Orlando Magic: 3 reasons why they made the playoffs

3. Players stepped up

It is no secret that during the darkest days of the rebuild, the Magic had a serious lack of talent — both at an All-Star level, and throughout their roster in the form of depth. This season, however, they’ve had both.

Nikola Vucevic made his first All-Star game, and is going to finish the season averaging something close to the 20 points and 12 rebounds (both career highs) he is putting up now. This was the season “Vooch” silenced the critics who claimed he was nothing more than an empty stats player capable of putting up big numbers on bad teams.

He also had legitimate help, and their bench should get a lot of credit for stepping up the way they did. Center Khem Birch was the revelation of the season, becoming the defensive anchor of the second unit. Only when you watch other teams play do you get a sense of the urgency and attitude with which Birch takes to the court.

Wesley Iwundu, in his second year in the league, went from fringe rotation player to a legitimate “3-and-D” threat each night. The 36.4 percent he’s shooting from deep miles better than the 19.6 percent of last year. Michael Carter-Williams provided a timely boost at the perfect time as well.

Special mention must go to both Terrence Ross and Jonathan Isaac. Ross became a Sixth Man of the Year candidate with all he did off the bench, living up to his “human torch” moniker on a number of occasions throughout the year.

The 14.9 points per game he’s averaging are a valuable contribution and a career high. Isaac took his first step forward in year two, looking like a future star with some of his play. If not for his improvements and the play off Ross off the bench, the Magic wouldn’t have made the playoffs. We could go through every player individually, but all stepped up at some point throughout the campaign.