3 best Orlando Magic moments of 2019

1. That D.J. Augustin shot in the playoffs

There is simply nothing else that could go down as the Orlando Magic’s best moment of 2019, and potentially the decade, than D.J. Augustin’s fantastic game-winning effort against the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs. It gave them a 1-0 series lead and for a moment it washed away all of the years of hurt that had led to that point.

The front office missteps and the promising seasons and young players that dissolved into nothingness. The pointless trades and puzzling rotations of previous head coaches. All of it gone with one shot from one undersized point guard, who at this point is the most beloved player at that position since Jameer Nelson.

You could make the case that the weeks leading up to that moment were the best part of 2019, and that is fine too. This was a period when the Magic were on a great run, winning 11 of their final 13 games against some big-name opponents, to make their way to the postseason for the first time in seven years.

That feeling of happiness and cohesion around the franchise lasted longer and the win at Boston in the second-to-last game of the campaign to essentially ensure their path to the playoffs will live long in the memory as well. The feeling as the final buzzer sounded and the faces on stalwarts such as Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier said it all.

But to actually go 1-0 up on the eventual champion Raptors, in their own building, after playing with the never give up attitude that they really ran with after the All-Star break was something else.

Fans can remember where they were when that shot went in if you ask them and there is no better barometer on how much something meant or resonated with an organization and their fans.

It also proved to everybody that what they were trying to build was beginning to bear fruit. That the years of misery and being out of the running for a playoff spot by Christmas were going to be over for the foreseeable future. It was the personification of taking the next step, and while they may have faltered some to end 2019, they still remain in a playoff spot right now.

Unthinkable a few seasons ago and brought to life by Augustin’s game winner. The best moment of 2019.