The Magic reached the halfway point of their season Thursday in Berlin and, despite dealing with a multitude of injuries to key players once again, Jamahl Mosley‘s squad has positioned itself to make the playoffs for a third year in a row.
Orlando is 23-18, the same record as last year’s team at this point of the schedule.
Unlike last year’s squad that went onto lose nine of its next 10 games to open the second half of the season, this year’s group appears poised to make a strong push towards the postseason.
That’s because the Magic recently got back both Franz and Moe Wagner from injury while Paolo Banchero has rediscovered his explosiveness on the court following his own return from injury.
Still, the team will be without Jalen Suggs (right knee MCL bruise) when it battles the Grizzlies (17-23) on Sunday in London. Memphis star Ja Morant (right calf bruise) is probable to play after missing the last six games.
Before the Magic shift their focus to the second half of the season and an eventual playoff race, it’s worth diving deeper into what worked in the first half.
Most used lineup
Given the injuries to Franz Wagner, Suggs and Banchero, there are two ways of looking at Orlando’s most used lineups: Games played and minutes played.
Although Orlando’s opening night lineup of Wagner, Suggs, Banchero, Desmond Bane and Wendell Carter Jr. played the most minutes together (117), the five only played 11 games together. When starting this group, the Magic went 5-6.
The five-man lineup that played the most games together (14) belonged to Anthony Black, Bane, Banchero, Tristan da Silva and Carter. That group, however, only played 79 minutes total.
The starting lineup with the best record was Suggs, Bane, da Silva, Wagner and Carter, a group that went 7-1. They played 98 minutes together in 11 games.
Only one other lineup played more than 100 minutes: Tyus Jones, Bane, Black, Banchero and Carter. They went 3-4 starting together.
Most efficient
The lineups that saw the most action together, however, weren’t the groups that shot the ball the best.
That distinction belongs to Suggs, Bane, Black, Wagner and Bitadze. They only played 11 minutes together across five games, but made the most of their time together on offense.
Despite the small sample size, this group’s 83.3% effective field-goal percentage — a formula that adjusts for 3-pointers being worth more than made 2-pointers — lead the team among all Magic lineups that played at least 10 minutes together.
AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi
Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) shoots over Memphis forward Jaren Jackson Jr. during Thursday’s game in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Best offensive, defensive and net rating
In the past, the most efficient group had also shared the best offensive rating, but that’s not the case this season.
Instead, the best offensive rating (169.0) among the Magic lineups that played at least 10 minutes together came from Jones, Bane, Black, Penda and Bitadze. They shared the court for 13 minutes in four games.
Although the group has played in just two games for 10 minutes, the strongest defensive rating (47.8) came from Jones, Bane, Suggs, da Silva and Bitadze.
Top overall net rating (plus-65.5) belonged to Jones, Jase Richardson, Jett Howard, Noah Penda and Jonathan Isaac, a lineup that saw 10 minutes together in two games.
Top scoring
Among Magic lineups that played at least five games together, the one that’s averaged the most points per game together (29.1) is also the group that saw the most minutes together: Suggs, Bane, Wagner, Banchero and Carter.
This quintet also lead Orlando’s lineups that played at least five games together in points in the paint (12.9).
The lineup that averaged the most fast-break points (4.9) and points off turnovers (4.8), however, was Suggs, Black, da Silva, Wagner and Bitadze.
Postseason odds
ESPN’s NBA Basketball Power Index gives the Magic a 92.3% chance of reaching the playoffs, which is 10th-best in the league. Last season at this point, Orlando was given a 96.9% chance by the index.
For the second year in a row, Orlando is on pace to win 46 games. Last season, it won 41 games, which was good enough to earn home-court advantage in the NBA Play-In Tournament as the East’s No. 7 seed. It beat No. 8 Atlanta at Kia Center before facing No. 2 Boston in the first round of the playoffs.
Seeds 7-10 in each conference compete in the Play-In for the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds in the playoffs. For reference, 37-win Miami reached the playoffs as the No. 8-seed by way of the Play-In last year despite finishing 10th in the regular season.
AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi
Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) reacts during Thursday’s game against the Grizzlies in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Ideal first-round matchup
Although the Knicks got the better of the Magic the last time they faced each other in the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas, Orlando performed well against New York when at full strength.
In Vegas, the Magic were not only without Franz Wagner, but also only had a healthy version of Suggs for the first half. Wagner suffered a left high ankle sprain early in a Dec. 7 matchup against the Knicks, who won that game as well, and he just returned to the court last Thursday in Berlin.
In the first two meetings that the Magic won, however, a healthier version of Orlando was able to lean on its physical style of play and defensive identity to punish the Knicks on both ends. The sides split their four-game regular season series.
The Magic still have four contests remaining against No. 6 Cleveland and two more against both No. 4 Toronto and No. 8 Miami.
Bonus topic: Best day of the week
The Magic seemingly enjoyed played on Thursdays in the first half of the season.
The team went 3-1 when playing on Thursday, the best record of any day of the week. The team notched four wins on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Fridays but suffered more losses those days (2 on 4, respectively) compared to Thursdays.
The Magic have eight games left on Thursdays.
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic vs. Grizzlies
When:Â Noon, Sunday, The O2 Arena (London)
TV:Â Amazon Prime Video