The Toronto Raptors, fresh from stealing a victory in Miami, are hopeful of a perfect record in Florida. To effect that happy result, they need to defeat the Orlando Magic tonight.
The Magic haven’t made the playoffs the last six seasons, which is an amazingly bad record considering how underwhelming the Eastern Conference has been during this period. Orlando hasn’t been within hailing distance of the post-season; the only time they were over 30 wins (35!) was in 2015-16.
With Jeff Weltman, late of the Raptors front office, the top Magic man, one assumes the shoddy development of young draft picks has come to an end. This team was in the lottery consistently, and made what have turned out to be decent selections (Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis, Dario Saric). But they were all traded too soon.
The Magic reached a high water mark of 12-12 in early December, but have been in reverse since then. Their feeble offense (they rank 27th in O-rating with 104, compared to the Raptors’ 112.6) doesn’t provide any wiggle room should their opponents shoot well. Orlando has gone 2-7 the rest of this month, and only broken a century once. That occurred in their most recent defeat, to the bottom-feeding Suns. I’m glad I managed to miss the OT period, in which Phoenix outscored Orlando 4-2.
The Magic’s Big Four consists of D.J. Augustin, Nik Vucevic. Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier, all of whom have started 31 games or more. Vucevic is their top scorer and rebounder. While he’s been a consistent points producer for years, he’s an indifferent defender. If they aren’t still hanging around the playoff race in early February, I’d dump Vucevic. They have a bouncy rookie named Mo Bamba who needs to be let loose.
Gordon has often struck me as one of those great athletes who can’t translate his physical capabilities into true value on the court. Perhaps they collect these guys; Terrence Ross is the first Magic-man off the bench. He’s having a solid season scoring the ball, which he needs as his contract is expiring.
The Magic’s biggest weakness is a severe lack of bench scoring. If Ross’ shot is off, they are done.
The Raptors will be without Kyle Lowry once again, as his back problem persists. Serge Ibaka‘s knee did not flare up after the win in Miami. Let’s hope for a better effort from him.
3 keys to Raptors victory
- Get to the hoop. It’s a shame neither Lowry nor Jonas Valanciunas isn’t playing. They would shred Orlando’s wafer-thin interior defense on the pick & roll. As it stands, Serge and Fred VanVleet still can make some noise. So can Delon Wright if he’s aggressive, and Norman Powell if he doesn’t leave his feet prior to making a decision.
- Don’t foul. OG Anunoby, I’m looking at you. Orlando shoots (and makes) the fewest free-throws in the NBA, one of many reasons for their poor offense. They aren’t capable of creating contact regularly, so don’t bail them out.
- Get on the defensive glass. Orlando is a fire-and-fall-back team, ranking 26th in offensive rebounds. The Raptors have offered the opponents too many second chances this season; here’s a chance to redress the balance slightly.
Prediction
Until evidence presents itself to the contrary, I’m forced to assume the Raptors’ shooting malaise will continue. At least we consistently defend. The first game in Orlando was tight and low-scoring. Given our scrambled roster, there’s no reason to expect anything different.
Toronto Raptors 100 – Orlando Magic 92