The Orlando Magic have proven their doubters wrong after winning Southeastern division title

The Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics and clinched their first playoff berth since 2012, officially erasing the six-year-old stain Dwight Howard left on the organization.

It has to be nice when you can win a game when a player off the bench can be your leading scorer. But no one thinks that is a consistent winning formula. Certainly not for a playoff team.

It was this poor depth of scoring and reliance on supposed bit players that had almost every predictor doubt the Orlando Magic would make the Playoffs this year.

Just ask the 2019 Southeast Division Champions, they know all about the doubt and questions surrounding them. And they pushed through it finding a way again and again.

There was still plenty of room for doubt, even with the Magic clearly in the playoff picture.

Back in March after the Magic won a game in Toronto, Terrence Ross said the Magic were playing for something in an interview with FOX Sports Florida reporter Dante Marchitelli.

After that win against the Toronto Raptors, the Orlando Magic lost to the New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies and the Cleveland Cavaliers within a two-week period. Doubts came to the minds of many critics as the Magic sat outside of the Playoff picture.

But something clicked for this team after that disappointing stretch.

That something they were playing for came into fruition in TD Garden on Sunday night.

In a closely contested first quarter, Terrence Ross hit timely threes off the bench that kept the Boston Celtics defense honest and the TD Garden quiet. He hit two 3-pointers off the bench in the first quarter which kind of weathered the storm at the beginning of the contest.

The Magic will need players to step up off of the bench to make things happen when the starting lineup is inconsistent. The added boost keeps the Magic in games and allows their starters to finish strong. It’s the cliché: “Teamwork makes the dream work.”

And nothing says teamwork quite like this Magic team with 40 straight games of at least 20 team assists and a different player stepping up exactly when the team needs it.

Now, this part of the dream has come true. Regardless of how these guys dreamt about winning a championship when they were kids, this is a moment they can all share. And these guys deserve this feeling of success, especially Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier.

These guys have been thru the ringer from critics saying that they were not the type of players who can lead an organization to the playoffs to not even been mentioned with the best players at their position. These guys deserve the national attention they are getting and about to get on a national stage.

And so does Steve Clifford, he deserves national attention for his ability to take this team to the playoffs in his first year under the helm and lead the team to a winning record after just 25 victories last season and no more than 35 in the last six years.

This is a great feat for any coach to say they were the one that broke a six-year Playoff drought for any organization.

That six-year drought goes all the way back to the Dwight Howard era, when everything was centered around the athletic big man who could dunk on anybody. Now this Playoff team is led by a more skilled big man with less of an ego.

Although this team may not go as far as those Howard-led teams, they do have an unique opportunity to make their own history. This team is not divided and everyone knows their roles. This playoff berth genuinely means something to everyone in the franchise. It is the culmination of years of hard work.

The most interesting part of this is that someone on this roster will improve and develop with this playoff experience. This is the time where players grow up right before your eyes, you have a berth of seeing playing time during a time of year that you are not accustomed to.

High-level basketball after an 82-game season can pull the best and worst out of players. The hope is that Aaron Gordon or Jonathan Isaac takes a leap during these Playoffs, kind of like how Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier did in last years playoffs for the Celtics.

Every player needs their first taste of this feeling. It teaches them the intensity and preparation that comes with these games.

Nikola Vucevic will need two other players to step up and score more than 20-plus points consistently if the Magic wants to have any chance of beating anyone in the Playoffs.

Sunday night that happened when Nikola Vucevic hit 25, Evan Fournier had 24 and Terrence Ross had 26. This is the formula to success.

But it does not necessarily have to be Evan Fournier and Terrence Ross every night as long as someone else like Jonathan Isaac or Aaron Gordon can pick up the slack.

The Magic are back in the Playoffs guys and with a chip on their shoulder for the past six years. They have proven everyone wrong and proved to themselves just how good they can be.