This Wednesday, the (0-0) Orland Magic will travel to Detroit, MI to take on the (0-0) Detroit Pistons in the first game of the NBA regular season. Tip-off will be at 7:00 PM EST inside Little Caesars Arena. Neither of these teams made the playoffs last season, but they've made multiple upgrades over the summer.
The Orland Magic ended up with the number one overall pick in last year's draft, as they selected Paolo Banchero out of Duke. They also re-signed Mo Bamba and Garry Harris, as this young team will look to improve this season.
The Detroit Pistons held the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, as they selected Jaden Ivey. They also added Nerlens Noel, Kevin Knox, and Began Bogdanovic as this team will look much different than last season. They have added depth, as they will be looking to make a run toward the postseason this year.
The Orlando Magic finished last season with a (21-51) record, as they finished 14th in the Eastern Conference standings. They will now look to be better, as they have added multiple pieces and they had the first overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The Magic selected Paolo Banchero out of Duke, as they hope he will carry them to a better regular season this year.
Last season, the Magic struggled on the offensive side of the court. According to dunksandthrees.com, they had an adjusted offensive rating of 104.3, which was the 29th lowest in the NBA. They struggled to consistently score, as they didn't have a dominant scorer on the roster. Last season, Cole Anthony was their leading scorer, as he led the team with 16.3 points per game. The Magic also only shot 53.2% from the field, which was the 15th-highest effective field goal percentage in the league. Watch for Jalen Suggs and Paolo Banchero, as these two young sta rs will be looking to carry more of the offensive load this season. Orlando also struggled to shoot from behind the three-point line last year, as they had the 28th-highest three-point shooting percentage in the NBA. They only made 49.6% of their threes, as they struggled from behind the arc. The Magic also averaged 23.7 assists per game and 9.1 offensive rebounds, as they are very athletic and unselfish.
On defense, the Magic still have some work to do. Last season, they surrendered 112.2 points per game, which was the 21st most in the NBA. They struggled to get stops when they needed them the most and they didn't apply enough pressure, as opposing offenses continued to light them up. They also had an adjusted defensive rating of 112.1, which was the 17th highest in the league. The Magic averaged 6.8 steals per game, as this was the second least. They also averaged 4.5 blocks per game, as their big men continued to send back shots near the rim. This was t he 20th most blocks averaged per game. Orlando was great at grabbing defensive rebounds last season, though. They recorded 35.2 defensive rebounds per game, which was the fifth most in the league.
Injury Report: Moritz Wagner, Gary Harris, and Jonathan Isaac are all listed as day-to-day.
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