By John DentonNov. 6, 2015
ORLANDO – It’s not just that the Orlando Magic are failing to get to the free throw line so far this season; in four of their five games before Friday night they have had fewer free throw attempts than the other team has makes thus far.
That one-sided statistical category – foes had made 32 more free throws through the first five games or 6.4 points more a night on average – is offsetting some of the gains the team has made as far as defending better and sharing the ball offensively. And because the Magic have once again struggled in getting to the free throw line – something that isn’t a new problem at all since they ranked last in the NBA in makes and takes – their margin for error has slimmed in close games.
On Friday morning, before his team was to take on the Toronto Raptors, Magic head coach Scott Skiles laid the raw numbers out to his players and showed them how the lack of free throws and inefficiency from the 3-point line was working against the team.
“If you look at us with our stats across the board we have a better field goal percentage than our opponents and even though we’re at 31 percent we have a better 3-point percentage than our opponents,” Skiles said. “Rebounding, we’re OK and we have fewer turnovers than our opponents, but we’re just totally outscored at the free throw line.
“It’s something where we have to foul less and make our threes at a better percentage to try and make up for our inability to get to the free throw line,” Skiles continued. “We’re getting our threes and I don’t feel like we’re taking bad threes, but we have to knock those down at a high percentage – and get back to that 36 percent where the team was before – and that will partially make up for our inability to get to the line.”
Washington (seven more free throw makes), Chicago (nine more free throw makes), New Orleans (six more free throw makes) and Houston (nine more free throw makes) all hit more freebies than the Magic even attempted. The one game where Orlando was close in points from the line, Oklahoma City made 31 free throws to the Magic’s 30.
VOOCH’S RELIEF: The Magic weren’t the only ones scared upon seeing Nikola Vucevic crumble to the floor while clutching his right knee on Wednesday night in Houston. The standout center was also quite fearful that he had severely damaged his knee because of the way the leg buckled.
Vucevic pointed out that most of the major injuries that happen now in sports come without any contact at all. That was the case with Vucevic, who made a move in the lane only to have his knee bend in a hyper-extended motion. Seeing it again on film on Thursday had Vucevic thankful his injury was nothing more than a bone bruise that he should be able to return from in the not-so-distant future.
“It looked bad the more that I watched it on video,” said Vucevic, who was walking with no assistance needed and wearing a supportive sleeve over his knee on Friday morning. “That’s how bad injuries (often) look because my knee really buckled. So I got lucky – thank God – and I just need to take care of the bone bruise and get back out there.”
Magic guard Evan Fournier, Vucevic’s best friend on the team, was very concerned about the center’s well-being.
“I talked to Vooch all day (on Thursday) and he kept me posted with his injury. Of course, (the bone bruise) is great news, but he knew (it wasn’t badly injury). So thankfully, it’s no big deal.”
Vucevic said the Magic’s training staff already has him on a program in hopes of getting him back on the floor as soon as possible. The two days following the injury had his encouraged that he won’t have to miss too many games.
“There’s just soreness and pain from the bone bruise, but there’s not much swelling,” said the center has has averaged 15.8, 8.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots thus far. “Like I said, I was really lucky and I feel pretty good. I’ve just got to take care of it, take it day by day and see how it goes.”
FOURNIER’S FRIENDS: Asked on Friday if he got much feedback from people in his native France following two of the best games of his NBA career, Fournier cracked: “You have new friends.”
Fournier pumped in a career-best 30 points in Tuesday’s defeat of New Orleans and he came back a night later and scored another 29 points against Houston. Included in the performance against the Rockets, Fournier drilled two clutch free throws with 1.1 seconds remaining to tie the game and force overtime and he also limited star guard James Harden to six of 22 shooting with his defense.
Averaging 20.6 points a game – some eight points more than his scoring totals at the end of his first three NBA seasons, Fournier seems to be hitting the potential the Magic thought he had when they traded for him in June of 2014. The 6-foot-7, 205-pound guard played for four coaches in his first three seasons in the NBA, and he feels he’s finally in a system that fits him best because of Skiles’ insistence that the Magic cut hard to the rim and keep the ball moving.
“I’m playing with a lot of confidence now and I hope that I can keep playing this way and earning the trust of my coach,” said Fournier, who came into Friday’s game tied for 19th in the NBA in scoring. “Of course, I feel like I’m getting better. This is my fourth year now (in the NBA), so I should be getting better.”
