Magic asserting themselves as serious contender with NBA Cup win

Playing without the injured Franz Wagner, the Orlando Magic continued their winning ways in the NBA Cup. The Magic are showing they don't need their stars — as long as they have Desmond Bane.

Bane scored 37 points in the Magic's 117-108 win over the Miami
Heat, earning a berth in the semifinal of the NBA cup in Las Vegas Saturday, Dec. 13. His emergence has helped the Magic win 11 of their last 15 games and become a top-10 offense in the NBA.

Desmond Bane corrected the Magic's biggest offensive weakness

Last season, the Magic had the NBA's fourth-worst offense, thanks to being the worst three-point shooting team at 31.8 percent and finishing last in assists with 23 per game. Bane struggled with his outside shot for his first 10 games with Orlando, but he's averaging 2.2 per game since then and making 38.4 percent of his attempts. As a team, Orlando is up to 34.5 percent on threes and 25.6 assists, a sizable improvement.

Tuesday, Bane shot 6-of-9 from behind the arc, driving a second-quarter Magic surge where they scored 39 points behind Bane's 4-of-5 shooting and three assists. His passing is helping the Magic run a more egalitarian offense this season, after they generally ran things through Wagner or Paolo Banchero last season. The two forwards are very good at scoring and going to the hoop, but they're not the shooter or passers that Bane is.