The Orlando Magic will open their 2017 season Oct. 26 with a big game against the Miami Heat. Here are 10 games we are looking forward to during the season.
The Orlando Magic schedule is officially out and the next six months of this site’s life is set somewhat in stone. Or something like that.
The 82 games for the 2017 season, the pathway to the Playoffs, is set for a team in major transition and with major goals. The 2017 season finally feels very real with the task laid out ahead for the Magic. The opportunities are all there.
And everyone, no matter who might be on the roster, is 0-0. Expectations might begin rank ordering where everyone thinks they might finish, but there are endless possibilities standing before all 30 teams in the league.
Truly, anything can happen. Even if more likely than not it will not.
Still everyone can dream. The Magic among them. There will be lots to look forward to as the 2017 season unfurls.
The NBA schedule is unusually balanced. There is little variability when it comes the schedule. Everyone plays the same teams. When and how they play them differs. And the storylines and importance of each game differs.
There are games we look forward to more than others. Whether it is a returning player, a game that is perceived bigger than it is or a national television appearance. The 82-game schedule winds and is always a journey. A unique one at that.
No one quite knows what the 2017 season has in store, try as they might to try to predict it. The season will take the team and its fans on a unique journey.
As we sit here in mid-August preparing for the season to begin in October, we know these 10 games are the ones we cannot wait to see, no matter what happens in the meantime this season.
Next: Opening Night
Oct. 26 vs. Miami Heat
There is nothing like opening night. The first game of the season is always the one we look forward to most. And this one is a doozy.
Whether anyone likes to admit it or not, the Miami Heat are a rival and this is a big way to start the season. It feels like the Heat are on the way down and the Magic are trying to make their way up. There is a chance for the Magic climb out of the basement in the Southeast Division.
To do that they have to start somewhere beginning with last year’s champs — a team that underwent change itself.
No one knows what to make of the Miami Heat anymore. The comfortable stalwart of Dwyane Wade is gone to Chicago. Chris Bosh‘s health is still up in the air. Who knows if Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside can carry the team on their own.
The Southeast Division feels as open as ever. Someone will have to grab it and all five teams seem to be in that middle bunch of teams in the Eastern Conference.
Playing the Heat has meaning for the Magic too. Orlando has defeated Miami just twice since the rebuild began. Every win over the Heat has meaning.
Getting out to a 1-0 start and setting this tone for the season is absolutely important and exciting.
In the very first game, the Magic will be able to show who they are and whether their defense will work at the level they believe. This will be quite the first impression.
Next: Family time
Nov. 9 vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Last year, the Orlando Magic played an early-season home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves where Evan Fournier hit a big 3-pointer to secure an overtime win. Even at that time, it was clear the Wolves had a special player in Karl-Anthony Towns.
This game will again be a featured early season matchup at Amway Center.
The Magic and their sister team have had very different growth paths through their 27 years as they enter year 28. The Wolves though seem to have their footing back once again with Town and Andrew Wiggins leading the way.
Minnesota is going to be viewed as the “it” team this year (as will the Utah Jazz who follow Minnesota into town Nov. 11). The Timberwolves will get their first ever Christmas game this year. Both the Jazz and the Wolves are following rebuild plans like the Magic and have seemingly leaped ahead. Last year though, the Magic beat both in Orlando to hold some form of superiority.
The Magic will want to keep that dominance and build some confidence in these critical early-season games.
Next: Return home
Dec. 7 vs. Boston Celtics
The Orlando Magic take their first extended road trip in the beginning of December, as they usually do. Making that first game home against a very big opponent in the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics added Al Horford this summer to an already strong and unified core that finished fifth in the Eastern Conference last year. The Celtics are already considered one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Magic and Celtics have established something of a nice rivalry over the years and have played the Celtics tough even as they have climbed up the standing.s The magic will have to do that again.
Coming off the long East Coast road trip to start the month, some home cooking in December could be what the doctor ordered. The Magic used their long late-December home stand to build some wins and momentum to be squarely in the Playoff hunt as the calendar turned.
This marquee match as the Magic return home will go a long way to sustaining any confidence they have built and keeping momentum moving forward or to recover after the trip ends.
Next: Always Dwight
Jan. 4 vs. Atlanta Hawks
Whether fans like it or not at this point, the Orlando Magic are always going to be tied to Dwight Howard.
Howard has moved on to his third team in five seasons since leaving Orlando as he will play for the Atlanta Hawks this year. His struggles to find his rhythm and regain his stellar play from his Orlando days in Houston flamed out almost completely as the Rockets nearly missed the Playoffs last year.
Howard is still a good player and a player who demands attention and gameplanning, even if he is no longer the player he was in his dominant tenure in Orlando.
For the first time though since Howard left, Orlando has a center who can at least match or simulate the rim protection he left behind when he was traded away. As good as Nikola Vucevic was on the offensive end, even putting in some big games against Howard, the Magic never had anyone who could impact the game defensively like him.
The Hawks will be one of those teams the Magic will be fighting for Playoff positioning. Every one of those games will be important for the team. The emotions of Howard’s return has waned, but now he is a division rival. These games will matter much more signficantly.
Next: Encore?
Jan. 22 vs. Golden State Warriors
Last season when the Golden State Warriors’ road show came to town, there was an undeniable buzz in the Amway Center. Really it was unlike anything that the arena or the franchise had seen in some time.
Media were standing three or four rows deep to watch Stephen Curry warm up. Fans also lined up early to watch a truly historic team.
And then Curry put in a historic performance, scoring 52 points and draining crazy 3-pointers and a half-court three to end the third quarter and break the Magic’s spirit. Orlando kept that game close but had nowhere near the firepower to hang with the Warriors despite the heightened atmosphere.
Golden State dominated the headlines this summer — from losing a 3-1 lead in the NBA Final and a 73-win season to defeat in the title game to getting the biggest free agent prize of all in Kevin Durant. Their lone trip to Orlando will be special and come with the buzz of last year’s team.
And for some reason this got a special noon start on Jan. 22. This game is not even on national television.
The Magic have not played many afternoon home games since those contending days. That should create an interesting buzz in the arena that afternoon.
Next: Where we've been
Feb. 9 vs. Philadelphia 76ers
So why feature a game against what could very well be the worst team in the NBA once again?
The No. 1 pick in Ben Simmons helps. So too might the health of former third overall pick Joel Embiid. And the big one might be the draft pick that got away — Orlando’s original 12th overall pick Dario Saric who was traded to Philadelphia on draft night for Elfrid Payton. NBA fans are already getting introduced to him in the Olympics.
This game comes at a nondescript time in February and will not have a lot of attention paid to it by casual fans. But these are the games the Magic must win.
The 76ers are talented and dangerous. They will begin climbing out of their long rebuild and play better than many people expect. But this is still a team a playoff-hungry team like the Magic have to defeat to achieve their goals.
In each of the past two seasons, the Magic have lost at home to the 76ers. Both of those games were back-breaking and disheartening. These were signs the team was still stuck in their inconsistent malaise and not ready to take that big step forward they would need.
It is hard to call a game this early a must-win game, but defeating the teams at the bottom of the standings are must-win games for a team that will need every win it can get. Especially later in the season when the schedule gets tougher.
Next: National TV
March 3 vs. Miami Heat
The Orlando Magic are not going to be a team in the limelight this year. This is a team that will have to work largely in anonymity and without much national attention.
The way the national TV schedule is made is not based on how good the league predicts a team to be. It is more about what they feel will draw television eyes and attention from casual fans.
The Magic are not that team. They lack any all stars and, despite playoff ambitions, have not compete for the Playoffs in four years. It is not a coincidence then that the national broadcast partners were not ready to put the Magic in the spotlight.
No one perhaps saw the national media overlooking the Magic this much. They have the fewest national TV appearances (including NBATV) in the league at four.
That does include this one game on ESPN against the Miami Heat at the Amway Center. If Orlando wants some national attention, the team is going to have to earn it by having a record that will keep this game on national television to begin with and by playing well enough on the national stage to turn some heads.
It seems silly in the age of League Pass, but national television games can still go a long way to turning heads and swaying opinions. The Magic’s 2009 win on ESPN over the Los Angeles Lakers was something of a turning point for that team. The moment when everyone around the nation began taking notice of what this team was doing and taking them seriously.
The Magic could have that opportunity again in this game against a Miami Heat team that could either be good again or have struggles of its own.
Next: The champs are here
March 11 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
It is still weird to say NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers. But LeBron James delivered his championship to his hometown and reached that mountaintop.
Until someone dethrones them, they are the champions. And James always brings a special buzz to the arena every time he arrives in Orlando. Magic fans certainly do not forget James for the 2009 Playoffs.
Cleveland makes only one trip to Orlando this year. After the Magic play the Cavaliers in Cleveland in the first week of the season, they do not play again until March and then again in Cleveland in early April.
The Magic have had some trouble with the Cavaliers. They never had anyone who could matchup well with LeBron James, and he just runs roughshod over the team. Maybe that changes with a rim protector back in the paint and Aaron Gordon sliding to small forward to shadow James (the team used Tobias Harris for much of last year).
The Cavaliers are the measuring stick for the entire Eastern Conference. They are a show when they roll into town, as any NBA champion would be, and will get everyone’s best shot every time.
It is the first time in a while James makes only one appearance in Orlando. A Saturday night game will give the game an even more special feeling. Indeed, the Magic have lucked out with some good times for some of these marquee games. The whole city will have a chance to get wrapped up and excited in these games.
Next: Victor Oladipo's Return
March 29 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic fans will have to wait quite some time to see Victor Oladipo return to the Amway Center. This game comes as the Magic will be (hopefully) entering their stretch run for the Playoffs. Maybe by that time, the team will have forgotten Oladipo and be ready to move on.
For now, the debate about Victor Oladipo and Evan Fournier or whether the Serge Ibaka trade will be worth it dominates conversation. There are still plenty who believe Oladipo can develop into an All Star and see him doing that next to Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City.
Oladipo is finally on a bigger stage. So too might the Magic when he finally gets to Amway Center for the first time as a visitor.
But this will be the game where the debate gets settled. A good time to take stock of whether the Magic made the right decision.
The first meeting between the teams in Oklahoma City takes place in Nov. 13. That will still be at a point in the season where the new players are discovering their roles. By the end of March, playoff races will be set and successes or failures will be determined.
This game comes in a difficult stretch of games to end March and begin April and will be a difficult challenge. Obviously, being a Western Conference team, this is their only trip to Orlando. And so it is that only trip for Russell Westbrook — already a favorite to win the MVP — and Oladipo.
Oladipo usually has a strong kick to close the season and everything will be in full overdrive when this game comes around. This game will be about much more than Oladipo’s return.
Next: The end
April 12 vs. Detroit Pistons
Well, this is the end. The final game of the season.
It is hard to tell what kind of impact this game will have for the Magic and their Playoff lives. This game is 81 games away, such a far off way. So much will happen before mid-April. All the questions dogging the team at this stage of the offseason will have answers by the time the team enters this game.
Will it be 48 minutes to decide the season’s fate? Will it be a coronation before the Playoffs? Will it be rote and decided, sending the Magic into an uncertain future?
Those are the questions that we cannot even begin to answer now. By the time this game comes around, that question will be completely answered fully.
Add in the intrigue of Stan Van Gundy, Tobias Harris and the Pistons likely having their own Playoff hunt going on for this game, and this game should be intriguing on its own.
Next: Despite questions, Orlando Magic got better entering 2017
The focus though when the season closes out will be either on the Playoffs or on what went wrong and where the Magic go next. It will be a long journey to get here, but one the Magic will reach in time.