Orlando Magic turn toward home as preseason nears its end

The Orlando Magic have been playing from behind all preseason it feels like.

Their first quarter on the road to start the preseason — with three different starting lineups in their games so far — have left something to be desired. But the resilience the team has shown to bounce back and get back into games has been admirable.

Preseason is not necessarily about the time and score all the time. It is about making progress and putting all the pieces together when the games start to count.

Despite some clear moments of frustration and struggle, the Magic have had moments of breakthrough and success.

The team is clearly eager for the season to start. They are also eager to be back at the Amway Center for the first time.

The Orlando Magic’s preseason is winding down into its final week. Back at home, the Magic have to start tying everything together.

The beginning of this week could very easily be seen as the “back 9” of the preseason and the time to tie things together. Doing at home with the chance to show off this team as it comes together in front of the home crowd is extra motivation.

"“It’s always good,” Wendell Carter said after practice Monday. “They always come with good energy and help us pull out a lot of games. It’s always good to play with your home crowd. I think Orlando has some of the best fans. They are always ride or die no matter what we’ve got going. I’m excited to give them the new look Orlando Magic.”"

It has indeed been a new look Magic despite the similarity to last year’s roster. The Magic have spent their preseason experimenting and testing things out leading to plenty of mixed results in the process.

That is part of what preseason is for and the Magic are taking advantage of the time they have to try things out before the games count.

For instance, the Magic have spent a lot of time trying different players as the main ball handler, inverting the roles of their centers and guards and trying to figure out how to unlock their offense.

It is all clearly a work in progress. But the team has put a lot of focus on trying to leverage the versatility of its roster. And these games have been spent testing those limits — to both success and failure.

The Magic are still going to experiment and try things out even in this final week before the games count.

Coach Jamahl Mosley would not commit to running the Magic’s regular-season rotation. He is still getting a look at different lineup combinations and even different roles within those lineups.

The experimentation should continue. But it will start to dial back some as the team tries to find something to rely on as the games begin to count. That process could well begin in these preseason games as the team narrows its focus for the games that count.

There is still a lot to learn and grow with though. It is not just about figuring out the limits for each individual. The team has to tie everything together.

Orlando reduced its mistakes and turnovers significantly against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday and reaped at least some of the benefits, erasing an early deficit to win the game (although Luka Doncic sat the second half). That is a good sign of how things are coming together.

The Magic want to see that progress continue as they cement their play style and philosophy for the season.

"“The guys are picking things up pretty good,” Mosley said after practice Monday. “Obviously we’re going over sets more and more. Defensively, we’re understanding our base and our foundation. The guys are doing a great job communicating with each other and the things that we need and echoing what needs to be done on both sides of the ball.”"

There are still plenty of mistakes to make and plenty of things to learn for this team. The final preseason games — and even much of this season — are not about preventing mistakes.

If anything that is something this team has struggled with in the preseason. The fear of making mistakes can be a paralyzing agent for any young team. And Orlando certainly does not want the team to be afraid to make mistakes.

The goal is to limit repeated mistakes. And that is where the team is still working to improve. That is where everything is still trying to tie together.

And that is the purpose for this week as much as anything. Orlando is looking to clean up some of those mistakes and get more comfortable playing together. This is a chance to tie things together and take steps to be ready for the regular season.

"“I feel like we are making a lot of progress,” Carter said after practice Monday. “It takes time especially with a young team to understand all the reads out of every play, understand when to run certain plays, when not to, different defensive coverages throughout the shot clock. With a young team and their first time playing in the league, it’s going to take some time. All the new guys on the team are buying into what the coaches are trying to install in us.”"

The preseason is about progress. Even if it is an evolving process.

It will be something that continues to develop as the season begins next week. The Magic have a lot of learning to do.

The preseason has been about experimenting and discovering what the team can do with this roster. The team has spent its time exploring this roster.

But the time to prepare for the regular season is ending. The Magic are going to start tying things together soon with just a week before the games start to count.

Some time at home should help with that process.