Orlando Magic: Corner Turned On Recent Road Trip

The Orlando Magic have just returned from a six-game road trip, with five of those games coming against Western Conference teams. This was always going to be a key stretch in the season, and not just because they were beginning to come out on the wrong end of too many close games.

The playoffs were always a bit of a pipe dream anyway. But for a team that only won four times on the road all of last season, this stretch had the potential to get ugly, and quickly. It would also be a true barometer of just how much this team had moved forward from last season.

Well, the team defied probably a lot of people’s expectations, and returned home having gone 3-3.

Actually, I’m going to cheat a little here and say this team went 3-2, which they did on their West Coast trip. The third loss came away to the Indiana Pacers. A close 93-90 win against the Phoenix Suns, being followed by a demoralizing one-point loss to the Golden State Warriors and a blowout at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers.

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At that point it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see them throw in the towel on the rest of the trip, it’s what happened last season during times like this. Especially having lost both a close contest and received a hiding.

But the team stayed the course, and were rewarded with two wins in two nights against the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings.

All right, so both those teams probably won’t make the playoffs in the crowded West, and the Kings were without their best player in DeMarcus Cousins. But these are two good teams, and when you factor in the travel and the fact it was a back-to-back set of games, it was heartening to see.

So much so, that my confidence in this team and it’s core has been somewhat restored. I always knew this season would have rough patches, and for sure there’s been some poor nights.

But not only have this young team been mostly fun to watch, they’ve won some as well. Sitting 9-14 right now has them still sniffing a playoff spot in November, but we’ll return to the standings in a moment.

Another key reason to feel optimistic, is that most of the trip was played without center Nikola Vucevic. This guy, as we all know, is Orlando’s best player and potentially an all-star. To fight through without him was great, and we also watched Tobias Harris really step up as well.

He scored 22 points against the Jazz and was a big reason the team pulled out a win in that particular game. It’s baby steps, but nights like that when the Magic can win without their biggest contributor show there is a small bit of depth returning to the roster, an encouraging sign for a team that wants to head in the right direction.

Things could possibly only get better as well. Between now and Christmas Eve, the Magic face the Celtics (twice), 76ers, Hawks (twice) and the Jazz again. No disrespect to Atlanta, without doubt a playoff team in the East, but they have weaknesses and are beatable.

Even better for this team, the harder part of their schedule for the year is nearing an end now, and they haven’t done too badly out of it at all. In fact, from Dec. 18 onward, 32 of their final 54 games will be played at home. Reason to feel overly confident? Not at all, missing Vucevic is a concern and Aaron Gordon is still out injured.

But things haven’t gotten truly ugly yet this season either, and in theory it should be about to become a little bit easier for this team as well in terms of their schedule.

Am I predicting a playoff push? Well, I’m not ruling it out, but even to be behind a team that can at least think about the postseason in December again is fun and exciting, because it hasn’t happened in a while now. In fact, it had been two full calendar years since Orlando had come out the other end of a road trip with more wins than losses.

So while the playoffs was never really the goal this year anyway, to still be knocking around now is something. In fact, if the Milwaukee Bucks can do it, why can’t Orlando?

So in the grand scheme of things, this road trip does look to have been a turning point in the season and the fortunes of this franchise. The Magic are 7-9 on the road for the season now, and ironically are worse at home this year than they are on their travels.

There is an opportunity to change that now with a lot of upcoming games at home, and if so, this team will be in a decent position come spring. It had the potential to be a cold and harrowing winter, but this road trip was an early Christmas present and it’s importance cannot be stressed enough.

Next: No Shortage Of Contenders As Best Player In Magic History