About a month into the NBA season, we are starting to get a feel of which teams are good at certain aspects of the game. Although it is still early, the stats are beginning to normalize.
With about 21 percent of the season completed already, the Magic are ninth in the league with a 99.3 defensive rating (points against per 100 possessions).
If the team is able to stay in that range or even improve, it would be a huge improvement over the past three seasons.
For a reference point, eight out of the top 10 teams in defensive rating made the playoffs last season.