Opponent Scouting: Orlando Magic. (14-7)
Tonight at 7:00pm EST the Detroit Pistons will be on the road to face the Magic of Orlando. The Pistons are on one day of rest after losing to the Grizzlies, as are the Magic following a loss to Cleveland.
The Them:
The Magic are what the Pistons wish they were. A young team that has its flaws but is managing to win game behind the sheer talent of their young core. The Magic come into tonight’s game with the 16th-ranked offense and 5th-ranked defense in the NBA which combine for the 8th best net rating.
The Magic are led by their pair of young wings, who are both stars now and likely on track to be genuine superstars. Last year’s #1 overall pick Paolo Banchero is huge, can shoot from anywhere (including 42% from three though he could probably stand to shoot more from deep), athletic enough to score inside, while also being a better passer than he often gets credit for. His partner is Michigan product Franz Wagner, who hasn’t shot as well from deep but is a similarly talented multi-level scorer who can shoot from just about anywhere but also has the size, athleticism, and skill to put the ball on the floor and get all the way to the hoop. Both players are averaging over 20 points per game with Paolo dishing 4.7 assists and Wagner 3.8, there’s plenty on the team beyond them but they are the driving force of the offense. In addition, neither player is a push-over on defense. Wendell Carter Jr joins them as a core piece who isn’t doing much on offense these days (and also shooting really poorly from the field) but he’s a tenacious and impactful defender and despite not shooting well or often most teams guard him enough for him to provide a base-level of spacing for the others. Jalen Suggs and Jonathan Isaac are both day to day with injuries but both guys are tenacious defenders all over the floor. Cole Anthony comes off the bench but is hugely important, a classic gunner who is fearless and shameless about shooting the ball from anywhere at any time, and while he will occasionally take bad shots he also hits some absurd ones. Goga Bitadze has been a nominal starter for a bit now (starting 16 of the 19 games he’s played in but only 20 minutes per game) and he is mostly a stand-in type who is mostly just a tall guy who does basic big man stuff like dunk when he’s open and set screens. He isn’t bad but he doesn’t do much.
Gary Harris is still chugging along as a decent 3 and D wing player, Anthony Black brings energy, Moritz Wagner is a decent stretch big, Joe Ingles can still play a bit.
This team is missing some of its zest with Isaac, Suggs, and Isaac out (assuming Suggs and Isaac are out since they are day-to-day as of writing) as they all are tenacious defenders with positional size. Even without them though, the Magic can still be huge, athletic, and relentless defensively. Offensively it is clunky and they could really use a proper point-guard (Paolo leads the team in assists at 4.7 but he also has 3.1 turnovers per game) but Banchero, Wagner, and Anthony are all talented enough scorers to scratch out enough points to get by. Time will tell how they hold up over the course of the season but if they can avoid injuries tanking them too much (they are reaching into some not great guys in their rotation with the injuries they have right now) they have a solid enough base that they should at least stay in the playoff picture.
Matchups to watch:
Pistons vs. Not having Duren: For the 3rd time this season Jalen Duren will miss time with an ankle issue. I am not sure what the Pistons should do or what they will do. My base instinct is to just have stew start at the 5 but that has more to do with my desire to get him out of the starting 4 spot than anything else because he has really struggled when playing center. Someone has to step up.
Rotations at large: After the last loss Monty Williams talked quite a bit about how they likely need to shorten the rotation and also possibly play Jaden Ivey more (plz). We will see what this ends up looking like but both of those are almost certainly the correct decision. This roster doesn’t have enough legit NBA players to go 10 deep and certainly not enough to have Ivey not play major minutes. Maybe Monty will finally see the light.
Cade vs. Bouncing back: Its been overlooked by the losing streak (and not wrongfully so) but Cade has actually started rounding into better form but he had a mediocre game last time out. It’d be great to see him bounce right back to prove it was a one-off and keep building positive games together to at least give us hope that if the rest of the roster can get rounded into better shape he’s a worthwhile guy.
Pistons vs. The Magic wings: I don’t know what Pistons to name here given that we are supposedly seeing a rotation change for Detroit. I think Killian is probably too small to guard Wagner or Bachero effectively, and Bojan is probably too old, in theory, Cade is a decent choice but putting that on his plate on top of his offensive duties isn’t ideal. Ausar is the obvious choice but he’s been relegated to the back of the rotation lately.
Pistons bench vs. Winning some minutes: Especially if the Magic are still missing Suggs and Isaac, the Magic bench is getting thin. The Pistons bench may be awful as well but they might have a chance in this one so they need to take it, speaking of
Bench guys vs. Hitting some shots: Alec Burks has gone ice-cold, Isaiah Livers never even got warm, and supposedly Joe Harris might come back tonight. Somehow someone with the bench needs to hit shots other than Jaden Ivey.