The top 10 games of the Orlando Magic’s 2021 season
Top 10 Orlando Magic Games of 2021 Season
10. Orlando Magic open with win — vs. Miami Heat (Dec. 23, 2020)
38. Final. 107. 110. 113
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Orlando Magic take first steps to make good on disappointing 2020 season
Nobody believed the 2020 season went the way it was supposed to for the Orlando Magic. Injuries derailed the team but they still comfortably made the playoffs. Entering the 2021 season, Orlando played with something like a chip on the team’s shoulder.
The team brought back a lot of the same players. And even without Jonathan Isaac in the fold, the team believed it could still take a leap up in the standings. Especially in the pandemic season with little practice time and preparation time, they believed familiarity would help.
Early on, it was hard to argue with that. Especially with this opening game against the Miami Heat.
The Heat were coming off a trip to the NBA Finals and were poised to advance themselves. Sure, they had some injuries early on — and Jimmy Butler picked up a knock in the fourth quarter. But no one will match the optimism and feeling of the team’s outlook.
Orlando had to gut this game out, winning late and clinching it with an incredible display of the team’s connectivity.
Playing with a small lead, Aaron Gordon fed the ball to Nikola Vucevic at the elbow who put a perfect bounce pass to Evan Fournier a basket and the foul. It was a sign of pure synergy and a showing of how the Magic could indeed work together to win.
Defeating the Heat is always a good thing for the Magic. To do so again on opening night seemed to show the Magi ccould be a surprise team.
Orlando will tell you both coming out of the bubble and at the beginning of the season that the team was poised to be that surprise team of the East. It is always better to start 1-0 than 0-1. The Magic certainly felt that momentum and comfort early on.