The Orlando Magic exited their season with a touch of optimism.
The team was so young that there were not many — if any — expectations for the team to win. Everyone understood this was a rebuilding season and it would not be about wins and losses. The Magic themselves made this clear.
And so a 22-60 season followed.
It was one that brought plenty of hope — Markelle Fultz’s return and the emergence of Wendell Carter and Franz Wagner — but also plenty of concern. Any time a team has one of the worst records in the league — even when it is expected — there are plenty of reasons for concern.
The Magic still have a lot of work to do to climb the ranks of the NBA. It may not be as far as anyone thinks, but it is still a big jump for the Magic to get from here to the playoffs.
Still, there were a lot of really good moments for the Magic throughout the season. The team is selling its fans on hope and the way this team could play. And so it was important to have big moments and good moments to build on.
The Orlando Magic did not have the best season by record this year. But there were still plenty of memorable games and big moments to build on.
The best games of the season are hints of what the team can be. And they are all signs of what the Magic are trying to build. They are not anything that should be ignored or pushed aside so quickly.
As we continue our recap of the season and reflect back on the 2022 season, we are here to rank the top-10 games of the season that just got completed.
In it, you see plenty of things to be excited about and plenty of things to hold onto as the Magic begin to look ahead to their future ahead.
Here are our top 10 games of the 2021-2022 season.
Top 10 Orlando Magic games of the 2022 season
10. Undermanned victory — at Brooklyn Nets (Dec. 18)
The Orlando Magic were in a panic on Dec. 17.
They were set to play the Miami Heat at the Amway Center when the positive tests started to come through. The rest of the league was also experiencing a sudden surge of positive tests sending swaths of players into health and safety protocols.
The league’s largely successful vaccination efforts kept players from any serious after-effects from this wave, but the league still had its protocols to slow the spread if it penetrated the NBA family.
The Magic got through the heavily regulated 2021 season without many encounters with the health and safety protocols. But there was no getting around it this time.
With a game a few hours away and the NBA hesitant to cancel any games, the Magic quickly called up four players on emergency 10-day contracts to try to fill out their roster and have a legal roster. Little-used Mychal Mulder got a start that night against the also-undermanned Miami Heat.
The Magic lost that game. But that only presented the next problem: What do they do for their game the next night in Brooklyn?
That game against the Brooklyn Nets felt like a schedule loss regardless of who was playing for the Nets or the Magic. But bringing about a group of players called up from the Lakeland Magic on an emergency basis felt like a tall task.
But it is also super important for any team to be able to play the same way regardless of who is playing. And adding some new blood to the team — even if it was coming from Lakeland where they run similar stuff — had to be seamless.
The Nets were also shorthanded for this game. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden all missed the game. This was not some monumental, earth-shattering win that showed the team’s future. That is beyond the effort and cohesion they showed in going out and winning the game.
Orlando played with little consequence and the freedom showed. Robin Lopez scored 20 points. Gary Harris scored 17 points. Franz Wagner had only 14 points to go with 11 rebounds and six assists.
This was a team stuck together with duct tape and glue and somehow they created a fun and memorable night. Even if it does not mean much for the team’s future.
Top 10 Orlando Magic games of the 2022 season
9. Championship Upset — vs. Golden State Warriors (March 22)
It is always a show when the Golden State Warriors come rolling into town. They did not have Stephen Curry with them at this point because of an injury. But there is still the allure of the Warriors. And the Orlando Magic needed a playoff-caliber opponent to cement their strong play at that point of the season.
Or it could have been one last good win before the inevitability of tanking to end the season began to take hold. This was the last rush for a team that was drifting to the end of the season.
And it was quite the rush for the team.
Orlando lost an eight-point halftime lead thanks to a 36-19 third quarter for Golden State. That put the Magic down nine and it seemed like the typical loss for a rebuilding team, even against a Warriors team without its top star.
But the Magic fought back in a major way. Orlando outscored Golden State 29-16 in the fourth quarter, using the team’s newfound defense to help anchor the team to a win.
