John Raoux/Associated Press
The Orlando Magic punched their ticket to the 2018-19 NBA playoffs for the first time since falling to Danny Granger and the Indiana Pacers in 2011-12 with a 116-108 victory Sunday night over the Boston Celtics. It was yet another reminder that this team is a potential contender-killer.
Head coach Steve Clifford’s team has flown under the radar for much of the year after the Magic went just 25-57 last season under Frank Vogel. With the loss of Shelvin Mack and the somewhat laughable assumption that DJ Augustin could captain the offense proficiently throughout 82 games, the Magic surpassed every offseason prognostication.
But Augustin carried the Magic’s second-best on/off rating (plus-5.0, trailing only All-Star Nikola Vucevic) while shooting 42.1 percent from three, 10th among players who have logged 64-plus games. He also likely earned Clifford some Coach of the Year votes with his performance.
Bobby Marks @BobbyMarks42
One of the best free agent additions did not come in a player signing or trade last off-season but with a coach. Great job by Steve Clifford and his staff getting the Magic to the postseason for the first time since 2011-12.
But back to those predictions. CBS Sports‘ preseason projections, for instance, gave the Magic the 26th-best ranking, while Sports Illustrated positioned them dead last. Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley had them ranked 28th, and B/R’s Grant Hughes gave them a generous 25th. (The Brooklyn Nets, the East’s other surprise playoff team, outranked the Magic in each of those polls.)
Yet here they stand, having secured the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with the possibility of rising as high as sixth with one game to play. Most would think of the Magic as a feel-good story. Hey, they finally made it!
And they’ve come a long way since this cringeworthy clip from Stan Van Gundy:
Orlando is more than that.
After all, the Magic split the season series with the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers and swept the Boston Celtics in three games. They also took down the San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors and went 3-1 versus the Indiana Pacers.
Sixteen of the Magic’s 41 wins have come against teams .500 or better. Where the Magic have strangely struggled is against sub-.500 opponents (18 losses), which of course they won’t see in the postseason.
Oddly enough, the Magic have been downright electric since losing sixth overall pick Mo Bamba to a stress fracture in his left tibia thanks in part to Jonathan Isaac’s emergence. While the former Texas Longhorn shows plenty of promise, his minus-19.6 net rating per 100 possessions sank the Magic toward the bottom half of the league.
Since he went down, the Magic have won 20 of 29 and led the NBA in net rating in February (plus-11.3). They are finishing the season with the league’s fourth-best net rating over the past 12 games.
Josh Robbins @JoshuaBRobbins
“A phenomenal locker room scene. The guys were ecstatic, deserving, and it’s fun to see. I feel like we’ve done it the right way. We’ve played our best here this last 30, 31 games. We’ve made good progress all year.” -Steve Clifford
The Magic’s defensive style of play under Clifford is conducive to the playoff atmosphere, as they hold opponents to just 106.5 points per game (fifth in the league).
Plus, the Magic have their own version of a low-post superstar in Vucevic to match up with Marc Gasol and Joel Embiid. He trails just Giannis Antetokounmpo, Embiid, Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns with 20.8 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, and he shoots 36.4 percent from three (better than all but Towns).
Vucevic should relish another opportunity to play against Embiid after outplaying him in each of their three matchups this season (28.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists on 56.4 percent shooting), including the Magic’s March 25 shellacking of head coach Brett Brown and his healthy squad.
Regardless of who they draw, Terrence Ross is arguably the Magic’s most dangerous weapon and most important player. In wins, he carries a plus-15.5 net rating. In losses, it’s a debilitating minus-17.3
Things will change in the playoffs when the intensity reaches a deafening roar, rotations shorten and eyes widen. None of the Magic’s heavy rotation players has registered a minute of playoff basketball since 2014 outside of Ross (2016, Toronto).
But the Magic have played some of the best teams tough all year, so expect a game effort in the first round.
Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck talks to Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry on this week’s Full 48 podcast, discussing how NBA MVP favorite Giannis Antentokounmpo willed the Bucks to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern conference.
from Viral News Updates http://bit.ly/2OVOW6h
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