How the Magic can set the Suns in Phoenix

3 Keys to a Magic Win

1. Contain Dillon Brooks as a shooter and scorer, force him to pass

Dillon Brooks has flat out improved this season.

From defensive ace to a bucket-getting scoring option, Brooks is hitting 34% of his 7 threes per game on the way to scoring 21 points per game.

While Brooks has taken a leap as a scorer, he'll be asked to do a lot for the Suns offense with Booker out; forcing the ball out of his hands is best.

Make Brooks beat you with the pass, where he turns the ball over just as much as he creates assists.

Run him off the 3pt line, force him into tough shots, throw different defenses at him to confuse him and even double him if Phoenix doesn't have enough play-finishers and shooters on the floor to make you pay.

2. Draw fouls, don't turn the ball over, win the rebounding battle

Phoenix walks in with the 12th-best point differential to Orlando's 17th-rated PD.

The Magic's 19th-ranked offense has a huge edge in drawing fouls and on the offensive glass, with a potential threat to watch out for in the Suns' ability to force turnovers; this rag-tag group in Phoenix plays hard defensively, rating 11th overall and 3rd in the league at forcing turnovers.

Orlando's 14th-rated defense is fairly even with Phoenix's 13th-rated offense; while Phoenix has the edge in scoring efficiency, both teams rate pretty evenly across the board on that end otherwise.

The Magic hitting hard on their advantages in drawing fouls, winning the rebounding battle, and playing safe with the ball on offense to help win the margins in turnovers and points off turnovers will help secure the victory.

3. See if Jevon Carter's hot hand stays hot

Keep playing Jevon Carter with the second unit and with the play-finishers in the starting lineup as a steady hand who a) guards his yard, b) finds the open man, and c) confidently takes and makes open shots.

Against Sacramento, Carter scored 14 points on 83% TS% with 4 assists and 1 steal off the bench.

The Magic's offense just hummed a little smoother with him out there, not as some fix-everything savior, but as the 4th option in the depth chart fitting into the team's identity as yet another defense-first, pass-first, open shot-hitting guard behind Suggs, Bane and Black.

Jase Richardson will still have opportunities as an electrifying rookie with pristine shooting touch, point guard savvy, and sound two-way instincts, but Orlando has been searching for a proven rotation-level win-now point guard to keep the offense moving, set everyone up as play-finishers, who holds their own defensively.

The Magic have needed a point guard who can pass, shoot, and defend, maybe even score a little, while just not being a negative on either end and making life easier for the rest of the lineup; Jevon Carter looks like that answer at backup point guard that Orlando's been searching for.

See if his hot play continues against the Suns' second unit with Phoenix already lacking depth; could we see the Carters develop chemistry in P&R on top of Jevon's ready-made role as an off-ball D&3 team-first connector?

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