How the Orlando Magic answered our questions throughout the year

Can the Orlando Magic win a playoff game and beat a quality opponent?

Ultimately the big question facing the Orlando Magic is not whether they will make the playoffs or whether they are a playoff team. They are (provided it stays a 16-team field) and they are.

If the basis for any success this year was to prove last year was not a fluke, they have largely done so.

But that is not the end goal.

Coach Steve Clifford has said he is always preparing his team for the playoffs. He wants them to know at all times how to prepare for the playoffs. His whole goal throughout last season was to try to teach his team what to expect in April and (hopefully) May.

The Magic do not want to be happy just to be in the playoffs. They want to get there and they want to win.

There is a reason some people believed the Magic could get homecourt advantage in the Eastern Conference. That might have been far-fetched, but not outside the realm of possibility. The disappointment of this season is that it feels like the team has not advanced.

They have confirmed what they did last year but they did not spin it forward to the next step and next level. It feels like the team has reached its ceiling, raising bigger questions about what comes next for the franchise. Regardless of anything else, it feels like the Magic need to make some changes to the roster.

That is seen nowhere more than with the team’s record against teams with winning records. Orlando is 5-26 against teams with winning records. Only the Chicago Bulls have a worse record against teams with winning records in the Eastern Conference.

There is something to be said about winning the games you are supposed to — and, yes, the Magic had their share of bad losses. But ultimately in the playoffs, you have to defeat these teams.

The Orlando Magic are 0-9 against the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics, the top three teams in the Eastern Conference. Those are the three teams the Magic would have to beat in the playoffs.

There was a legitimate question whether the Magic would get a playoff win this year. They were not sneaking up on anyone like they did last year in Toronto.

Orlando has to figure out how to get more on those team’s level. This year’s team is too inconsistent offensively and the defense has not been dialed in long enough to have confidence in any playoff series.

Orlando was likely getting swept in whatever playoff series they went into — and still might. And that is not a good place to be.