Before we completely close the books on the 2020 calendar year, let’s look back at the top Orlando Magic moments from 2020.
The 2020 calendar year has . . . well, it has not been good.
Everyone has gone through a ton of turmoil and it seemed to hit the team from the very beginning. The NBA world faced loss early on with the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. All the way into the pandemic — where the whole family mourned the loss for Karl-Anthony Towns among plenty of others.
The season restarted in Orlando’s backyard at Disney as the league undertook the incredible effort with the bubble. Players were leaders in trying to bring attention to social justice issues throughout the campus, nearly ending the season early after the shooting of George Blake in Kenosha, Wis.
The Orlando Magic were present for that dramatic moment as the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the floor to protest the lack of action to stem systemic racism and police violence against the black community.
Ultimately the season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers lifting the championship trophy on the floor at Disney. The Magic made their second straight playoffs and bowed out in the first round in another five-game series.
The season started back up again and Orlando opened up with four straight wins for the first time in franchise history.
As 2020 comes to a close, it feels like the Magic are looking toward a brighter future in 2021. The team is aiming for a third straight playoff berth.
That journey through 2021 will be a difficult one no doubt. The Magic saw how quickly things can fall apart for them after a blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers to close the year. There are still many things to work on to achieve those goals.
But as the year comes to a close, it is a good time to take a look back at the good that happened this year. The best moments that made 2020 livable through all the frustration and darkness we all experienced.
At the end of the day, the Orlando Magic were here to give us some solace and some normalcy. That is something we have all needed.
10. Jan. 13 — Aaron Gordon’s Game-Winner
The Orlando Magic have had plenty of clutch buckets over the course of the year, but few that were actual buzzer-beaters. They had two in the 2019 season with Evan Fournier delivering the late heroics. And Nikola Vucevic’s overtime-forcing 3-pointer in a game against the Detroit Pistons was certainly among the highlight late baskets that deserve mention (we will get to one of the other ones a bit later).
But the only true game-winning shot the Magic had came against the Sacramento Kings in January.
Orlando had lost a late lead for the second straight game as De’Aaron Fox put the team’s defense into the blender late in the game. The Magic seemed to be wilting down by one after having a seven-point lead with 1:30 to play.
That is when the team turned to Fournier to save the day. He got to his spot and took the shot, or rather he slithered a pass to the interior. The defense was all geared for a shot but the ball snuck past them to Aaron Gordon who finished and drew the foul before the defense could re-adjust.
He it the free throw to give the Magic a two-point win.
That was a road-trip-saving play for sure as the Magic had their dates in Los Angeles coming up. With a loss in Sacramento, the Magic might have very well faced a winless road trip after a similar late-game collapse in Phoenix a few days earlier.
But give the team credit for rallying as they did. And giving Aaron Gordon his first game-winning basket and one of the few bright spots from a rough part of the schedule in 2020.
9. Dec. 21 — Keeping Jonathan Isaac & Markelle Fultz
During the shortened offseason, fans were pining for the Orlando Magic to set their path and mark their future. They wanted to see changes to the roster to break the cycle of playoff cameos the team seemed to be stuck in.
Indeed, overall, the 2020 season seemed like the group was running in place. It felt like the team had reached its ceiling. It was hard to see how the team would get better.
Orlando Magic
Perhaps the shortened offseason caused the front office to play their hand a bit more conservatively. Perhaps the market wanted the Magic to take a step back they were not prepared to do so.
Still, Orlando did important work to cement their future, taking some gambles in doing so.
Orlando signed extensions for Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz locking in place to key pillars for this team’s short-term and long-term future. Jonathan Isaac signed a four-year, $80-million contract and Markelle Fultz signed a three-year, $50-million contract. Both deals appear to have plenty of incentives laid into them to help the Magic hedge some of their bets and Fultz has a team option on his third year.
Many of those incentives seem pretty likely — Isaac gets a couple million on his base salary for playing 70 games for instance to help him reach that $80-million total — and the team is certainly investing in these players as if they will happen.
