The Orlando Magic face their closest competition this week and with nine games left, the playoff intensity and pressure have already arrived.
Coach Steve Clifford detests when anyone asks him about what he told a team to get them to play a certain way or inspire him. Clifford generally detests questions that seem to fit certain sports stereotypes or fan or media imaginations.
It is part of his gruff, no-nonsense approach. Players appreciate his straightforward approach. There are no games with Clifford.
His message has to be that every game matters and that there is a standard to play for. Making that standard clear and achievable is his task as a coach and teacher. Practice time is when he spends his time directing and molding his team.
There are so many games and so much interaction with the team, one speech at one moment is not likely to change much. Or so he has said at least.
For the media fishing for what Clifford said to his team to spark a 17-point turnaround against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday or how he is helping the team approach its first playoff chase, he is not providing much storybook fodder.
After Friday’s game, Clifford only offered that he talks to his team about how they can get better. There is no “rah-rah” speech or “Win one for the Gipper” moment. There is only the task at hand.
And simply in Friday’s game, the Orlando Magic played better in the second half to get the job done. He gave them the keys to their success and the team drove the car to a victory — eventually.
Each game saves the season
Saying Orlando saved its season Friday night might be going a bit too far. It would not have helped to lose that game at home against one of the dregs of the league. But it would not be fatal.
But it was still important. As all games feel at this point of the season. There is a whiff of soemthing different in the air.
The win brought the Orlando Magic within one-half game of the Miami Heat and the final playoff spot for a moment. It now leaves the team one game out entering Monday’s matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers at the Amway Center.
Friday night saw, as Clifford acknowledged after the game, the Magic faithful bring a playoff atmosphere to the Amway Center. The fans felt the tension and helped will the team to a win. It was an electric atmosphere.
Now the playoff intensity and playoff-caliber opponents come.
With so little time left in the season — nine games — and so little space between making the playoffs and missing them, the playoffs have already begun for the Magic. Call Monday the unofficial Game One.
The closing push and tiebreakers
The Magic will close the season with six of their final nine games on the road. All but three of those games are against teams currently in the playoff picture. The next five games — four of them on the road, all coming after Monday’s last game of the homestand — are against teams in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Two of them, in particular, deserve special attention.
The Magic are probably not going to win all four or five of these games. A .500 record on the road trip might be considered a minor victory. But wins in Tuesday’s game against the Miami Heat and Thursday’s game against the Detroit Pistons might have extra meaning.
The Magic currently trail the Heat by one game for the eighth spot in the playoff race. A win in that game would give the Magic the season series and the first tiebreaker over Miami. That would enable Orlando only to tie Miami in the win column at the end of the season to make the playoffs.
Further, a loss not only buries the Magic a game farther back in the standings but also would make the Magic have to beat the Heat in division record to win the tiebreaker.
Both the Magic and Heat currently have seven wins in the division. Orlando still has two more games against division opponents while Tuesday’s game represents Miami’s last game against a division foe.
After the Magic finish with the Heat in Miami on Tuesday, they travel to play the Pistons on Thursday. Orlando trails Detroit for the seventh seed by two games. The Detroit Pistons, who have lost their last two games, still play the Denver Nuggets before playing the Orlando Magic in their return home (always a tricky game).
A win in this game would bring the Magic not only closer to passing the Heat — or distance themselves from the Heat — but also draw them closer to the seventh seed and a little bit of cushion. The win Thursday would also tie the season series with Detroit.
A season series tie would throw the tiebreaker to conference record where Detroit currently holds a 25-23 advantage. The Magic do not play any more Western Conference opponents.
More than meaningful games
Orlando Magic
Orlando is playing meaningful games. That is a statement thrown around plenty throughout the season. This was the dream.
Now the Magic are playing actually meaningful games. Measurably meaningful games. This is what playoff basketball is all about. The NBA Playoffs are nothing but meaningful games. Every possession and moment packed with pressure.
To succeed in these games, the Magic will need their utmost attention and focus. They will need purposeful play and efficiency. They will have to scratch and claw to get where they want to go. And it is truly all in their hands.
To win these games, they will have to play them like playoff games. These are essentially elimination games and there is little margin of error.
Playoff pressure is here already.
This is all anyone has asked for with this team. The chance to play with these stakes. Now the stakes are clearly spelled out. They are not theoretical. This week the Magic have the chance to stake a firm claim on a playoff spot.
Wins this week against the Heat and Pistons will all but clinch a spot in the playoffs, barring an epic collapse. Losses will not end the dream but will make them significantly harder.
The Magic cannot worry about what the teams around them are doing. They must take care of their own business first and foremost. There is enough at stake in their games that doing so will get them where they want to be.
But make no mistake about it, there is no time for “rah-rah” speeches or inspiration. This is the moment players live for and play for.
And if they want more, they will have to rise to the pressure. That is ultimately what the playoffs are about.