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Orlando Magic will establish their place in season’s second quarter
Oct 30, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) gestures after a steal against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks/David Banks-Imagn Images
The season’s first quarter went by in a flash for the Orlando Magic.
They were riding high and basking in the clear leap their young star in Paolo Banchero had made. Only five games into the season, it seemed to come crashing down. Banchero was out indefinitely with a torn oblique. Things seemed pretty bleak.
Orlando’s goals from the start of the season seemed to fall apart. How would the team stay in the race for homecourt advantage when it just had to survive? It seemed like the season was flipped on its head.
The season’s first quarter went from the team trying to display its maturity and poise from its playoff experience to trying to survive.
Somehow, the Magic accomplished both missions. They survived thanks to Franz Wagner’s emergence as an All-Star-level player capable of carrying the team. They went 14-7 through the first quarter of the season (they are 16-8 now), sit in third place in the Eastern Conference and look capable of continuing to make noise in the Eastern Conference.
Everything is still in front of them.
That makes the season’s second quarter about something entirely different – integration and establishment.
In the next 20 games to the midpoint of the season, the Magic will work to establish themselves as a top-tier team in the Eastern Conference. They will also become whole again with Banchero’s anticipated return near Christmas. That will take its own adjustment as they reintegrate Banchero into the mix.
He will need his time to recover and reintegrate into the lineup.
That will come too at a time when the Magic’s schedule is stiffening up, even if this quarter will spend a lot of time inside the Kia Center – 11 of the next 18 games are at the Kia Center with the potential to add a 12th based on NBA Cup play).
Orlando will play 13 of the next 20 games against teams with records better than .500 (that includes the loss to the New York Knicks on Tuesday). Orlando has only three wins against these teams through the first 21 games. The Magic still must prove themselves against the teams they will need to beat when the Playoffs begin.
Everyone knew this part of the schedule would be especially difficult. This is a proving ground for the team.
This is a key element for the team. In this quarter of the season, the Magic will establish where they sit in the conference.
Orlando got off to a strong start last year at 14-7 too. But they went 8-12 in the second quarter of the season. That sent them tumbling down the standings and made it a fight to climb back into a prime position. The Magic rallied late in the season to clinch the 5-seed.
They do not want to do it again. It is this quarter of the season when those goals come into clearer picture. These are the Tuesdays the Magic talked about where they needed more focus and attention to win.
The second quarter of the season will be as important as any other. The Magic have established themselves in the Eastern Conference pecking order. They got off to a blistering start.
The next 20 games will determine where their season ends and just how good they can be.
Dec 1, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick calls a play against the Utah Jazz during the first half at the Delta Center. | Christopher Creveling/Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images
If JJ Redick had approached the season signalling a measure of outward self-awareness that he, a former player with no head coaching experience and cohost of a podcast with LeBron James, was now head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, things might be different. If Redick had acknowledged that very obvious, and unique to our contemporary basketball moment of athlete-driven media elephant in the room, things might be different. If Redick had at any point, when asked about his new role in scrums wherein he knows the clips and audio of his answers will be immediately and robustly aggregated, balanced out his self-aggrandizing basketball sicko-hood, or answers where he likened head coaching to nothing short of personal destiny, with something like, It’s a learning curve, really anything a hair more measured, things might be different.
Things would not look different. The Lakers made no real structural changes to their roster in the offseason, so the team playing bad basketball now is the same team that was playing bad basketball last season under Darvin Ham (Redick is one game off the 13-9 pace set by Ham last season), but things might be interpreted, or reasoned with, differently. That kind of grace, for a struggling franchise with major conflicting timelines and high-stakes notions like legacy on the line, goes a long way.
There is such a fine line in coaching between collaborative and domineering, confident and arrogant, and many first-time head NBA coaches have learned the hard way what it is to lose a team, and lose them quickly. Nate Bjorkgren went into the Pacers organization not just hot but by many accounts scorching, and was expeditiously fired at the end of his lone year in Indiana. Jason Kidd may have traded in his string of short-lived head coaching appointments (Nets, Bucks — and surprise! — Lakers) for his current and seemingly steady job with the Mavs, but there is no doubt a type afforded the leniency of multiple failures in the NBA, and it tends to be white, male and abidingly faultless.
To Redick’s credit, he has vocally shouldered the blame of the Lakers recent, bad losses. When the team fell to the Timberwolves 109-80 to start the month, Redick noted their lacklustre effort was “looking more and more like it’s not an aberration”, correcting himself from a late-November blown effort against the Nuggets he said was. This week’s impressive loss to the Heat resulted in a two minute explanation from Redick that skimmed the existential and was anchored in the heavy weight of realization.
What’s difficult from here — beyond how the Lakers improve when their offensive energy is sporadic at best and their approach to defence has been to literally stand back and watch — is how to move forward into the long season still ahead, with the base level of competency and pride necessary for a cohesive team to function.
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.
Home and Away
Biz The NBA will return to China in 2025; The first time since team executive Daryl Morey’s 2019 tweet signalled support for Hong Kong independence. (ESPN)
Feel Good Four Raptors rookies make history by playing in two games in one day. (SportsNet)
Injury The injury report for the Orlando Magic vs. Philadelphia 76ers game includes Joel Embiid, Paul George, Paolo Banchero, and Gary Harris. Their status could impact the matchup significantly. (Sports Illustrated)
Injury Orlando Magic’s Goga Bitadze is questionable for the upcoming game against the 76ers, while star players Joel Embiid and Paul George are also on the injury report. (Sports Illustrated)
Preview The Magic will play against the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center at 7:00 PM ET. Read the preview.(NBA)
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Fantasy Cheat Sheet
Ayo Dosunmu’s Big Fantasy Basketball Night
Dec 5, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu (11) looks to pass the ball while defended by San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) and forward Harrison Barnes (40) during the first half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter/Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
The Dallas Mavericks dominated the Washington Wizards, with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving leading the charge. Doncic’s 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, alongside Irving’s 25 points, highlighted their commanding performance. Despite a lackluster showing from P.J. Washington, Quentin Grimes and Spencer Dinwiddie delivered solid contributions. The Wizards’ decision to start Marvin Bagley over Jonas Valančiūnas was puzzling, given Bagley’s inconsistent play. Bilal Coulibaly’s struggles continue, and Jordan Poole’s shooting woes persist, though his minutes remain encouraging.
In another matchup, the Cleveland Cavaliers secured a significant win over the Denver Nuggets. Nikola Jokic’s 27 points, 20 rebounds, and 11 assists underscored his dominance, despite heavy minutes. Michael Porter Jr.'s defensive contributions were notable, with four steals and two blocks. On the Cavaliers’ side, Caris LeVert’s 21 points and Donovan Mitchell’s 28 points, six assists, and six triples were key to their victory.
The Oklahoma City Thunder overwhelmed the Toronto Raptors, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the charge with 30 points, five assists, and two steals. Cason Wallace’s defensive prowess was on display, contributing two steals and four blocks. The Raptors struggled without Jakob Poeltl, highlighting their lack of depth at the center position.
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