2023-2024 Regular Season Game 43: Miami Heat (24-18) at Orlando Magic (22-20) - 6pm

[DiplomaticMagic]

Hard to complain after this game, but I really dont get why Mose went with Caleb in the 2nd half. AB had a good first half.

[DiplomaticMagic]

Fultz can really handle...he's just super strong with the ball but he's still the weak link offensively. Hopefully we upgrade that spot in the next couple of weeks. I admit I'm not as cavalier about giving up a lot of defense to bring in more offensive firepower - that was a powerful display of frustrating stifling defense tonight...we just need to up the ante and get someone who can play both ends...That's Murray for me. Pay up and Play up Weltman.

Also, I've been so mesmerized by Isaac's defensive impact and the fact that he's even out there that I just now noticed that he's basically got ZERO offensive game. That's ok for now - just do the dirty work and stay healthy.

If the Magic in the next 2.5 weeks can turn that Fultz spot into somebody a lot better, I genuinely think if they're healthy that they could potentially win a playoff series. I really do.

Make it happen Weltman.

Watching this game, this exact thought entered my mind.

[KillMonger]

Is it just me or does it seem like Fultz isn't even attempting as much middys as he used to? So if he's not shooting 3s at all and shooting even less middys then.......

Sent from the phone in my hands

[cedric76]

This is the best rotation the Magic can run right now.

I love what Goga provided, but Carter is clearly better and they definitely need Moritz's scoring if Isaac is healthy and able to cover him defensively.

Now just figure out a way to upgrade the Fultz slot using expirings and picks (and MAYBE one of Jett/Houstan if it's major upgrade) and we're really cooking with gas.

Tyus Jones

[pepe1991]

Is it just me or does it seem like Fultz isn't even attempting as much middys as he used to? So if he's not shooting 3s at all and shooting even less middys then.......

Sent from the phone in my hands

He attemped, prior to this game, only 28% of all his shots outside 10 feet.

In other words, he attemped 25 jumpshots shots ( out of 89 FGA).

Last year he attemped near 50% of all shots from +10 feet.

So yea,your assumption is 100% true.

[drsd]

Great win, nice to see us healthy.

[drsd]

I don't get anyone being a Debbydowner right now. Four of the Magic starters had great games, there was decent bench production, and th Magic CRUSHED the Heat.

After a win like this: I can only be happy and pro-Magic. I love it!

[drsd]

Box score thoughts:

The Magic won the FG% battle and won the game.

Quite amazingly, not only did the Magic make (a lot) more shots, which means there are less rebounding chances, the Magic out rebounded the Heat handily.

Orlando dominated FT chances, And (thank goodness) made them at a good clip. This summed to Orlando having 7 more made FTs.

I love nearly everything about this boxscore, except the high TOs and the low 3-ball make rate. But I will let that go. Beating Miami was the goal and the key stat is 105-87 !


..

[zaymon]

Franz is a real difference maker and like someone said, he has good chemistry with Carter.
I wouldnt trade WCJ unless for a big upgrade at pg or c. He shouldnt be first to trade.
We will be so much better with PG who is willing to shoot. First half of the season shows that we need to improve that position. Paolo and Wagner are good enough, we owe them some competence or they will start to be frustrated. I like Terry Rozier the most right now.

[JBSouthpaw]

Hard to complain after this game, but I really dont get why Mose went with Caleb in the 2nd half. AB had a good first half.

Maybe it was the 2 fouls on 3 pt attempts?

[drsd]

Orlando won three quarters; Orlando won both halves.

The Magic starters dominated the Heat starters, who were all healthy. Butler and Adebayo were quipt quite. Jović and and Martin were held down. And Herro was forced to a terrible game. That is: all five Heat starters were contained. Then, the Miami bench was also stiffed. Nothing added by Love or Robinson. Highsmith and Lowry were on-court spectators.

Frankly, whereas the Knicks win was more important, this game was more satisfying. How the Magic won this game is sustainable. If this is how the Magic can be, this team can beat any team in the league in a 7-game series. This was just fun.

Now: let's imagine a flying-unicorn future were the Magic solve the TOs and low 3-ball challenges, this team could be a lot closer to contending than we think.

