when they know they don’t have a threatening superstar on their team.
Orlando has been progressing very slowly. But slow progress is better than no progress. Steve Clifford and his defensive mentality has given the Magic some stability. Heck, the Magic has had some players grow together in the last few years. I’m all for continuity but for some big progress, they might have to take a huge risk on fixing that roster. Hopefully, if they do make a deal, it’s more on the Fultz side of things instead of what they did with Oladipo and Sabonis.
Bullet Passes
So this sort of went under the radar a bit.
The Pelicans will know a lot more after practice this week, but it sure sounds like we’ll get the long-awaited NBA debut of Zion Williamson on Thursday vs. the Jazz. That’s the plan, anyway, per sources.
— Mitch Lawrence (@Mitch_Lawrence) January 13, 2020
I am ALL for this. I’m glad he’s not sitting out the rest of the season.
It must be awesome to have that luxury. The Lakers seemed like they barely cared in the first half against LeBron‘s old team, the Cavs. And then they flipped the Nintendo Switch and it was over just like that.
The Sixers lost to the Pacers and that was a big game. The Pacers have now overtaken the Sixers and are now in 5th place in the East.
Sixers are 1-2 since Joel Embiid got his finger fixed. Also, we noticed the uptick in shots by Ben Simmons in this calendar year. He averaged under 11 shots per game in December but in January, he’s up to 15 shots per. Way to be more aggressive in that department.
“BUT HE DOESN’T SHOOT THREES.” Shut up.
We hardly get the awesome triple-double that involves 20 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists. But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pulled that off in OKC’s victory over Minnesota. It happened to be his first career triple-double.
The last player to get 20-20-10? When Russell Westbrook pulled off the extremely rare 20-20-20 last April. It was only the second 20-20-20 in history (Wilt Chamberlain did 22-25-21 in 1968).
Shai’s 20-20-10 was the 7th occurrence in this century. Kevin Garnett was the first to do it in the 2000s. David Lee would do it in 2010. And DeMarcus Cousins did it three times.
The Scoreboard
NO 117 (15-26) @ DET 110 (14-27) (OT)
PHI 95 (25-16) @ IND 101 (25-15)
CHI 101 (14-27) @ BOS 113 (27-11)
OKC 117 (23-17) @ MIN 104 (15-24)
CHA 112 (15-28) @ POR 115 (17-24)
ORL 114 (19-21) @ SAC 112 (15-25)
CLE 99 (12-28) @ LAL 128 (33-7)
Watch This Play
The Blazers won by three and this third quarter halfcourt buzzer-beater was a HUGE shot. Of course, Damian Lillard made this.
(VIDEO CREDIT: Lucas McLuhan.)
I think Lillard has made his share of long buzzer-beater shots.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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