Through the first 16 games of the season, Wendell Carter Jr. averaged his most points (12.4), rebounds (7.6) and assists (2.1) since his 2022-23 campaign, but his impact for the Magic goes beyond the basic boxscore, according to his teammates.

“Defensively, I don’t know if anybody’s watching, but he goes out there every single night and guards the great bigs, does a great job and also he can switch onto the guards,” Orlando backup center Goga Bitadze said this week.

Added second-year pro Tristan da Silva: “Both sides of the floor, [he has] a huge gravitation. Whether that’s rebounding, defensive position, I feel like that’s stuff that maybe goes unnoticed.”

The advanced numbers back up their arguments for the type of player Carter has been for the Magic before they hosted the Knicks on Saturday.

Among centers who had played in at least 15 games, Carter’s defensive field-goal percentage (40.4%) was second best league-wide entering Saturday’s slate. Opposing players were shooting 8.5 percentage points worse with Carter guarding them, according to league-tracking data.

Of the 43 players regardless of position who had faced at least 200 defensive field-goal attempts (the number of opponents shots attempted when a player is defending the shot), Carter’s difference in field-goal percentage points was the largest in the NBA prior to Saturday, according to league-tracking data.

“He does a great job doing that, protecting the rim, rebounding the basketball and shooting the ball,” Bitadze said.

On the other end of the court, Carter has corralled a team-high 2.9 offensive rebounds per contest. Among all players who had appeared in at least 15 games prior to Saturday, the Magic center was tied for 7th in offensive rebounding on a nightly basis.

Orlando as a whole grabbed the 13th-most offensive boards (11.5 per night), a mark that requires the help of more than just the big men in the paint.

“I’m not saying he’s getting every board but everybody’s focused on him because he’s an elite offensive rebounder,” da Silva said. “So every time he’s down there, it looks like he’s got three guys around him trying to box him out because he just gets people out of the way.

“That opens up more for us as crashers,” added Da Silva, who averaged 1.1 offensive boards per night (tied for fourth-most on the team).

Not only does Carter help clean up the offensive glass, he also sets up shots for teammates in pick-and-roll actions and spaces the floor from the perimeter (shooting 43.5% on 2.9 3-pointers per game).

Prior to Saturday, Carter had recorded the eighth-most screen assists (47) — the number of times an offensive player sets a screen for a teammate that directly leads to a made field goal by that teammate — in the league.

Of the 11 players who had recorded at least 45 screen assists on offense ahead of Saturday, Carter had also contested the third-most shots (132) on defense, behind only 4-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert (148) and 2025 All-Rookie Alex Sarr (141), according to NBA.com.

It’s the type of statistic that illustrates his work on both ends of the court.

“The force that he has at the rim, I feel like pulls guys into the paint, too, [which] creates shots with every single roll that he does,” da Silva said. “That’s a stat that’s not really out there on the boxscores:  the gravitation on the roll and playing in the pocket.”

Added Bitadze: “He just sets great screens, creates shots for others … He’s been amazing this year.”

The Magic will need more of the same from Carter when they have a quick turnaround before playing at Boston on Sunday.

After facing the Celtics on the second night of a back-to-back, Orlando heads to Philadelphia on Tuesday and Detroit three days later.

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com

Up next …

Magic at Celtics

When: 6 p.m., Sunday, TD Garden

TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida