The Orlando Magic, 9-1 over their last ten games and 33-8 overall, defeated the San Antonio Spurs , L.A. Lakers and Denver Nuggets in consecutive road games last week to finish their four-game road trip 4-0. Orlando is now 15-4 in interconference play and 18-4 against the West.
Defensively, the Magic are third in points allowed per 100 possessions (100.8) and defensive field goal percentage (.426). All-NBA center Dwight Howard is Orlando’s anchor. Howard is leading the league in rebounds and blocks. Power forward Rashard Lewis has difficulty defending face-up scorers, but he and small forward Hedo Turkoglu give the Magic two 6-10 forwards who are capable of defending the pick-and-roll, rebounding in traffic and using their size and length to clog the paint and play the passing lanes.
Point guard Jameer Nelson struggles with denying penetration from time-to-time, but he has active hands. Rookie shooting guard Courtney Lee, J.J. Redick, Keith Bogans and the oft-injured Mickael Pietrus comprise Orlando’s shooting guard corps. Lee, Bogans and Pietrus are excellent on-ball defenders. All four guards are adept at stretching the defense with their long distance shooting.
Offensively, Orlando runs a lot of high screen-and-rolls designed to free up Nelson or Turkoglu on the perimeter. With Nelson, Lee, Turkoglu and Lewis in the starting lineup, Orlando has four players who can stretch the defense with their outside shooting. This frees up the lane for Howard to roll into the lane unfettered and gives him plenty of room to operate when he receives the ball on the block. Led by Nelson’s team-best 45.4% mark from long-distance, the Magic are first in team three-point percentage (.403) and second in overall attempts from beyond the arc (1068).
Aside from Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu may have been most responsible for Orlando’s success last season, but it’s Jameer Nelson who is having a career-year this season. Nelson is averaging a career-high 17.1 ppg. while shooting a career-best 51.1% from the field. Nelson is fifth in the NBA in three-point percentage, second among those with 150 or more attempts. It’s difficult to imagine Nelson maintaining his shooting percentage over the course of 82 games, but his improvement hasn’t come by accident.
Assistant coach Patrick Ewing is renowned for his work with Dwight Howard, but two-and-a- half-hours before Orlando’s game against the Nuggets Saturday night, it was Ewing who assisted Nelson with his pregame routine. With Ewing feeding him the ball and keeping track of makes and misses, Nelson made five shots from twenty-one different spots on the floor. Seven close range spots, seven mid-range spots and seven spots from beyond the arc. That’s 105 makes before tip-off.
At one point during the drill, Nelson nailed what he believed to be his fifth make from the wing and proceeded to jog to the next station. Ewing called Nelson out and instructed him that he needed to hit one more jumper before moving on. Ewing’s remark was met with laughter from Rashard Lewis who proclaimed “Tell him Pat!” Nelson and Lewis shared a quick laugh before Ewing interjected: “It’s working ain’t it!”
I asked Nelson about his pregame workout after Orlando’s 106-88 win over Denver.
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