It was some supreme balance that carried Orlando to the win. Markelle Fultz was an initial spark, scoring six of his eight points early in the fourth quarter to set the tone.
But it was the other core pieces that closed it.
Wendell Carter had 19 points to lead the Magic and Franz Wagner added 18 points, including a game-clinching dunk when he caught the Warriors’ defense napping and cut backdoor to put the game finally out of reach.
That was a huge play in itself, the sign of a young team growing up and learning how to close a game. The Magic noted afterward how that game showed they were growing in these situations. Gone were some of the usual late-game flubs that young teams have or the missed shots. The Magic finished the game.
There were not a ton of wins for Orlando to hang its hat on this season against quality opponents. And that is a point of concern.
And this one comes with the major caveat that Curry was out for the game — the same guy who torched Orlando in San Francisco earlier in the year.
But there were still good things to take. There was still a solid defensive effort to hold Golden State to 90 points and a strong finish to give the Amway Center crowd something to cheer.
Top 10 Orlando Magic games of the 2022 season
8. Joel Embiid vs. Mo Bamba — at Philadelphia 76ers (Jan. 19)
Mo Bamba and Joel Embiid have a relationship beyond just simply being in the NBA. They were connected before Mo Bamba’s rookie season by their shared trainer Drew Hanlen (his client list of superstars is quite extensive, including Jayson Tatum).
There were plenty of videos in Bamba’s early career of him working out with the current MVP candidate. The two went at it with the veteran Embiid giving Bamba some welcome to the NBA moments during a preseason matchup his rookie year.
Bamba has struggled to find his footing though.
An injury his rookie year, the sudden surge into playoff contention for the team and a bout with COVID slowed down much of Bamba’s development. It got to his critical fourth season with Bamba still seeking consistency.
The rebuilding Magic gave Bamba his best opportunity. He averaged a career-high in points (10.6 per game), rebounding (8.1 per game), blocks (1.7 per game) and minutes (25.7 per game). He took advantage of the opportunity given to him this season.
No game seemed to show just how far Bamba had come in his rookie season than this January matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Bamba scored 32 points and made seven of his eight 3-pointers. He went toe to toe with Embiid for at least a half and kept the Magic in the game with his ability to space the floor. To his credit too, he added three blocks.
Bamba was the force that everyone envisioned when the Magic took him with the sixth pick in the draft back in 2018.
Of course, the real star of this game was Embiid. And it was clear exiting this game just how far Bamba still had to go.
Embiid scored 50 points in 27 minutes, making 17 of 23 shots. He powered the Sixers through the third quarter as Bamba started to slow down. Embiid made a strong MVP case — as he did for a lot of the season — in this game in perhaps his best individual game.
That is not something the Magic would like to remember. But at least for a half, it felt like there was a battle between two strong big men for the future. That part was at least worth remembering.
Top 10 Orlando Magic games of the 2022 season
7. Cole Anthony goes bonkers — vs. Utah Jazz (Nov. 7)
The energy for the Orlando Magic at the start of the season was a bit frenetic.
The team had a rookie head coach who was still getting a feel for how to manage a game. They had a young team that played with a lot of energy, but it was not quite focused on anything. They would have a long stretch in each game where everything was just not working and they would get buried.
The vibes were still good. But everything was not coming together. Orlando’s early-season play left a lot to be desired and it did not seem like anything from training camp really hardened yet.
The Magic already had a win and showed what they could do when it all came together when the Utah Jazz came to town on the second night of a back-to-back for Utah. The team still needed something to show they could put it all together.
What they got was a Cole Anthony performance for the ages and a defining early-season win for what the Magic were trying to build.
Anthony scored 33 points, highlighting it with two monster dunks in transition in the final moments of the game as the Magic climbed back and overtook the Jazz for the win. R.J. Hampton ended up getting the call to close the game and did some incredible work stymying Donovan Mitchell. R.J. Hampton also set up a big three for Gary Harris late in the game that helped clinch the victory.
This was a game full of chaotic energy. The kind of energy and spunk the Magic played with early in the season. The kind of bravado and vibes that carried the team through this difficult season.
