The Orlando Magic will open their 27th season on Oct. 28 when they host the Washington Wizards. It is a night everyone throughout Central Florida will circle on their sports calendars.
A lot of questions surround the Magic this season. Many surrounding the Magic believe the team needs to take a major step forward. The Playoffs are not a goal to be whispered around anymore. It is something the team has to have in their sites to break a three-year Playoff drought (the franchise record for years without making the Playoffs is four).
Certainly another 25-win season would be a disaster for this team. Fans are growing a bit impatient.
So how do the Magic make the Playoffs? It is going to take a healthy heaping of internal improvement. It is going to take defying some odds after ESPN projected the Magic to make a meager five-win improvement to 30 games.
That would be a good place to start for sure. But things have to break their way too. That is not only with injuries but also with the schedule.
In taking a look at the Magic’s schedule, it seems pretty clear Orlando is going to have a tall task ahead of them. The first month of the season will be monstrous. Seven of the first eight games are against Playoff teams from 2015, and the one that is not is Oklahoma City.
Statistically, the standings begin shaking out after about 30 games. Most of the Playoff races are set by then in all actuality with very little variability — we are talking two teams at most. How the Magic play in those first 30 games is going to be critical.
That is where we find the most important stretch of the season, according to David Iwanowski of Orlando Magic Daily: the first West Coast road trip:
Having their big West Coast trip against four non-playoff teams is big, because the Magic have a chance to pull out a winning record in those games. Out of the eight games they play during this big stretch, they only play against one team that made it out of the first round of the playoffs in either of the last two years.
The Magic’s opening schedule is rough — vs. Washington, vs. Oklahoma City, @ Chicago, @ New Orleans, @ Houston, vs. Toronto. It is going to be seven games before the Magic see a non-Playoff team on the schedule — a Nov. 7 road game at Philadelphia on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Magic could be working out of a hole if they do not come together pretty quickly. They have to try to catch some teams by surprise and just survive this early portion of the schedule.
By the time they reach that first West Coast road trip — game 18 — the Magic will either be fighting to find their footing or settling into the season. The point is, the Magic will know about how good their team is pretty early. The West Coast trip could be a chance to right the ship or continue pushing forward with confidence.
After that tough stretch, Orlando does see the schedule lighten up. There are several home games against teams hardly considered Western Conference heavyweights — Lakers, Jazz (who should be much better), Timberwolves and Kings. The Magic can find themselves.
The December West Coast trip is always a big measuring stick for the Magic. This year’s trip is not as challenging on paper — from Dec. 1-9, the Magic play the Timberwolves, Jazz, Clippers, Nuggets and Suns — but it will be a chance for the Magic to show what they have learned.
Then again, in 2015, the Magic’s first West Coast trip was a smashing success. They split the four games and came home whispering Playoffs with all their goals in front of them. They survived a stretch of 19 road games in the first 28 games standing pretty tall for a team learning to win for the first time.
Then they fell apart as Christmas neared. Their place int he standings was set after that stretch.
Orlando will have its work cut out for it learning a new offensive and defensive system and with the pressure the team is surely putting on itself. This December trip with some very winnable games will be a chance for the Magic to take a big step up.
We will have to see how things turn out in December.
