NBA Halloween: Playing trick-or-treat with each team’s early season trend

Orlando Magic

Orlando’s offensive struggles are concerning: Treat

It’s a damn good thing the Orlando Magic have the third-best defense in the league, because their 29th-ranked offense isn’t cutting it. The Magic somehow have a positive Net Rating (+2.5), but it’s not for lack of trying on offense, where they’re posting a feeble 96.7 points per 100 possessions.

The Toronto Raptors, one of Orlando’s two defeats on the season, are expected to be a good defense, but the Magic’s three other opponents — Atlanta, Cleveland and New York — are not. In fact, they should be among the worst defenses in the association, but that didn’t stop Steve Clifford’s squad from failing to reach 100 points in all three of those contests.

The Magic have yet to reach 100 points this season, making them the only team in the NBA with that unflattering distinction. Evan Fournier is leading the team with 15.8 points per game, while Nikola Vucevic, an All-Star last year, has backslid to 15.8 points a night on 36.9 percent shooting. Vooch will eventually figure it out, but even with Jonathan Isaac stepping up his scoring, Orlando’s main source of offense when defenses tighten up remains a mystery.