Orlando Magic’s dominant win over strong opponents mean something

The Orlando Magic know it is early in the season. No one is racing to any conclusions. Yet these big early wins have to mean something for a growing team.

When the Orlando Magic woke up Wednesday morning, they saw their names at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. The official Magic Twitter account even tweeted as such. Fans were in euphoria.

The team was trying to keep a level head about it. They knew it was only four games into the season and the team had not accomplished anything yet. There was still a lot of season to play and a lot of things could go wrong. The Magic had a lot of things to clean up.

When the Magic have a result like Friday though? Again against a supposedly elite team and title contender? What is anyone supposed to think?

"“It means we’re first in the East right?” Aaron Gordon asked a reporter when asked what it means to be 4-1. “That’s what it means. “We just have a lot of talent on this team. People are not going to take us lightly. And if they do, we’re going to blow them out.”"

Blowout victories like the Orlando Magic’s 114-87 victory over the previously undefeated San Antonio Spurs at the Amway Center on Friday, often say more about the teams that lose than the teams that win. The Spurs were just a bit flat-footed and unable to manage the Magic’s fast-breaking style. They had no one to support LaMarcus Aldridge consistently. They know they have reinforcements on the way in Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker.

The Magic, in many ways, just took advantage of these weaknesses and never let up. They kept the hammer down. It was a matchup Orlando exploited and San Antonio could not stop.

In the process, Orlando put in perhaps its best defensive performance of the season. The Magic gave up a measly 85.4 points per 100 possessions to the Spurs. It was a dominant performance through and through with the team displaying all of its length, athleticism and improved shooting.

Orlando Magic

This was not the first time that potential flashed. Just like how Orlando built as much as a 36-point lead in the win Friday, the team built as much as a 37-point lead in a 114-93 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

They are two separate games against two separate teams. But those final results are impressive nonetheless. A sign perhaps of just what this team can be.

"“We’re doing some really good teams,” coach Frank Vogel said. “You have to be positive and encouraged with the way we’re playing. . . . I’m just impressed with how we’re playing offensively in terms of sharing the basketball. It’s at a really high level right now. Nobody is forcing at the rim. Nobody is forcing on the perimeter. As a result, we’re getting each other better and better looks on each possession. That’s why you are seeing the offense click the way it’s clicking.”"

It is perhaps a bit too early to draw too many conclusions from these early season results. There is a long way to go as everyone will remind anyone who tries to make any sweeping conclusions. They have gotten a ton of questions about the early standings — and without doubt, the Magic are one of the early season surprises — and have largely brushed them off.

Yet, it is also hard not to see something so positive happening here.

Vogel said the team has gotten off to a quick start because the team’s long-talked-about continuity was better than even he anticipated. The team’s determinedness to make better on last season and turn the franchise around are not lost either.

Still, no one could have foreseen manhandling two NBA title favorites at any point in the season. This feels like something real. The evidence would suggest so.

Take everything into account for the first two weeks of the season, the Magic have gutted out a win against the Miami Heat and defeated the San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers handily. Those all seem like nice wins.

The kind of wins that only seem to build confidence for a developing team.

"“There is a lot of confidence,” Bismack Biyombo said. “You can see around. Guys are playing full of confidence. We trust each other. That’s the big thing. We just have to keep going and keep having fun. This season has been the most fun the guys that have been for long are having. Compared to last year, this is much more fun. Just stay the same and keep playing, good things will come.”"

It is not every day a team does this to the Cavaliers and Spurs in short succession. That means something. But it only means something for the Magic as they try to build and grow from it. It only means something if they do not rest on their laurels.

Players will trot out the tired cliche — no team can get too high when they win or too low when they lose. Gordon has warned about getting too complacent. Admitting you have arrived is the first moment a team slips.

Vogel said the team has to build off its successes. Confidence comes from building off those victories — big and small. The team appears to be doing that.

How real is this Magic team? That will certainly be the question a lot of media types will try to answer in the coming days. The Magic themselves are probably not particularly interested in this question.

The fan base? They have waited a long time to wrestle with this question in a real way. The Magic have teased them in the past.

These wins the last two weeks certainly are not meaningless. Winning big over good opponents — and the way the Magic have done it by sharing the ball and routing them on both ends — establishes a trend. The Magic have waited to build a base like this. If Orlando commits to this style and mentality, the Magic should be able to withstand the cold shooting stretch or any kind of adversity.

It might still be too early to say the Magic are “for real.” They certainly are not likely to finish at the top of the Eastern Conference as they currently sit. Or maybe they will.

But these wins mean. . . something. Likely that this team is a lot better than everyone expected beforehand. That the Magic potentially a very dangerous team.

Next: Grades: Orlando Magic 114, San Antonio Spurs 87

It means the Magic are a team everyone should continue to watch and see exactly where they grow.