Throughout the first 52 games of the season, the Magic‘s bench had served as an important piece of the puzzle for Jamahl Mosley‘s squad to capture consistent success.
Entering Saturday’s home contest against the Bulls, Orlando‘s reserves averaged 41.8 points, which ranked fourth-best in the league.
Cole Anthony — who finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds in the Magic’s 114-108 overtime victory vs. Chicago — has been part of the reason why the Magic’s second unit can impact games in more ways than one but the backup point guard has recently failed to find his footing on offense compared to earlier in the year.
The Magic (29-24) were led by 36 points from forward Franz Wagner. Chicago dropped to 24-28.
During 14 games in the month of November, Anthony averaged 15.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 26.9 minutes. His effective field percentage — a field-goal percentage formula that adjusts for 3-pointers being worth more than made 2-pointers — sat at 50.3% while he shot 37.9% from 3.
In each of following months, Anthony’s averages for points, rebounds and assists have dropped while his time on the court has remained the same. He’s also become less efficient shooting the ball from distance.
During 14 games in December, he averaged 12.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists while shooting 32% from beyond the arc. Then in January, his scoring dipped below double figures (8.8 points) and added just 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 15 contests.
That month his effective field goal percentage sank to 41.7% while he shot 31% on 3s.
Of course, there’s important context to be added with this data to get a better of understanding of what’s changed. Anthony has battled a right quad contusion that forced him to miss one game in early January and he tweaked an ankle later in the month.
“I’d definitely say I’ve been bruised up pretty badly for a good part of the season but I feel good enough to go out there and perform at a high level,” he recently told the Sentinel. “I’ve got to just do that and so I can’t give myself any excuses.
“I’ve just got to go out there, hoop and have fun.”
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In addition to his health, Anthony hasn’t gotten to the free throw line as often as before.
In November he averaged 5 attempts from the free throw on 88.6% shooting. The next month, he took just 2.8 free throws and shot 82.1% at the line. Although his free throw percentage bounced back to 87.2% in January, he attempts stood at 2.8 on average.
Naturally, a player coming off the bench isn’t going to score as many points compared to a starter, so Anthony’s lack of free throw attempts have a greater impact on his ability to score due to fewer opportunities at the line on a regular basis.
“I’ve just got to fight the internal battles and get back to playing my type of basketball,” he said. “I know I’m confident I’ll be able to do [that].”
Anthony has embraced his role as the team’s “sixth man” and he thrived in it last year. While his numbers aren’t where he wants them to be, he’s still important to Orlando’s second unit because he can create his own shot and play both on-and-off the ball.
Entering Saturday’s games, Anthony ranked seventh in the NBA in total points off the bench. He’s led (or tied) the Magic in scoring four times, in rebounding three times and in assists nine times.
“I’m just happy for the team that we’ve started to kind of find a rhythm again and our second unit, specifically myself, can [keep] a rhythm that will make the team that much better, that much more dangerous and let us get in a tiptop form,” he said.
“I still don’t think we’re playing our best basketball yet where we have everyone clicking.”
Email Jason Beede at [email protected] or follow him on X, known as Twitter, at @therealBeede.
