The Orlando Magic are starting to look less one-dimensional on offense, and that matters as they keep sorting out a new system that is still very much under construction.
For much of the early stretch, the attack leaned heavily on Franz Wagner. Now, though, the picture is widening. Anthony Black has become a real part of that shift, and Jalen Suggs’ expected return Friday night against the Milwaukee Bucks gives Orlando another player who can put pressure on the rim and help keep the ball moving downhill.
Coach Sean Sweeney said after shootaround Friday, “I think a number of guys have done a good job with that,” coach Sean Sweeney said after shootaround Friday. “The better we do attacking the paint, the better job we do spacing the floor, the more likely we are to get great shots. We have guys who can knock them down.”
That’s the basic blueprint for this offense: get the ball-handler into the paint, force the defense to collapse, then punish the rotation with kickouts, closeout attacks or quick threes. Orlando has been trying to build that identity all season, and slowly it’s starting to take shape.
The Magic are second in the league with 74.3 drives per game, according to data from Second Spectrum. Wagner is leading the league with 27.2 drives per game, which tells you how central he’s been to everything.
Paolo Banchero is another major downhill threat, averaging 21.0 drives per game. But the bigger development lately is that Orlando is finding more than one way to get there.
That’s where Black has mattered most.
His return from an early-season ankle injury kept him out of training camp and the team’s first two games, but since then he’s given the Magic another driver who can take some of the burden off Wagner. Black said after shootaround Friday, “I just feel like I’m getting into a rhythm,” Black said after shootaround Friday.
“I have a certain shot diet I know I can get within the offense. I’m looking to be more aggressive with the injuries that we have had out.
Just looking to make more plays.”
The numbers back up the growing comfort. Black is averaging 17.8 points per game while shooting 48.0 percent from the floor and 43.6 percent from three.
He’s also driving 15.8 times per game, a major jump in responsibility, and his playmaking has taken a step too: 5.5 assists per game against 2.9 turnovers per game, both career highs. On those drives, he’s finishing at 48.8 percent.
He has looked even more assertive over the last four games, when he averaged 19.0 drives per game. The scoring came with it, and that kind of pressure has given Orlando a second attacker when it badly needed one.
Sweeney praised that growth as well, saying after shootaround Friday, “I think his individual execution in a number of areas has been great,” Sweeney said after shootaround Friday. “He has a diversified skill set where he can handle the ball, he can be off the ball, he can set screens, use screens, he can cut.
We’re really pleased with how he’s doing. He is going to keep getting better and better as the year goes on.”
Suggs could add another layer to that same formula. Through the first three games, he averaged 15.7 drives per game, nearly right in Black’s range, and he’s averaging a career-high 5.7 assists per game. The efficiency hasn’t been there yet - he’s at 8.0 points per game, shooting 35.7 percent and 1-for-9 from deep - but the Magic still need more players willing to attack off the dribble and start the drive-and-kick game.
Suggs said after shootaround Friday, “Come to be J-Suggs. Coming to hoop.
Coming to help us win games,” Jalen Suggs said after shootaround on Friday. “I’ve just been in here working.
Taking time to process the game, watch and making sure I am applying everything that I am seeing.”
Orlando is healthier now, and that alone tends to make things look cleaner. More importantly, the team is beginning to find the balance it has been searching for. With Black emerging and Suggs on the way back, the Magic are adding more ways to attack the paint - and that’s changing the shape of the offense.
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The result has been a lot of competitive stretches that still end in frustration, with the Bucks hanging around for long enough to look functional before the game slips away in key moments. Tyler Herro has been one of the more reliable pieces in those matchups, but Milwaukees inconsistency elsewhere keeps putting extra pressure on a rotation that already feels like it is being stretched to its limit. [Read more 🡒]
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Orlando has been juggling injuries for weeks, and the absence of Paolo Banchero has only sharpened the need for more reliable guard play and lineup flexibility. Suggs status will be worth watching right up to tipoff, because even a limited return would give the Magic another option as they try to keep the rotation intact against a Milwaukee team that can punish any thin spots. [Read more 🡒]
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Sean Sweeney also said forwards Tristan da Silva and Jamal Cain were on the court for shootaround and are questionable as well, giving Orlando a few moving parts to monitor before tipoff. For a team trying to manage its rotation and keep pace in a tournament setting, the injury report could shape how the night unfolds almost as much as the matchup itself. [Read more 🡒]