Orlando Magic

Magic's lack of transition opportunities helped sink Orlando's season

Published May. 18, 2015 2:10 a.m. ET

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As the Golden State Warriors continue to demonstrate on their way to the Western Conference finals, speed kills in the NBA. Teams that can get out and run put pressure on opposing defenses, and that pressure turns into wins. But the Orlando Magic were unable to make the most of their few fast breaks in 2014-15, and it doomed the season.

That's the conclusion of Orlando Magic Daily's Philip Rossman-Reich: "The numbers bear this out. The Magic had just four games played at a pace faster than 100 possessions per game before that Chicago game in January. Then they put together three in four games (at Chicago and vs. Houston and vs. Oklahoma City). On the season, the Magic played only six games at a pace greater than 100 possessions.

"Orlando had trouble dictating tempo and picking the pace up."

When the Magic did get into transition, they were at their best, according to Channing Frye. "It gives us opportunities," Frye said. "It gives us opportunities to play at the pace we have been trained to play at. We run all these conditioning tests at the beginning of the year. We don’t do that to score 80 points per game. For me, it’s taking advantage of who we are as players."

Orlando will have plenty to consider when making its head coaching choice this offseason, but the Magic could do worse than making sure their new coach has a plan to let the young guys in Orlando run.

(h/t Orlando Magic Daily)

Photo Credit: Kim Klement/USA Today Sports