The Orlando Magic are walking into a game that could feel like a reset button, but the Phoenix Suns may be looking at it the same way. On Thursday, two teams that expected more from themselves early on meet with both trying to clean up the same kinds of issues: defense, turnovers and the messy business of winning possessions.
Phoenix enters with the league’s worst defense, allowing 124.5 points per 100 possessions. That alone gives Orlando a chance to get its offense moving after facing five of the top-11 defenses in its first seven games.
The Magic’s upcoming stretch is much softer on paper, with five of their next five opponents ranking among the league’s worst nine defenses. This is the first stop, and the matchup points directly at where the Suns have been most vulnerable.
The biggest problem for Phoenix is not just shot quality at the rim or from deep. It’s what happens after the shot goes up.
The Suns are giving up a league-high 19.8 second-chance points per game and rank last with a 60.2 percent defensive rebound rate. That’s the area Orlando has to attack.
The Magic are 25th in offensive rebound rate at 28.9 percent and 29th with 12.9 second-chance points per game, so this is a weakness-on-weakness game that could swing on effort and positioning.
Phoenix’s perimeter defense has also been shaky. The Suns rank 21st in opponent 3-point attempts per game and 29th in opponent 3-point percentage, allowing 40.3 percent shooting on 39.3 attempts per game.
They are only giving up 18.5 wide-open 3-pointers per game, which points to some bad luck mixed in with the damage. Inside, though, they are allowing 46.3 points in the paint per game, which ranks 13th, so they’re not getting buried there.
That leaves the possession battle as the real hinge. Phoenix is 10th in points off turnovers at 20.0 per game and seventh in opponent turnover rate at 16.9 percent.
Orlando, meanwhile, has had turnover issues this season. In a game like this, the extra rebound, the loose ball, the mistake that turns into easy points - that’s where the edge should come from.
The shooting numbers tell a similar story. Orlando is hitting 34.3 percent from three, just ahead of Phoenix at 33.9 percent, and both teams are taking about 38 threes per game.
On wide-open looks, the Magic are at 36.1 percent on 19.0 attempts, while the Suns are at 36.7 percent on 18.2 attempts. Defensively, Orlando is allowing 37.1 percent on 16.6 wide-open 3-point attempts per game, while Phoenix is giving up 43.2 percent on 18.5 such attempts.
If either team gets hot, that could decide it.
The Suns’ injury report lists Mark Williams as OUT with left shoulder surgery, Jordan Goodwin as OUT with right calf soreness and Rasheer Fleming as OUT with a left ankle sprain.
Projected starters have Jase Richardson at point guard, Desmond Bane at shooting guard, Anthony Black at small forward, Franz Wagner at power forward and Wendell Carter at center for Orlando. Phoenix is projected to start Devin Booker, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Miles Bridges and Khaman Maluach.
Both teams are 2-5 and 2-5 ATS, and neither has come close to the start it wanted. Each looked like it could be a playoff-caliber group after last season’s Play-In run, and each believed it had built something on the defensive end. That hasn’t shown up yet.
This one has the feel of a needed breather for somebody. Orlando has more room to grow back into itself, especially with the injuries it has already dealt with.
Phoenix, though, is coming off a 132-119 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last night, which adds another layer to the challenge. The Suns may respond with urgency, but the Magic have a chance to take advantage of a tired team that has been leaking points everywhere.
Somebody gets a deep-breath win on Thursday.
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Burrell arrives with a strong rsum, including G League Coach of the Year honors in 2023, along with years of NBA and professional playing experience that should give this group a steady hand. The bigger story for Orlando is how often the roster may overlap with the NBA team, since some of the two-way players are expected to move back and forth as the season unfolds, making Osceola a place where the Magics next wave can be watched up close. [Read more 🡒]
Magic Beat Themselves In A Loss Fans Wont Want To Relive
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Phoenix got steady production from Devin Booker, who dictated plenty of the flow for the Suns and helped keep Orlando from ever fully settling in. The bigger issue for the Magic was self-inflicted, with turnovers repeatedly handing the Suns easy opportunities and leaving Orlando to wonder how a game with so many extra possessions wound up feeling so out of reach. [Read more 🡒]
Magic Keep Making The Same Costly Mistakes In A Shaky Start
The Magics shaky start against Phoenix fit a familiar pattern: too many giveaways, too many empty trips at the line, and not enough clean possessions to settle into the game. Orlando did manage a brief second-quarter push, but the Suns kept punishing the mistakes and built a lead the Magic never really threatened, turning a sloppy night into a 117-103 loss.
Franz Wagner tried to steady things with 15 points and a career-high 15 assists, but the broader issues were hard to miss. Orlandos defense never consistently locked in, the shooting never fully caught up, and Devin Bookers 30 points kept Phoenix comfortably in control as the Magic were left searching for a cleaner answer to the same problems. [Read more 🡒]