As Magic rotation shortens in playoffs, Orlando bench still helps team

Key reserves have stepped up for the Magic throughout their first-round series against the Pistons and will have to be at their most productive without Wagner. Cain’s contributions in Games 3 and 4 sparked Orlando. Anthony Black’s 19 points in Game 5 helped keep Orlando close. Goga Bitadze has also provided key blocks – two each in Games 4 and 5 – while helping clean up the glass as Orlando’s backup center this series.

Although it’s common for NBA coaches to shorten their rotation during the playoffs, Mosley hasn’t utilized veterans such as Moe Wagner or Jevon Carter in the Pistons series. Both of them have some previous postseason experience. Young players on the Orlando bench, Jett Howard, and rookies Jase Richardson and Noah Penda, have also barely played against Detroit.

All five players saw time throughout the regular season but entering Friday had only played three minutes at the end of the Game 2 loss in Detroit when the final result had already been determined.

Mosley explained his philosophy around his rotation in the playoffs and how it could change, if it all, with Franz Wagner out.

“It’s all in consideration,” he said when asked by the Sentinel about expanding the rotation. “Just depending on guys playing more minutes but also bumping bodies in a little bit sooner just for quick stints to make sure that guys are rested, the guys that have been in the rotation. But it’s also (an) opportunity for other guys who have not been in the rotation.”

One key reserve who has not yet been available to turn to this series is Jonathan Isaac. The longest-tenured member of the Magic last played March 12, the night he suffered a left knee sprain against Washington.

Isaac missed the last 17 games of the regular season, Orlando’s two play-in games and the first five games of the playoff series with Detroit. He was doubtful for Game 6 as of Friday morning, but still had yet to do any contact work on the court, Mosley said after shootaround.

Typically, full contact is the precursor to an injured player’s return to game action.

“Just how he responds to each part of treatment,” Mosley said while explaining what’s kept Isaac from participating in contact work throughout his recovery. “Some days it’s feeling a certain way. Some days it might not feel as great. So we’re always going to be cautious and smart about how they respond to each treatment each time they go through it.”

Whether or not they see the court, members of the Magic bench still remain prepared to potentially enter a playoff game. They also help their teammates from the sidelines in a variety of ways.

Their efforts are appreciated by those who do see the floor for Orlando in the postseason.

“They’re ultimate professionals,” Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. said. “(They’re) always ready whenever, whatever may happen. You never know what happens so I think those guys are just the ultimate professionals. Those guys never take these kinds of situations for granted.”

“And from the sidelines, they’re helping us,” Carter said. “They’re helping us with things we may see and may not see, and how we can be better on both ends of the court. So, I give a lot of credit to those guys for (that).”

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com