The Orlando Magic’s path this season runs straight through a tougher Eastern Conference, and three games in particular stand out as early measuring sticks for Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and company.
With the New York Knicks opening the year as defending champions, LeBron James now in Philadelphia and the conference looking deeper overall, Orlando doesn’t get the same runway it had when it was being talked about as a possible top-three seed last season. The message is simple: the excuses are gone, and the Magic have to show they can beat the best.
Full Court Magic host Don Strouble pointed to three matchups that could shape the first half of the season.
First up is Oct. 25 at the New York Knicks, a game that carries extra weight because the Knicks are the defending champs and because they eliminated Orlando in the NBA Cup semifinals. Strouble said it would be a chance for the Magic to “go in there and spoil the fun for the Knicks.” He added that it “isn’t ring night, but could still quiet down that Madison Square Garden crowd a little bit.”
He also brought up “Sweeney,” noting that he “could get a little bit of revenge, because obviously he was an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs and they just lost to the Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals.”
The other two games Strouble singled out are Philadelphia coming to Orlando and the Magic’s matchup with the Detroit Pistons, the final game of the group stage of the Emirates NBA Cup for Group A. Orlando will host LeBron in the Philadelphia game, and the Pistons meeting closes out the group stage for a Magic team that went 4-0 in cup play last season.
Strouble said the cup has not yet existed long enough for any team to build a dynasty around it, and he pointed out that the normal playoffs have also seen a different champion for nearly a decade. For Orlando, though, the focus is simpler: repeat last year’s success in the cup and try to get “get-back, so to speak,” against the Pistons.
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