Orlando Magic Daily
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5 Orlando Magic games that should get flexed onto national TV

By Philip Rossman-Reich

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 7: Aaron Gordon #00 of the Orlando Magic shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics on April 7, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 7: Aaron Gordon #00 of the Orlando Magic shoots the ball against the Boston Celtics on April 7, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Orlando Magic Terrence Ross (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /

April 15 vs. Toronto Raptors

Last year, the Orlando Magic’s only appearance on national television came in the season’s last game against the Charlotte Hornets.

By then, Orlando’s fate was already pretty much determined. A win would lift them to the seventh seed, but they knew they were already in the playoffs. The team withheld All-Star Nikola Vucevic from the game — the only game he missed that year to injury having taken a game for paternity leave in December.

The last game of the year is always a bit difficult to predict. It is hard to know which games will matter.

It feels very likely that this matchup with the Toronto Raptors could have some meaning. Both teams are expected to fight for playoff positioning in the middle of the Eastern Conference. They could very well be fighting for home-court advantage of seeding at this point of the year.

There are no scheduled national TV games for the last day of the season. That is sure to change. The Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks is perhaps the highest-profile game in that early 7:30 p.m. window. But the Bucks are likely to have the top seed wrapped up by then and could be resting several players.

Like in picking the Magic and Hornets last year — two teams that could have been fighting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference to make the playoffs at the beginning of the season — picking a game in the middle of the standings makes more sense.

The Raptors are more than capable of making the playoffs this year even after losing Kawhi Leonard. They have several veteran players who should be able to step in and fill around Pascal Siakam and his growth.

But Orlando surely wants to prove itself too. The Magic will probably still be fighting for something as the season comes to a close. And the Magic are not a team that will be coasting to anything. The Magic will have to fight at every moment of this season.

dark. Next. Continuity will help Orlando Magic to strong start

And there is no better fight than the last game of the season. One last time to show the Magic before a hopeful playoff appearance.