[orlando_joe]

Hard to complain after this game, but I really dont get why Mose went with Caleb in the 2nd half. AB had a good first half.

teaching lesson dont foul 3 pt shooter ..twice maybe?

edit
should have kept reading point was made ..my bad

[Knightro]

My irrational fears from six months ago are starting to creep back in…

A. The Magic make no trades

B. The Magic stay relatively healthy for the next three months and beat up a lot of the bad teams still left on their schedule

C. Weltman decides he couldn’t possibly break up a 45 win team that is “on the rise” and signs Fultz to a new contract this summer to continue to be the starting PG

I allowed myself to believe this wasn’t possible after Fultz missed so many games, but I think it’s back on the table.

[Bergmaniac]

I wondered what the hell had happened to Miami's offense this month when I saw two days ago that they were 28th in the league in offensive rating this month. And this game answered the question, of course we played really well on D, but we were helped massively by Miami's poor shooting, boneheaded mistakes and lack of real PG apart from the completely cooked Kyle Lowry, Butler going though the motions for most of the game, etc.

But still, very nice win for us. We should have been leading more at the half given the really poor offensive performance by the Heat but in the second half everything clicked and we were scoring at will. Franz being back made a big difference on both ends, and the rest seems to have done him good, his 3 ball looked better and he looked fresher overall. Everyone in the starting lineup played well, even Fultz. Rare poor game by Ingles, several bad turnovers, he didn't create much and din't score.

Is it just me or does it seem like Fultz isn't even attempting as much middys as he used to? So if he's not shooting 3s at all and shooting even less middys then.......

Yes, of course, it's quite blatant. He is taken 2 midrange shots in total in the 7 games since he came back while he was taking almost 3 such shots per game last year.

[pepe1991]

I wondered what the hell had happened to Miami's offense this month when I saw two days ago that they were 28th in the league in offensive rating this month. And this game answered the question, of course we played really well on D, but we were helped massively by Miami's poor shooting, boneheaded mistakes and lack of real PG apart from the completely cooked Kyle Lowry, Butler going though the motions for most of the game, etc.

But still, very nice win for us. We should have been leading more at the half given the really poor offensive performance by the Heat but in the second half everything clicked and we were scoring at will. Franz being back made a big difference on both ends, and the rest seems to have done him good, his 3 ball looked better and he looked fresher overall. Everyone in the starting lineup played well, even Fultz. Rare poor game by Ingles, several bad turnovers, he didn't create much and din't score.

Is it just me or does it seem like Fultz isn't even attempting as much middys as he used to? So if he's not shooting 3s at all and shooting even less middys then.......

Yes, of course, it's quite blatant. He is taken 2 midrange shots in total in the 7 games since he came back while he was taking almost 3 such shots per game last year.

They had 6th worst offense last year as well.

[JoshuaPotter]

My irrational fears from six months ago are starting to creep back in…

A. The Magic make no trades

B. The Magic stay relatively healthy for the next three months and beat up a lot of the bad teams still left on their schedule

C. Weltman decides he couldn’t possibly break up a 45 win team that is “on the rise” and signs Fultz to a new contract this summer to continue to be the starting PG

I allowed myself to believe this wasn’t possible after Fultz missed so many games, but I think it’s back on the table.

Quite possible actually for all 3.

I've stressed it, Black is having us say "Fultz who?" But I never once thought management would get behind that. If anything now they have a double down on him in any kinda effort to restore value or keep themselves as a favorite player.

"Look we are a 45-win team. We can't break up the band now!" Is a reasonable hot take.

I'm not a debby downer as in "hey we were healthy and we won." That doesn't surprise me. The future is bright if we keep on winning. Your hope is that Black explodes leaving everyone no choice but to play him and that is likely when the trade happens.

The non existent value we would get for Fultz anywhere to me is somewhere around the Bamba deal. A pick. Maybe an expiring back. Although I would be tickled if we found a diet Darrel Armstrong for Fultz somewhere. I'd even take Carlos Arroyo.

[drsd]

My irrational fears from six months ago are starting to creep back in…

A. The Magic make no trades

B. The Magic stay relatively healthy for the next three months and beat up a lot of the bad teams still left on their schedule

C. Weltman decides he couldn’t possibly break up a 45 win team that is “on the rise” and signs Fultz to a new contract this summer to continue to be the starting PG

I allowed myself to believe this wasn’t possible after Fultz missed so many games, but I think it’s back on the table.

