5 questions the Orlando Magic must answer in the third quarter of the 2022 season
5 questions for the Orlando Magic’s third quarter of the season
Can the Orlando Magic build momentum at home?
The Orlando Magic have had a rough schedule to this point.
According to ESPN’s RPI measurement, the Magic have played the 12th-toughest schedule so far. According to Tankathon, they have the 10th-hardest remaining schedule.
That will change quickly though. The schedule is backloaded with home games — 11 of the final 15 games are at the Amway Center.
In fact, as David Steele pointed out on the Bally Sports Florida broadcast Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Orlando Magic have played the most road games of any team in the league so far. And they are at a near-historic number of road games for this point of the season.
The Orlando Magic’s five-game homestand that begins Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers is needed just to get some time in one place, get a practice or two in and reset batteries.
Yes, this homestand feels like the perfect time to bring back injured players — like Markelle Fultz — but everyone needs the chance to reinforce some habits and tighten things up within the safe confines of the AdventHealth Practice Facility.
Of course, home has not been sweet for the Magic so far.
Orlando is a league-worst 2-16 at home this year. The next worst team has seven wins at home — the Detroit Pistons are 7-14 and the Houston Rockets are 7-13.
Those two wins are really nice wins. They beat the Utah Jazz with a fourth-quarter rally and the Denver Nuggets with a second-half rally. It is certainly not that Orlando is not capable of winning big games at Amway Center. And the crowd got behind the team in both of those games.
But the lasting images of the home schedule so far have been loud “Let’s Go Heat” chants when the Miami Heat visited in December and “M-V-P” chants for Joel Embiid when the Philadelphia 76ers were in town in January.
It is not pleasant to think about what LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will do to the Amway Center to open this homestand.
No matter how bad a team is, getting home wins is big to building trust and faith with the fan base.
Why are fans, despite knowing this is a rebuilding team, kind of dour on this team? First, the Magic are by far the worst team in the league by record. Second, there are few wins at the Amway Center to make Magic fans believe in the project.
There have obviously been few chances at the Amway Center because of the schedule. But Orlando has to build some momentum on their home floor.
It is the way for the Magic to get a few wins and build some confidence. That is at least the logic. So far it has not played out for Orlando this year.
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Fortunately, there are more chances at the Amway Center coming. And they have a lot to accomplish to get their fans on board to end the season.