Being a top defensive team is something the Orlando Magic have yearned for over the past few seasons. Heading into the season with their third different coach in a season and a half, this time with one of the best defensive coaches in the league, the hope was to finally build that elusive top-level defense.
Throughout the preseason, the team showed signs of a foundation of a strong defense, with new arrivals Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo anchoring the unit. With Biyombo out on opening night due to a one game league suspension —Biyombo accumulated to many flagrant foul points in last years playoffs— the team was left with a gaping hole in the middle off the bench.