After last season's success, Orlando is looking for a way to take the next step. For most players that entails securing homecourt advantage for the 2025 playoffs. The Magic experienced how important homecourt advantage is during their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The home team won every game in that series, giving the Cavaliers an edge in Game 7.
Thus, the regular season will be incredibly important, and the team cannot take a random game in January for granted. The Eastern Conference has improved, as several teams made big moves and All-Stars Paul George and Karl-Anthony Towns moved conferences.
As a result, there has been a debate about whether Orlando would take a step forward or backward. After all, growth in the NBA is not always linear, and the competition for the top five seeds in the conference will be tough. The Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Milwaukee Bucks, and Philadelphia 76ers are already penciled into four of the playoff spots.
Nevertheless, people in and around the team seem convinced that the Magic will move forward. To do that, the Magic will have to leapfrog some of the more prominent Eastern Conference teams in the standings.
3. Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are an interesting case going into the season after signing Paul George away from the Clippers. However, the 76ers stated that Joel Embiid would not be playing in back-to-backs. The team is scheduled to play 15 back-to-backs, meaning Embiid will miss a significant number of games. Last season, the 76ers went 16-27 without Embiid, and George may also have scheduled rest this season. That does not bode well for the team’s regular season record.
Although the expectation was for the 76ers to compete at the top of the Eastern Conference after signing Paul George, it seems the plan is now to just get Embiid and George to the playoffs. As long as they secure a playoff spot, the 76ers might be willing to sacrifice some regular season wins.
One cannot fault the 76ers for not being focused on seedlings but rather on being healthy when the playoffs begin, even if their regular season record will suffer because of it. The Magic have to be ready to take advantage of this to finish ahead of Philadelphia. It may be their best opportunity to sneak into the top of the Eastern Conference standings and secure homecourt advantage.