So the Magic have tied up a lot of their future in these two players and are now committed to making them the best players they can be and surrounding them with players who can support them in that goal.
Fultz has rewarded that faith so far in the 2021 season, averaging 15.7 points and 5.8 assists per game, although he needs to continue improving his shot selection and shot making. Isaac was on track to become a defensive player of the year candidate last year before his first knee injury. And there is every faith he will recover fully from the torn ACL he suffered in August.
This is the Magic’s future though. Orlando locked it in and is ready to move forward with a vision for who the team will be. Now we will see if they can execute it.
8. March 10 — Comeback in Memphis (the final regular game)
Momentum is the next day’s pitcher. You can never count on something happen one game happening the next game. It always takes work to build momentum. Things simply do not carry over. And the trick is always to do the same things well over and over again without thinking.
Still, momentum does feel like a real thing. When a team is playing well they grow in confidence and seem to be able to build on it so long as they focus on the right things.
In March, the Orlando Magic were starting to percolate.
Their offense was finally finding a rhythm as they had a run of extreme health for the first time. But even though the Magic were finding ways to get wins, they lacked any true defining win in their playoff hunt. They did not really string good performances together.
That changed on a road trip in March. They nearly beat the Miami Heat on the road and then blew out the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets (the Rockets win especially being a bell cap win).
They rolled into Memphis feeling positive they were turning the corner. And they had the chance to prove so against the Western Conference’s eighth seed.
Instead, Orlando went down by 17 points in the first half. the team struggled to get anything going. And they had to fight their way back.
Terrence Ross got cooking for really the first time the fourth quarter all season, a staple of the Magic’s 2019 playoff push. Michael Carter-Williams scored 20 points. The Magic just stymied and slowed down the Grizzlies, making shots down the stretch to ice the game away 120-115.
Orlando flew home after the road trip feeling extremely good. The team was about to hit the home-heavy portion of the schedule and its easiest stretch. Everyone within the organization believed this team was turning the corner.
Of course, they would not play again until July. This was the final regular-season game before the league suspended operations for the pandemic. The team will never know just how much better it would have gotten if the season had finished regularly.
Instead, the Magic will always have this moment of possibility. Perhaps the last clearly great moment of 2020.
7. Feb. 28 — Aaron Gordon’s Triple-Double
The Orlando Magic did not have a lot of great offensive moments in their 2020 season. The team’s offense was downright anemic for long stretches. It is still the team’s biggest apparent weakness.
But around the All-Star Break, the Magic started to figure some things out. They emphasized pace more and getting out in transition. They empowered Markelle Fultz to run the offense.
More importantly, they got Aaron Gordon healthy and playing more in the paint rather than on the perimeter. That unlocked a side to Gordon’s game the team had not seen to that point.
Gordon recorded his first career triple-double against the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of a torrid stretch through February when his assists jumped up to career-best levels. Gordon had 17 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists against the Timberwolves that night.
From the All-Star Break until the season went on hiatus (nine games for Gordon), he averaged 15.4 points per game, 9.1 rebounds per game and 6.8 assists per game. This is the multi-faceted, versatile player everyone imagined he could be when he entered the league.
The Magic are trying to use him in much the same way this year, trying to leverage the multiple potential playmakers on the roster. Gordon’s lingering injury from the end of last season has slowed that down. But Gordon showed this is the kind of player he can be.
It crystallized on this night — a night, mind you, where Terrence Ross scored a season-high 33 points off the bench.
6. Dec. 23 — Magic return with fans
The NBA season returned in July in the sterile environment of the bubble. There were no fans and the only interaction anyone had with the Magic fan base was through the video boards streaming in meeting rooms of fans watching the game in quasi-real-time.
The NBA was right to be safe with their return and if they were going to return to sequester the league away from fans to get the season finished. Starting a new season though was an entirely different matter.