Quite possible actually for all 3.

I've stressed it, Black is having us say "Fultz who?" But I never once thought management would get behind that. If anything now they have a double down on him in any kinda effort to restore value or keep themselves as a favorite player.

"Look we are a 45-win team. We can't break up the band now!" Is a reasonable hot take.

I'm not a debby downer as in "hey we were healthy and we won." That doesn't surprise me. The future is bright if we keep on winning. Your hope is that Black explodes leaving everyone no choice but to play him and that is likely when the trade happens.

The non existent value we would get for Fultz anywhere to me is somewhere around the Bamba deal. A pick. Maybe an expiring back. Although I would be tickled if we found a diet Darrel Armstrong for Fultz somewhere. I'd even take Carlos Arroyo.

I like your positivity. But right now Black is horrible. Fultz is better. And this team NEEDS to make the playoffs this year. Fultz is the safer bet.

Based on your narrative on Armstrong and Arroyo, why aren't you defending Anthony, a know quantity as a starter? He is certainly better than Arroyo ever was, actually.

[JoshuaPotter]

My irrational fears from six months ago are starting to creep back in…

A. The Magic make no trades

B. The Magic stay relatively healthy for the next three months and beat up a lot of the bad teams still left on their schedule

C. Weltman decides he couldn’t possibly break up a 45 win team that is “on the rise” and signs Fultz to a new contract this summer to continue to be the starting PG

I allowed myself to believe this wasn’t possible after Fultz missed so many games, but I think it’s back on the table.

Quite possible actually for all 3.

I've stressed it, Black is having us say "Fultz who?" But I never once thought management would get behind that. If anything now they have a double down on him in any kinda effort to restore value or keep themselves as a favorite player.

"Look we are a 45-win team. We can't break up the band now!" Is a reasonable hot take.

I'm not a debby downer as in "hey we were healthy and we won." That doesn't surprise me. The future is bright if we keep on winning. Your hope is that Black explodes leaving everyone no choice but to play him and that is likely when the trade happens.

The non existent value we would get for Fultz anywhere to me is somewhere around the Bamba deal. A pick. Maybe an expiring back. Although I would be tickled if we found a diet Darrel Armstrong for Fultz somewhere. I'd even take Carlos Arroyo.

I like your positivity. But right now Black is horrible. Fultz is better. And this team NEEDS to make the playoffs this year. Fultz is the safer bet.

Based on your narrative on Armstrong and Arroyo, why aren't you defending Anthony, a know quantity as a starter? He is certainly better than Arroyo ever was, actually.

So there are alot of wonderful points you made in so little typing. Great efficiency.

- Black is not great. But iirc didn't and won't hamstring us in the regular season. If Fultz disappeared in an addition by subtraction game I still think we make the playoffs. Even if I don't address Blacks role in that scenario.
- Fultz is better Fultz is the safer bet. Is a true statement that 90% of us would agree with only if your wager was promising the playoffs and having a guy with NBA experience on the floor of the regular season for the key situations Black has zero experience on yet.
- So basically in that scenario we are waiting for Blacks skills to outshine Fultz then we are "still" going to take our lumps as he learns and gathers key experience from playing the game. Icky, but ok.
- (Cole starting) To be honest, i've tossed it around in my head several times and never ever posted the idea of Cole starting. Why? I love what he does from the bench more. In my humble opinion we have had chances the last 10 games to start him over Okeke and Houstan and WHOA nelly we saw that record.

Paolo is to Cole what is stability to their perspective roles and lineups. If at the end of the game you take Fultz out and bring in Cole 100% of the time. I would not be saying "where is Fultz, fire Mosely" for not subbing Fultz in on defense.

Paolo has lead the 1st unit. Full stop.
Cole has lead the 2nd unit. Full stop.

Both have encountered the same problem of playing in strange lineups with oft injured teammates going down oftenly.

[drsd]

Cole has lead the 2nd unit. Full stop. .

Our OG: Mo Wagner does not agree.

[JoshuaPotter]

Cole has lead the 2nd unit. Full stop. .

Our OG: Mo Wagner does not agree.

Where was he the last couple of games? (Minus this one and the other one he had disappeared.) My thought was he was sick.

Yes, he is also a key component, but he also has been out when Cole hasn't been.