The Magic got better as the season went on. This was a good burst from a young team early in the season to show the team had something to cook with.
Top 10 Orlando Magic games of the 2022 season
6. Kings of New York (again) — at New York Knicks (Nov. 17)
It was not a good early-season run for the New York Knicks. And maybe the first sign of trouble for the former Playoff team was how they played against the Orlando Magic in two home games in November.
The Knicks blew out the Magic in the team’s home opener in quite embarrassing fashion for the magic. Orlando returned the favor in New York. This last trip to Madison Square Garden was a big nail in the coffin.
The first one came from the bravado of Cole Anthony and Terrence Ross’ spark (more on that game in a bit). The second game came from the hustle and energy of this young team.
The highlight of the game came from Jalen Suggs. Late in the fourth quarter, he hunted an outlet pass like a free safety, stole the ball and flung an alley-oop to Wendell Carter that iced the game.
This was Suggs’ coming-out party in some ways. He scored only 13 points but only eight came in the fourth quarter as the Magic worked to put the game away.
Orlando had plenty of balance with Franz Wagner scoring 16 points and Terrence Ross scored 19 off the bench, building off his strong performance in the first meeting in New York.
What stood out about this game — as it did so many — is the way the team finished the game. Orlando went toe to toe with New York in the fourth quarter and made big plays like that Suggs steal down the stretch. That was a big point of growth for the Magic’s young team early in the season.
Orlando delivered a memorable win to lead the Magic early on.
Top 10 Orlando Magic games of the 2022 season
5. Franz Steps Up — vs. Denver Nuggets (Dec. 1)
The Orlando Magic knew they had something in Franz Wagner by this point of the season. The shift in perceptions and what Wagner could do was well underway. But this game against the Denver Nuggets cemented that Wagner could do something a whole lot more.
Wagner had a lot of highlight-worthy plays — two of them are still to come on this list. But one of the big moments that stood out to me was what happened at the end of this December game.
With the game tied late in the fourth quarter, Wagner pulled off a step-back move nobody thought he had in his game. He took two dribbles into the lane and then quickly retreated, stepping back into a go-ahead three-pointer.
If there were clues that Wagner could handle a lot more and take a bigger role offensively, this was it. That shot will hang with me as the potential Wagner could have as the leading scorer for the team.
Wagner ended the game with 15 points and five assists for the game. It was not Wagner’s biggest performance, but it was a big moment.
The takeaway from the game though became the Magic’s defensive potential.
Orlando gave up only 40 points in the second half to come from behind and take the victory. This was the core of what the Magic wanted to be. And to see it play out to get a win over a playoff opponent was a big step forward for the Magic.
Orlando was still finding its footing in early December. There was no consistency. But this was as much a sign of the future the team was looking to build as anything else at this point in the season.
Top 10 Orlando Magic games of the 2022 season
4. Bing Bong — at New York Knicks (Oct. 24)
The Orlando Magic were coming off a somewhat embarrassing home opener against the New York Knicks as they entered their third game of the season. A rematch with the Knicks on the road was going to be a tough test. Nobody was sure if this thing was going to work or if the team was going to be.
This was still nowhere near where the team was going to get or who the team wanted to be. They just needed a win.
And Cole Anthony delivered in what felt like a start-turning performance. It was the start of a fantastic November at the very least.
Anthony scored 29 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and dished out eight assists to lead the Magic to a victory. He was the one who was the driving force.
And the fact he gave a really entertaining postgame interview and shouted Bing Bong at the top of his lungs to silence the hometown New York crowd — with his mom and siblings sitting in friend Spike Lee’s courtside seats — this was just a fun night.
The real star of the evening was Terrence Ross who scored all 22 of his points in the fourth quarter. This was a classic Ross performance as he simply caught fire and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.
There were precious few of those Ross performances this season as he struggled to play with this young team.
The Magic needed an early win to celebrate. They made sure to shower coach Jamahl Mosley for his first win as a NBA head coach. And that was a big step for the team.
Orlando made sure that first win was a special and memorable one.