The NBA opted to follow MLB and the NFL and have teams travel to venues while they try to limit contact within the team as much as they can. The decision to have fans was left up to teams provided they follow some basic guidelines from the league in addition to local guidelines.
The Magic were one of the few teams to open their building to fans. About 4,000 fans watched the Orlando Magic defeat the Miami Heat in their home opener last week. It was a modest amount and there are certainly still questions to ask about just how safe the whole procedure is, but even the players admitted it was nice to have fans in the building. It gave them a lift.
Orlando started its season with a thrilling 113-107 victory. It was the kind of complete, resume-building win the Magic are still seeking to affirm their strong start to the year.
Even for a muted opening, it was just good to have basketball back at the Amway Center even with limited capacity.
5. Dec. 27 — The Comeback In Washington
Fans are looking for any sign the Orlando Magic are ready to take the next step. Any sign they will be out of the 7th- and 8th-seed ringer. A chance to win a playoff series and advance up the Eastern Conference ladder.
Ultimately, the way for the Magic to do this is to beat other contending teams. That is what made Thursday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers so disconcerting and disappointing. There will be plenty of opportunities to get those kinds of prove-it wins.
There are still plenty of hints the Magic are a bit different this year.
Their offense has become a juggernaut through the first four games at least. And they put that on full display in a thrilling comeback that only winning teams are able to do.
Trailing by 17-points entering the fourth quarter, the Magic quickly erased the deficit with their bench group. Michael Carter-Williams scored six quick points to spark the comeback. Terrence Ross kept his hot streak going, scoring 26 for the game.
Then after struggling for most of the game, the starters took over with Markelle Fultz and Nikola Vucevic making huge plays down the stretch to secure the 120-113 win.
The 24-point turnaround in the fourth quarter was a sign of how things might be different. How the team could lock in defensively and put up some scary offensive numbers and pressure even with their apparent lack of shooting.
This was a game that displayed all of Orlando’s potential. It might be the kind of win the team is chasing for a long time. But hopefully, it is a sign of just how good this team can be.
4. Feb. 15 — Aaron Gordon’s Dunk Contest
The highest-profile moment for the Orlando Magic came during All-Star Weekend. Back when fans could gather en masse and celebrate the game together.
The weekend was a celebration of Chicago basketball. It was a weekend of mourning over the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. It was a chance to see the game played by its best in an intense way thanks to the Elam Ending implemented for the fourth quarter of the All-Star Game.
Then there was the Dunk Contest. A contest befitting the city it was held in and holding up to the legendary 1988 contest.
Aaron Gordon was robbed of a Dunk Contest victory in 2016. He and Zach LaVine put on a show for the ages — a duel worthy of that 1988 contest and the battles between Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins. He was disappointed in a second go-round in the contest.
The third time should have been the charm. Gordon certainly earned it with each revolution and powerful throw down.
Aaron Gordon and Derrick Jones Jr. once again played to a tie. He had one more great dunk — pulling Tacko Fall out of the crowd and jumping over him — and then controversy ensued. Somehow that dunk garnered a nine from two of the judges, including more famously Dwyane Wade.
Gordon had nothing to be ashamed of though. He was once again the People’s Champion and the talk of the Dunk Contest heading out of it.
He leveraged it into a shoe deal with Chinese company 361 Degrees and a few tracks for musical interests and projects. Everyone had to do something during the pandemic hiatus.
This was a moment Magic fans celebrated and the rest of the league took notice of. It boosted Gordon’s play throughout the rest of the season.
The only thing that was missing was the trophy for Gordon’s trophy case.
3. July 26 — Jonathan Isaac returns
Think back to late July.
There is excitement about the league returning. Teams had already spent a few weeks inside the NBA campus and exhibition scrimmages are already taking place. Teams are gearing up for the Seeding Round and the sprint to the playoffs.
That would have been enough to see the NBA back and playing meaningful games.
But then in the final scrimmage game against the Denver Nuggets, the Orlando Magic got a gift. A big one too.
