Orlando, FL – The Orlando Magic are undoubtedly the hottest young team in the league at the moment. It seems anything thrown their way, including the best team in the league, is answered back with poise, power, and effort. This team has cleared many hurdles since undergoing a 9-game losing streak.
Earlier in the season, it seemed as if the pre-season playoff aspirations for the Magic were trampled early on due to yet another year plagued by injuries. And when things looked like they couldn’t get any worse, key guys like Wendell Carter Jr. and Jalen Suggs experienced long-term injuries. The remaining season for the Magic was looking pretty dismal, until one fateful game against the Clippers, where the Magic defeated Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in Orlando.
Since then, the Magic have been rolling. No team has been a match for them, as they’ve held double digit leads in each of the five recent wins. Once Orlando hit the reset button with the Nikola Vucevic trade, we’ve yet to see the team this lively and entertaining. Let’s crunch some numbers to see the true possibilities of the Magic reaching the minimum play-in mark, the 10th seed.
A major headline that has been happily followed by the Magic community is the increased failures of the Chicago Bulls. After sending Wendell Carter Jr. and (technically) Franz Wagner, the Magic would have already been satisfied with the return for two time All-Star Nikola Vucevic. However, Chicago also threw in a top-4 protected first round pick for this year, indicating that the Bulls’ success could determine a large portion of the Magic’s future roster. The irony of this trade is that, at this current moment, the Magic may even be a better team than Chicago already. Some would call it poetic if the Magic (10-20) managed to earn a better regular season record than the Bulls (11-17), a team they are only two games back from.
The Pistons and Hornets are a few losing paces away from matching Orlando in the standings, as they sit in the 15th and 14th spots in the conference, eyes set on Wembanyama. Washington is looking like Orlando’s next hurdle to clear, as they’re 1.5 games ahead of the Magic and on an active 8-game losing streak. Washington’s next games are against the Lakers, Suns, and Jazz. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how far their losing streak will really go during this stretch, and if Orlando can leapfrog them in the process by maintaining a streak of their own.
After Washington and Chicago, the true challenge lies up north —overtaking the Toronto Raptors. Certainly something the Magic have proved capable of doing, as two of their five games in the win streak have come against the Raptors. Toronto sits comfortably at that 10th seed, currently on a 4 game losing streak that’s in part courtesy of your Orlando Magic. Jumping into this 10th seed will remain a challenge for the Magic, as they would have to continue the win streak for four more games and assume Toronto loses at least three of their next four, with games including the Warriors, 76ers, Cavs, and the scorching hot Knicks (one of only three teams with a better win streak than Orlando).
The early season pothole that the Magic found themselves stuck in has certainly set back their ability to comfortably chase a postseason appearance, however when truly analyzing the
performance of the teams ahead of the Magic, it seems like a challenge the young team is prepared for. They’ve played effortless basketball over the last week and change, dissecting defenses and locking up the perimeter.
The Orlando Magic we all visualized and hoped to see prior to the season’s start is finally coming to fruition. Bol Bol is doing phenomenal and unheard of things on the basketball court. Markelle Fultz is running Coach Mosley’s offense to an absolute tee. Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner are blessing the fans with All-Star level performances night in and night out, and Cole Anthony is thriving in his bench role. Every possible discussion had by Magic fans prior to the season is being actualized, and you can’t be any more proud of this team. They fight hard every single game, and this win streak has only scratched the surface on what they’re capable of long-term. All of this being done without Wendell Carter Jr, Jalen Suggs, Gary Harris, Chuma Okeke and Jonathan Isaac. Arguably some of the best defensive players on this team.
The Magic have a golden opportunity ahead of them this afternoon, as they take on the Boston Celtics without Jayson Tatum, who sits out for personal reasons. After this matinee game, the Magic then will face 7 consecutive non-playoff teams. This pre-All Star break stretch can basically make or break the Magic’s season, being the difference between another high draft pick or a groundbreaking playoff spot. Let’s see how the group responds to this challenge.
