Highlights of the 2015-16 Orlando Magic schedule

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Elfrid Payton, Orlando Magic, New Orleans Pelicans, Dante Cunningham

Feb 20, 2015; Orlando, FL, USA; Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton (4) shoots over New Orleans Pelicans forward Dante Cunningham (44) during the second quarter at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Home for the holidays

Nov. 18 vs. Timberwolves
Nov. 21 vs. Kings
Nov. 23 @ Cavaliers
Nov. 25 vs. Knicks
Nov. 27 vs. Bucks
Nov. 29 vs. Celtics

Dec. 23 vs. Rockets
Dec. 26 vs. Heat
Dec. 28 vs. Pelicans
Dec. 30 vs. Nets

The Orlando Magic tend to spend both Thanksgiving and Christmas at home. Once again, Orlando fans will get to have their team home while their entire family is here too. Orlando’s longest home stand of the season is that four-game homestand during the Christmas holidays.

More or less, these two homestands sandwich around the Magic’s first big West Coast trip at the beginning of December.

The Magic will likely find themselves very thankful for their Thanksgiving schedule. They will have plenty of opportunities to carve out some wins in addition to turkeys.

The schedule after the initial push does give some breathing room. A lot of the Western Conference’s non-Playoff teams begin making their way through Orlando, including the Lakers, Timberwolves and Kings. These games are still challenging, but certainly winnable.

When Thanksgiving comes around, the Magic will have five of six games at home. The lone road game being the trip to Cleveland, always a tough game. But every other game in that stretch feels like the Magic should have a better shot at — even if projecting the Magic conservatively this year.

This is the time for Orlando to build wins.

When the team gets back from the West Coast, the Magic will find themselves in a difficult stretch albeit at home.

The Magic’s season-long four-game homestand is against all Playoff teams. The Nets might be slipping out of the Playoffs, but those three games against the Pelicans, Heat and Rockets are going to be very tough. The homestand should be a time to bank wins — and largely the time after the first West Coast road trip will have to be with 8 of 10 games at home through the end of December. But this set will not present anything easy for the Magic. Even with the holidays.

Talk about a lump of coal.

Next: Speaking of holidays