The top 10 games of the Orlando Magic’s 2021 season
Top 10 Orlando Magic Games of 2021 Season
3. One last ride — vs. Phoenix Suns (March 24)
111. 66. 112. 38. Final
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Orlando and Orlando Magic will always be home for Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier and Nikola Vucevic
The Orlando Magic knew the trade deadline was going to change their fate. The day before the deadline, they knew there were moves to be made. Everyone was seemingly acknowledging it if not overtly than through unspoken words.
This was the end of their era.
Evan Fournier seemed destined to move. Aaron Gordon had already requested a trade. Nobody knew that Nikola Vucevic was moving on.
But this game against the Phoenix Suns felt like a going away. It felt like the end of an era.
It may be a largely forgettable one with a failed rebuild and a playoff respite toward the end. But it was still nearly a decade of playing together and being in this city. It was clear these players felt a kinship with the city.
So they delivered a classic game, rallying from a late deficit and finishing the game off on Evan Fournier’s lay in toward the end of the game. Orlando celebrated one last win together. It felt extremely poetic. It felt right to send that group off with a win and give one last moment of glory for the group.
Fournier probably said it best in post game:
"“The fact I have been here for seven years, had a son here, got married, it means more than a lot,” Fournier said after the game. “It is hard to put words into it. I got traded here when I was 21. Now I’m a totally different man and a totally different player. I have a lot of love for the franchise and the people who work here. If this is the end, it’s the end. I obviously will love the franchise and we’ll see.”"
Indeed, it was the end. In ways that not even seasoned Magic fans could have imagined. Orlando made the trades to reshape the franchise the next day.
Their All-Star was gone not 12 hours later and the Magic traded away Gordon and Fournier, the other stalwarts, shortly thereafter. It was truly a new day.
But fans at the Amway Center got to celebrate one last sunset before they rode off. And they got a classic and memorable performance as they went away.