Jonathan Isaac returned to the floor for the first time since injuring his knee in January. And it brought a breath of life to the team.
In that first game against the Nuggets, he scored 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting. He hit 3-pointers with ease.
That would have been one thing. But it carried over into the team’s first game of the seeding round where he scored 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting in 17 minutes. Isaac had become an efficient and devastating scoring machine.
If the Magic truly believed they could make noise in the bubble, it was uplifted by Isaac’s return. The team was excited to have their teammate back and excited for what he could bring the team.
That is why it was equally deflating when in the team’s second seeding round game against the Sacramento Kings when Isaac went down with a torn ACL. Everyone immediately knew it was a serious injury. And what should have been a celebration of a comfortable win quickly turned into something of a funeral.
The wind that was pushing the Magic’s sails through the seeding round suddenly ceased. The team never really recovered from that moment. There was a bit of shell shock of regaining and losing Isaac all in about a week.
And it clearly will have a big impact on 2021 as the Magic will play the season without their promising young forward.
2. August 18 — Magic score upset in Game 1
The Orlando Magic limped into the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
Jonathan Isaac had already left the bubble with a torn ACL. Mohamed Bamba was struggling to regain conditioning after getting COVID-19 in June. Aaron Gordon strained his hamstring during the seeding round. Michael Carter-Williams was also hurt. Even Fournier was playing through an illness that kept him out of practice throughout the seeding round.
Everyone expected the juggernaut Milwaukee Bucks to steamroll and sweep the Magic in the end.
Orlando had different plans. The legend of the Game 1 Magic continued as the team notched a second straight upset victory to open the playoffs.
Nikola Vucevic started what would become a star-making playoff series with 35 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. He found every hole in the Bucks defense and exploited it.
Orlando got a big boost from Gary Clark, who made four 3-pointers. And while Terrence Ross did not hit a 3-pointer, he still scored 18 points including two big dunks late in the game to ice it away.
It felt like at that moment Orlando had the perfect strategy to take advantage of Milwaukee and the team would make it a series.
Unfortunately, the aforementioned injuries did not allow the Magic to get the most of their opportunity. They could not get a strong performance from Evan Fournier, who hit a critical 3-pointer to stay ahead in Game 1, nor could they get that spark from Gary Clark the rest of the series. The Magic did not have the depth to survive the series.
The Miami Heat learned the lessons the Orlando Magic taught and defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in the next round.
Still, Orlando will always have this moment. A time when the Magic believed they could score an upset. It gave the team quiet confidence that this team could still grow into the 2021 season.
1. Jan. 15 — Showtime in Los Angeles
There is something special about wins on the West Coast. The 10:30 p.m. tipoffs mean only the most committed of fans are up watching. Most people wait for the next morning to see the results and try to piece together what happened.
So as the Orlando Magic took the court against the Los Angeles Lakers, the expectations were largely hoping that the game could be competitive. When the Magic opened up a double-digit lead in the first half with B.J. Johnson stepping in off the bench with Evan Fournier out to give a huge boost that was something else.
And considering that D.J. Augustin was out and Josh Magette was recently cut, the team had only one traditional point guard in Markelle Fultz to use. It felt impossible the Magic would even be in this game.
They not only were in the game, it was their game to win or lose. And even as the Lakers came back, the Magic pushed them aside.
In Markelle Fultz’s case, literally pushing aside LeBron James on his way to the basket.
This was undoubtedly Fultz’s coming out party on a national stage. He had a triple-double with a then-career-high 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists and controlled the tempo of the game. It felt like confirmation that he was someone the team could turn to.
It helped too that Fultz hit the floater over James that gave the Magic the lead for good in the dying seconds. Further proof of his clutch bona fides.
There were just so many moments in this game. Aaron Gordon put on a dunk show with one off the backboard for a one-handed jam and then a monster slam over JaVale McGee.
It was undoubtedly the top game of the 2020 season for the Magic.
It was a game that was worth staying up for 100-percent.