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Jonathan Isaac getting his feet back under him
Nov 12, 2024; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac (1) drives to the basket as Charlotte Hornets forward Tidjane Salaun (31) ef defends during the second half at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images|Kim Klement Neitzel/Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
Jonathan Isaac looked a bit sluggish to start the season. The numbers did not suggest he had the same defensive impact that the team has been used to for years. It never felt like Isaac was completely right.
Was it that he was playing at a heavier weight? Isaac reported he put on muscle during this offseason — the team listed him at 240 pounds but Isaac reported himself at 250 pounds, a gain of nearly 25 pounds from his playing weight last year.
Was it the change in the Magic’s rotation with the team losing its backup point guard in Markelle Fultz and many players having to reconfigure their roles?
There were a lot of possible explanations.
But another could have been it was early in the season. A lot was going on – and an early season injury after a hard fall in the opening game against the Miami Heat did not help. And a player like Isaac especially with his injury history may have just needed some time to get comfortable again.
After blocking three shots, several in spectacular fashion, in Wednesday’s 94-90 win over the Indiana Pacers and then adding eight points and 11 rebounds with two 3-point makes, Isaac has probably put those concerns to rest.
Like his team, Isaac it seemed needed some time to get his feet back under him to start the season. Especially now that he is playing without any injury restrictions – there was no question he was playing in the back-to-back.
“It’s been a slow start to the season,” Isaac said. “But I’m starting to feel like myself again with my energy level and getting back to running up an down and playing heavier minutes. I feel great. Thanking God for the opportunity to be healthy and contribute to the team. That’s where my focus is at.”
Isaac has had a slow start to the season. He is averaging 6.2 points per game and shooting 47.9 percent from the floor and 32.0 percent from three. He is averaging only 1.6 “stocks” per game and 4.4 rebounds per game.
Even in the early part of the season, his defensive impact was far less pronounced than it had been.
But Isaac’s play has ticked up in recent games. In the first four games of this homestand, he is averaging 7.5 points per game, shooting 60.0 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent from three, grabbing 5.0 rebounds per game and recording 1.8 stocks per game.
That was capped off with an eight-point, 2-for-3 3-point shooting, three-block effort in the win over the Pacers. That included some spectacular blocks on his part.
To further solidify things, the Magic have a 97.8 defensive rating with Isaac on the floor, the best mark of any rotation player.
Isaac indeed is looking and playing like himself again. And if his offense is coming around, that only amplifies how good his defense can be.
This is something that can be seen throughout the Magic’s roster. Players and people needed time to settle into the season. Franz Wagner was sick through the early weeks of the season and had to recover before he could rejoin the team.
A player like Isaac probably needed some time to get his feet under him especially considering his injury history and the increased load he was expected to have.
Like so many other things with this team, after the difficult road trip, everything has settled down since beginning this homestand. And the Magic are starting to get their feet under them and look how everyone expected.
I held off on writing about the apparent rash, or rise, of early-season athlete injuries because there’s always some recency bias involved when the subject comes up. Are there really more injuries this year than any other? Do we have the data to support it? Is there a new, underlying cause? Or are injuries due to the same compounding mix of bad luck and the NBA’s 82-game schedule running into a long postseason, running into the offseason, running back into a brand new long regular season and the erosion of bodies this eventually leads to?
A report early this week showed early-season injuries were up 35%, and indeed ESPN’s list of injuries, at a glance, looks like a ferocious Christmas tree, lit up in blazing reds and yellows. A handful of teams (the Grizzlies, Pelicans, Raptors) are cobbling together rosters game-to-game depending on who’s still healthy. TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott ran a draft of the injured list this week and each team reads like an All-Star squad on steroids, and when Abbott printed out the league’s official injury report it was 10 pages long.
Injuries are definitely up — but why?
The Paris Olympics proved extra playing time for a few top-tier stars, but most of them remain healthy. The early season schedule hasn’t served up any more back-to-backs to longer road game stretches, which tend to be more gruelling on athletes, than usual. However, when everything appears to be normal and the bodily price is anything but, perhaps it’s time to examine that “normal”.
The NBA’s current schedule of 82 games was adopted in 1967. Already, I’m sure your brain is picturing black and white basketball, that’s good. When you picture that grainy, glitchy footage, how fast is it going? The reality is that the game used to be a lot slower. Not just in its mechanics (think of an offensive passing sequence, the ball flipping from set of hands to hands at a speed that can be hard to follow), but the athleticism too. Bodies were moving slower. The game was still physical — the trope of players from the 80s and 90s complaining about the “softness” of current athletes is a trope for a reason — but full tilt sprinting, cutting, complex rotations, these weren’t the norm. Given that, the bodily mechanics were different. Guys weren’t stopping on a dime, pivoting hard, having to force their ligaments and muscles and bones into exacting motions with all sorts of volatile force behind them.
Katie Heindl is a credentialed NBA and WNBA writer, her bylines have appeared with The New York Times Magazine, SLAM, The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, Dime, Rolling Stone, among others. She writes the bestselling Substack, Basketball Feelings and is working on a book of the same name.
Celebrate The Magic unveiled their new City Edition uniform, themed “Kingdom on the Rise,” for the 2024-25 season. (Sports Illustrated)
Preview The Magic host the struggling 76ers in the group stage of the NBA Cup. Read the preview.(NBA.com)
Fantasy Cheat Sheet
Fantasy Cheat Sheet
Replay: Navigating the injury bug
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) holds his leg after a hard following a play against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter at Paycom Center.|Photo by Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
This week in the fantasy basketball world has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. A major talking point has been Chet Holmgren’s unfortunate injury, which has fantasy managers scrambling for replacements as the Oklahoma City Thunder adjust with potential lineup changes. Keep an eye on players like Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace — who might see increased minutes — and consider them as temporary pickups in deeper leagues.
Don’t let these episodes pass you by — stay locked in with the latest Locked On Magic podcasts.
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