Cole Anthony and Moe Wagner, the Magic’s “Super Subs”

Currently in the right position in the Eastern Conference at 4 wins for 3 losses to start the season, the Magic obviously want to do better than last year, finishing in a gloomy, although interesting, thirteenth place with 34 wins for 48 losses .

With the same group and the same coach, Orlando logically plays the continuity card to capitalize on the talent of its two rising stars, Paolo Banchero (18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) and Franz Wagner (19 points, 5 rebounds, 3 passes). And it pays off collectively, with the third best defensive base in the League at the moment.

The second best bench in the league

Another reason for the Magic’s good form is the production of its second unit which, with 43.6 points on average per game, is the second best bench in the NBA, just behind the Pacers of Rick Carlisle who opens his rotation to the four winds in Indiana.

Already among the potential candidates for the title of best sixth man last year, Cole Anthony returns to the charge this season, currently ranking second among the highest scorers coming off the bench in the League (behind Tim Hardaway Jr. in Dallas) with 111 points, recorded at a very good 48% on shots including 43% at 3 -points, or around 16 points plus 4 rebounds and 3 assists on average!

“We talked a lot about his reading the game and taking what the game gives him”explains Coach Mosley on the Magic official website. “He has improved enormously on that, he reads defenses better and he alternates better between the moments when he has to score and the moments when he has to distribute the ball and find his teammates. »

A second “Big Two”

By his side, Moe Wagner is 14th on the same list with 79 points at a superb 64% shooting success, for 11 points and 4 rebounds per game. It’s as if Orlando had two “Big Twos”, one in the five (Banchero – Wagner), the other in his relay off the bench (Anthony – Wagner)!

“People see me as someone who is harmful on defense but I don’t see myself as bad! I worked on my defense! Every game, every practice, every season,” Greg Anthony’s son argues precisely. “Over the years, you get to know your opponents better and their specific playing actions. Same for teams. It allows me to progress in defense. »

Defeat on the wire against the Lakers (106-103) before taking revenge at home (120-101), and not that far from the Clippers (118-102), and more recently the Mavs (117-102) against whom it cracked in the last minutes, the young Magic squad still lacked consistency over the 48 minutes of the match. A gap that Cole Anthony and Moe Wagner try to fill in their understudy role. It can still be improved…

“We certainly missed some shots, but the whole group, me first and foremost, had a tendency to want to play the heroes one-on-one instead of trusting the systems. We did great things in the first half, with 20 assists, a good number for a first half! We need to be better in our game management and not let our missed shots dictate our defense