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The Orlando Magic should not rely on late-season heroics in 2020

By Seth Arora

ORLANDO, FL - DECEMBER 23: The Orlando Magic huddles up against the Miami Heat on December 23, 2018 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. 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 2018 NBAE (Photo by Gary Bassing/NBAE via Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - DECEMBER 23: The Orlando Magic huddles up against the Miami Heat on December 23, 2018 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. 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 2018 NBAE (Photo by Gary Bassing/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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With a difficult schedule after the 2020 All-Star Break, the Orlando Magic should not rely on another late-season run to make the Playoffs again.

In 2019, the Orlando Magic closed their season on a 22-9 tear to secure the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.

During that stretch, they had the third-best record in the NBA, the league’s best defensive rating, and were in the top 10 in offensive rating, net rating, effective field goal percentage and assist percentage. They looked like a team that belonged and, most importantly, a team that believed it belonged.

To put that streak together, the Magic went 7-1 in the games before the All-Star Break and 15-8 after the Break. After the All-Star Break, even though their productivity waned when compared to the overall 22-9 streak, they remained in the top 10 in each of the aforementioned stat categories.

It was a rush to make the playoffs and the team clinched their spot in the penultimate game. Orlando entered the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the league.

It felt like a rush. And perhaps not something they could do again.

And to be sure, in 2020 pulling the rabbit out of the hat again may be more difficult.

The All-Star Game will be played from Chicago on Sunday, February 16, 2020. After that, the Magic have a schedule that, on paper, appears to leave their work cut out for them to make a similar push for the postseason.

After the All-Star Break, the Magic play 27 games. The majority come against teams one could safely mark as Playoff definites — the Brooklyn Nets three times (twice on the road), the Boston Celtics twice, at the Philadelphia 76ers, the Portland Trail Blazers and at the Houston Rockets — or “reasonable hopefuls” — the Indiana Pacers twice, the Toronto Raptors, at the Detroit Pistons, the Dallas Mavericks and at the San Antonio Spurs.

Many of the remaining opponents are no cupcakes either. Despite their flaws, those teams are young and talented — at the Atlanta Hawks, the Chicago Bulls twice, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings. And there is a game against the always-pesky Miami Heat.

Count them up, and that is 20 of the final 27 games with tough opposition. Tough on paper, at least.

After the All-Star Break in 2019, Orlando’s opponents had the 28th-worst combined winning percentage in the league. That likely will be the case in 2020.

True, there is a little reprieve for Orlando. The other seven of those final 27 games are against teams ostensibly in full rebuild mode. Also, the top three teams favored to win the championship next season (the LA Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks) are off this portion of the schedule.

It is also true that the biggest reprieve may be the team itself. The Magic proved they have the tenacity a team needs to finish the regular season playing their best ball. It is already stitched into their DNA.

The 2019 team, for all its youth and inexperience, closed the season playing six of its final eight games on the road and went 6-2 (the Magic spend five of their final seven on the road in 2020).

Even with its opponent winning percentage being in their favor, that team recognized its goal, what it would take to reach that goal, and did what was necessary to achieve it. In doing so, the Magic showed resiliency, focus and determination to tear through the late portion of their schedule and make the playoffs.

Next season, if the Magic find themselves at the All-Star Break in a similar position to the 2019 team, they will need to show even more late-season grit, focus and determination to reach or surpass their 2019 success. It is certainly possible that Orlando, with its continuity and a generally optimistic air surrounding the club, can do it again.

What would show true growth, though, would be positioning itself so a 22-9 run is unnecessary just to make the playoffs.

All of the aforementioned qualities are invaluable as a team improves and moves up from bottom-feeder to a perennial playoff team. The kind of sustained focus the Magic demonstrated last season is a sign of a club turning a corner.

Yet the Magic do not need to be satisfied with turning the same corner in 2020, especially since a late-season demolition project will likely be tougher next season.

Instead, the Magic should dig deeper and seek that higher level of play from the season’s opening tip. The Magic do not want to be 20-31 after 51 games again and have to scramble to make the playoffs. Improving their standing will take a level of maturity we simply cannot see yet. But they are expected to take that next season.

It would be difficult to label last season anything but a success. That success hinged on a late-season stretch of play that catapulted the Magic into the Playoffs and a potentially brighter future.

Next. 5 Orlando Magic games to flex onto national TV. dark

For the Magic to take the next step, in 2020, they should not need a late-season run like last year at all. They certainly should not count on it.