Turnovers are killing Magic early in the season

The Orlando Magic gave up 29 points off 17 turnovers on Sunday night. That was enough to doom them against the Boston Celtics, and might doom their playoff aspirations, too.

Orlando lost 111-107 to Boston on a night where it had almost as many turnovers (17) as assists (21). Paolo Banchero was the main culprit with six giveaways, three of them coming in the third quarter and leading directly to seven Celtics points. In a game where they only lost by four points, that's brutal for the Magic.

Magic have NBA's worst assist-to-turnover ratio

The 7-2 Denver Nuggets have the NBA's best assist-to-turnover ratio with 2.17, and the 10-1 Oklahoma City Thunder are second at 2.12. The Magic are dead last at 1.43, slightly worse than the 1-9 Washington Wizards at 1.44. While the assist-to-turnover ratio isn't the only stat where the Magic are lacking on offense, it illustrates some of why their offense struggles to score.

The Magic give up 20.8 points per game to their opponents off turnovers. They get 18 points per game themselves, meaning their turnover issues are, on average, putting them in nearly a three point hole each game. Their offense isn't dynamic enough to make up for the lost possessions and transition points they give up.

Banchero and Franz Wagner are the primary initiators of the offense. Banchero averages 4.4 assists and 2.9 turnovers, while Wagner is at 3.5 assists and 2.2 TOs. Desmond Bane, who has the third-highest usage rate, is at a more respectable 4.1 assists and 2.1 TOs, and Jalen Suggs is averaging 3.5 assists and 2.2 turnovers. Those are bad ratios for the Magic's top players.

Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner excel at drawing fouls but not ball distribution

Orlando stayed in Sunday's game by shooting 30-of-32 from the foul line, with Banchero and Wagner both earning 10 free throws each. Orlando shoots more free throws than any team in the league, mainly thanks to its pair of forwards.

But it's hard to build an offense solely around drawing fouls. The problem is that Banchero and Wagner's teammates don't get involved. The stars have the ball, but they don't share it well. With Banchero shooting 9-of-41 on three-pointers this season, he's also not providing any spacing.

A team can succeed with a low-assist, isolation-heavy offense, but generally, the advantage of that approach is that such teams turn the ball over less. The Magic are getting the worst of both worlds — low assists (25th in the NBA) and high turnovers (tied for eighth worst).

The Magic are only 4-6, but two of those wins came against the woeful Wizards and Charlotte Hornets. If they can't solve their turnover issues soon, a promising season might start slipping away from the Magic.