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The Magic's Best Offense is Good Defense
Nov 21, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs (4) and guard Anthony Black (0) defend a shot by Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht (4) in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Magic's Best Offense is Good Defense

Originally posted on Orlando Magic on SI
By Ryan Kaminski  |  Last updated Feb 9, 2026 7:00 AM ET

The Orlando Magic are a different basketball team when they guard their yard.

Between Anthony Black's full-court pressure steals and alley-oops and Jalen Suggs' pick-sixes and patented chasedown block per game. Suggs and Black are walking 4pt swings; their availability and energy can be the difference between a Magic win and a loss.

Forcing stops and turnovers, deflecting everything in sight, securing defensive boards, looking up for outlet passes, pushing the pace off every change of possession – these are the energy plays that Orlando relies on for easy offense; without them, nothing comes easy.

How can the Magic reshape their turnover-forcing elite defensive identity of the past two years?

Orlando needs all the energy plays they can get out of hypemen teammates like Suggs, Moritz Wagner & Desmond Bane diving for loose ball to pump up the crowd; it's their energy plays that is often needed to spark the fuse that lights the fire under the rest of this team.

Hustle Plays lead to more Hustle Plays

Mike Watters-Imagn Images

The Magic's halfcourt offense can get sticky at times when things slow down; that's why its generally better for this team to never slow down.

Hectic energetic defense, bodies flying around after loose balls, quarterbacks launching full court hail marys for breakaways on outlet passes; Orlando thrives when things are at maximum chaos.

The Magic's best offense is good defense because Orlando's best offense is getting downhill for drives fouls and kicks, making quick decisions, and pushing the pace off turnovers; not just forcing the turnovers to secure the stop, but utilizing the advantage that live ball turnover creates for good scoring opportunities for an offense that can use every easy bucket it can get.

Against the Jazz, Paolo Banchero, Suggs and Black combined for a whopping 15 forced turnovers in total blocks and steals, adding up towards Orlando's 24 forced turnovers on the night.

I asked Orlando Magic Head Coach Jamahl Mosley what led to the Magic not just forcing so many turnovers, but scoring 39 Points off those 24 Forced Turnovers vs Utah.

Jamahl credits the team realizing defense is still their calling card:

I just think we realized that our defense is that calling card tonight to make sure that we got to easy baskets.

They were big at the rim, so us being able to score in transition is what we needed to do, and it had to start with our defensive effort and our energy.

Getting our hands on the basketball, then executing on the break, we have got to continue to get better there just finishing in transition when we do cause those turnovers.Jamahl Mosley

I asked Magic Guard Desmond Bane how he processes quick read-and-react decisions during hectic fast break sequences off Orlando's Forced Turnovers.

Bane says he trusts the works he put in to prepare for those decisions:

I have a lot of trust in myself.

I put in a lot of work, a lot of time into this game.

I trust myself to make the right basketball play, whether that is shooting it, or getting my teammate involved. Never second guess yourself, always remain extremely aggressive.Desmond Bane

Read More Orlando Magic News


This article first appeared on Orlando Magic on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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