Top 10 Orlando Magic games of the 2022 season
3. This is a Magic City — vs. Chicago Bulls (Jan. 23)
Jalen Suggs got the Chicago Bulls’ broadcast in a fuss when he threw down a massive dunk over DeMar DeRozan and then pointed to his chest, shouting at someone on the floor. They were not happy that a player on a team at the bottom of the standings was seemingly puffing his chest and showing them up — never mind, the Magic were up big on the scoreboard too.
The real story was something that went deeper throughout the season.
Suggs said there were a few Bulls fans beneath the basket who were talking trash to him throughout the game. That dunk was a thunderous reminder of who the home team was and where the team still thinks it was going.
It was clear on the broadcast Suggs was showing off the “Magic” across his chest and shouting, “This is a Magic city.” He wanted to make sure everyone knew who the home team was.
That was a constant battle throughout the season, and players on the team recognized this struggle throughout the season.
There were several instances where opposing fans were louder than the Magic fans. By the end of the season, when fans were starting to buy in more to the process and the team that was getting built, the Magic fans started to fight back, creating some charged atmosphere inside the Amway Center.
But Orlando is still working to win back its fans and get them in the building to create the energy in their favor. That remains a huge storyline.
Orlando got this one game to enjoy and lay claim to their building. Suggs had 15 points and seven assists to help lead the Magic to the win. It was a big moment for the young guard and a big moment for this team where they did some work against a playoff-caliber team.
Top 10 Orlando Magic games of the 2022 season
2. Markelle Fultz’s return — vs. Indiana Pacers (Feb. 28)
The Orlando Magic’s season even from before the season began was always building up to the returns of both Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac.
It was clear how important both players were going to be to the team’s future and everyone was eager to see them return. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman said before the season began that their returns was one of the central goals for the upcoming season.
Isaac, obviously, never returned and has had at least some setback in his recovery. It took until after the All-Star Break for Fultz to make his return.
But it was well worth it.
Fultz stepped onto the court in the first quarter of the Magic’s second game after the All-Star Break and immediately made an impact.
There was Markelle Fultz shooting a pass to Franz Wagner for a dunk on an early possession. Then he was driving the lane and finishing with his usual flourish and athleticism. Then there was the pull-up jumper.
Nobody knew what to expect from Fultz when he stepped on the court. But it was like he did not miss a beat. And that continued through the rest of the season where Fultz was stellar for this team.
The night was just a special one for the team. Everyone on the team arrived wearing Fultz shir-seys in support of their teammate. Everyone seemed so excited and eager to celebrate his long-awaited return to the court. Fans were excited too.
It only grew from there. But that win over the Pacers when Fultz stepped onto the court was just a special night.
Top 10 Orlando Magic games of the 2022 season
1. Franz Wagner’s coming out party — at Minnesota Timberwolves (Nov. 1)
There was a fair amount of skepticism about Franz Wagner.
To the amateur draft observers, he felt like a safe pick. Someone who could fill in the gaps, be in the right spots and just produce within the flow of the offense.
That stuff obviously gets taken for granted. Coaches love that. But for a team just starting a rebuild, it always felt like the Magic would need more. They would need someone who could take the ball, drive the basket and jam it on someone. Or someone who could just score.
When it became clear Wagner was something more than everyone thought in the draft process was this night in Minneapolis.
The play of the game saw Wagner drive the lane and throw down a monster jam over Karl-Anthony Towns to put the exclamation point on the game.
His final statement that night: 28 points, 5-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc. It was the first big scoring game of the year for Wagner and immediately put him in the conversation as one of the best rookies in the class — one that he is still a part of in a very deep rookie class.
The rest of the team was not too shabby either.
Orlando erased a six-point deficit entering the fourth quarter with an incredible 43-19 quarter. Cole Anthony scored 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter and Franz Wagner had 10 in the quarter. The Magic just caught fire and put the screws to a Timberwolves team still seeking its identity and trying to shed some demons (the Magic would later beat the Timberwolves in similar fashion at home after the All-Star Break).
This was just another game that showed the fight of this Magic team and how much fun this group could be together. And it is a game that certainly stands out in a difficult season.