Orlando Magic Live: Homeward Bound

The Orlando Magic completed a 3-2 West Coast road trip and discovered a lot about themselves in the process. But they also found holes they need to fix.

Every December, the Orlando Magic take a trip out West. It is an annual marker for the season and the first time we really learn something about the team. There are no distractions for the team, little practice and difficult opponents. Winning on this road trip usually means good things for the season ahead.

It is not the be all, end all of course. The Magic came home from last year’s December outing feeling good after a 2-3 trip only to lose six of their next seven before the next West road trip in January. Most of those games came at Amway Center. That was the point the 2015 season felt lost.

This team feels different. Even after the Magic lost to the Phoenix Suns in the finale and had a disappointing finish to the road trip with an uneven offensive performance against the Denver Nuggets, the team finished 3-2 on the trip and seemed to legitimize their hot start.

Orlando certainly learned a good deal about itself in the last week away from the Amway Center (and really the team’s road trip somewhat continues with a pit stop at home Friday against the Cleveland Cavaliers before another trip out of town to face the Brooklyn Nets on Monday).

On this week’s episode of Orlando Magic Live, Orlando Pinstriped Post editor Zach Oliver and I recorded a special postgame edition to recap the West Coast road trip and some of the things we learned about this team and the questions that remain:

There are still questions about the Magic that need answering even after the road trip.

The road trip answered the question of whether the Magic could win ugly or win on the road even without their best game. This is a positive step for a young team still trying to learn consistently. There were several games during this road trip where the Magic would have likely folded and lost by double digits or worse after losing the initial push.

That did not happen. Repeatedly the Magic found a way to scratch it out and keep fighting back. Even in the loss to the Suns, the Magic kept fighting when it felt like the Magic would pack it in and be prepared to go home.

There were issues though. Orlando failed to finish games and had long stretches where the defense disappeared or was not sharp enough.

The Magic lost a 17-point lead against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the opener to the trip. They also lost a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. And then there were the poor defensive efforts for long stretches against the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns.

Orlando is still seeking consistency and still trying to get that final stage done. Expectations have certainly raised and that is all part of the process of growing as a team.

The Magic may have established themselves as a real playoff contender through the five games of these trips. Provided they keep growing of course.

Next: Orlando Magic dig too deep a hole in loss to Phoenix Suns

That will come in this next stretch of games — the Holiday homestand.