Eastern Conference Standings Check: Orlando Magic trying to stay in striking distance

Markelle Fultz laid down the gauntlet for the Orlando Magic just before training camp. It would have been the rallying cry for the team to shock the world and surprise everyone with a playoff chase.

It was a sign of the internal confidence of the team and the belief they have in themselves. In the back halls of the Amway Center, they could see what was building and cooking. They could see the talent that was on the roster.

There is nothing wrong with a little bit of confidence. And nothing wrong in believing the absolute best version of a team. Even with its depleted status the Magic do look like a team with playoff potential.

Reality though often does not meet expectations. Well-laid plans do not work out. And the hopes of making the Play-In Tournament or the Playoffs for the Magic had to take a back seat to basic survival with the injuries the team has suffered.

Injuries have defined the Orlando Magic’s season so far. As the team turns toward the second quarter of the season, they are already struggling to keep pace in the standings.

For sure, the Magic’s main organizational goal this year is simply to evaluate the roster. Orlando wants to see the pieces it has and how best to build around the best players on the team — right now clearly Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.

The Magic would love a healthy roster to see the whole thing come together but injuries are the biggest impediment to anything right now. Orlando has played the fifth-most clutch games in the league this season at a record of 3-9.

At 5-13, the margins for error are very small. And losing those close games is very much the difference between the Magic having the confidence to make a push for the Play-In Tournament or languishing at the bottom of the standings.

The fact they are doing this with all the injuries they have suffered is still quite impressive. Even if the results ultimately are what they are. Orlando has quite a lot of work to do.

This first quarter of the season has been about survival then. It has been about the team just trying to keep its head above water and establish an identity all the while surviving a host of injuries.

There has barely been any time to focus on the standings, other than to know the team is falling down with each loss.

For now, it is about keeping contact with the leaders.

The Orlando Magic find themselves 3.5 games back of the Brooklyn Nets for the final Play-In Spot. It is still early in the season to consider that an impossible margin to make up. But it is also pretty clear that it will take a roughly .500 record ot make the Play-In Tournament. That is a lot of ground for the Magic to make up.

And their schedule the next month — despite eight of their next 11 at the Amway Center — is a tough one. Orlando faces only one team with a sub-.500 record in its next 11 games and it is Brooklyn at 9-10.

This next month is going to determine whether the Magic can make a surprising play-in run or whether the team is going to sink deeper into the standings.

Orlando is likely to get players back in the next month during this stretch too — Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter are day-to-day with their injuries, Markelle Fultz and Moe Wagner returned to practice Wednesday, Cole Anthony is expected to return in early December (at least by his own estimation) and Jonathan Isaac should be inching closer with a late-December five-game homestand looking like a good target for his return.

That will give the Magic all the chances they want to evaluate their roster. Whether that will come in games that have competitive meaning or just a general sink to the bottom is up in the air.

But this Thanksgiving Day is a good day to take a step back and look at the standings and where the Magic stand. Already, there is a clear pecking order becoming established. And perhaps by doing this, the magic can see their path ahead and a chance to work their way into the play-in picture.