Magic at their best when Nikola Vucevic gets going early
The Orlando Magic might seem to outsiders as if they're stuck in a quagmire of 20-30 wins, but this is a team with a quality young core and a new coach in Scott Skiles who can help those with potential take the next step. And a big part of that core is Nikola Vucevic.
It's easy to forget because Vucevic is such a hardened veteran of four NBA seasons now, but the big man is just 24 years old, two years older than Victor Oladipo. He hasn't yet reached his prime. That's a good thing for Orlando, because as Vucevic goes, so go the Magic.
And it's especially true in the first quarter, as Brett David Roberts of Orlando Magic Daily points out. In the 2014-15 season, "... in Magic wins, Vucevic scored 7.0 points per game in first quarters while averaging only 5.7 points per game in Magic losses," Roberts writes. "These came on about five field goal attempts per first quarter (5.7 in wins, 5.1 in losses)."
That might not seem like a huge difference, but it's the shot disparity -- or lack thereof -- that's most telling for the Magic. The additional 1.3 points on 0.6 more field goal attempts indicates that in Orlando wins, Vucevic is getting the ball where he wants it, and he's turning that into easy points. That, in turn, forces a team to help and bend its defense toward Vucevic in a way it would rather not, which gives the Magic's young wings room to operate.
It's probably not in Orlando's best interests to force-feed the ball to Vucevic in the early going. But things go well for the Magic when they look to keep the big man engaged early.
(h/t Orlando Magic Daily)
