Now that the 82-game regular season slog is finally over, the NBA playoffs can begin. It truly is a trek to wade through the tanking teams, horrible defense and downright devious officiating, but now that it’s over, the postseason can commence. You have real perennial favorites, veteran teams, with experience; the Nuggets, Celtics and Bucks. You have your up-and-comers, poised to take the league by storm soon enough; the Timberwolves and Thunder. You also have your wildcard in the Clippers. These six teams are widely considered to be among the favorites this postseason to raise the Larry O’Brien trophy, yet one sneaky, frisky team is being left out of the mix: the Orlando Magic.
If you wanted to box them into one of those categories, they would be seen as an up-and-comer that isn’t quite there yet. However, the Magic does one thing at a very high level: defense. A commonly used phrase is ‘good defense travels’, which is good for Orlando because they have a great defense. Defense is more important than offense in the playoffs and they will be the 5-seed, meaning that homecourt advantage will not be guaranteed in a single playoff round. They are third in defense-adjusted value over average, second in defensive rebounding percentage and second in opponent second chance points. The stats speak for themselves. Not only is this a team willing to play defense, but one that plays disciplined defense.
As for the defensive attack, no one player better exemplifies what it means to take pride in defense than Jalen Suggs. Go to YouTube and look up “Jalen Suggs defensive highlights” and behold what might be the only player in the league who will play all 48 minutes like they are his last. His bounce-off-the-wall energy is infectious and a delight to watch. Jonathan Isaac, who is finally healthy this season, is playing just over 15 minutes a game, but is a defensive wrecking ball. Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero command the offense, yet still play stellar defense. Gary Harris, Joe Ingles, Cole Anthony and Wendell Carter Jr. give them an added layer of depth.
This team has the tools and the desire to catch a top-seeded team in the Easy by complete surprise, pulling off a major upset. While it is probably far-fetched for the Magic to win it all this year, their “we will do whatever it takes to win” levels are off the charts. Last year, an 8-seed made it to the Finals, why can’t the Magic do the same?
