The Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons have a history.
Two years ago, the Magic were in Detroit when Moe Wagner and Killian Hayes went after a loose ball heading into the backcourt. Wagner shoved Hayes into the Pistons' bench and the Pistons bench mobbed Wagner leading to the Magic leaving their bench to try to calm tension (or inflame them as it may have been).
Suspensions were handed out and everyone moved on with their day.
Saturday night, the two teams got into it again. Wendell Carter and Isaiah Stewart fought for a loose ball and got tangled up in front of the Magic's bench. The two needed to be separated with Carter calmly walking away while Stewart kept jawing at the Magic's bench.
That was not the end of it. In this very physical game that featured 48 total fouls, 66 total free throws and six technical fouls, JB Bickerstaff would get ejected with consecutive fourth-quarter technical fouls and Paolo Banchero picked up a technical foul in the third quarter for a not-safe-for-work response to an and-1 he made against Isaiah Stewart.
The game had all the chippiness and hallmarks of something the Magic do not really have right now: A rivalry.
Some of it had to do with the game's stakes. Even though it was late January, the game had a lot riding on it. The Magic and Pistons are standings neighbors and locked in a battle for the moment for the 6-seed and the final guaranteed playoff spot. The game was also for the season series, something both coaches acknowledged was important.
The Orlando Magic faced another one of those games Monday against an established geographic rival: the Miami Heat.
The Magic are only a half-game behind the Heat for sixth in the Eastern Conference and the Southeast Division lead. A win for the Magic would have given them their first season-series victory over the Heat since 2019.
There has always been a geographic rivalry between the Magic and the Heat. And with Miami constantly a title contender, they have become a measuring stick for the Magic as they try to make their way in the East.
Wins over the Heat mean something still to this team.
And it clearly still means something to the fans, even though the Heat appear to be on their way down the standings while the Magic are on their way up. They are still a team the Magic have to pass.
In honor of the NBA's Rivals Week, I asked Magic fans to name the Magic's biggest rivals and the Heat were the overwhelming pick:
It's NBA Rivals Week! That had me thinking... Who are the #Magic's biggest rivals?
— Orlando Magic Daily (@OMagicDaily) January 21, 2025
I have some thoughts and will share these results later this week. If the team you think isn't here, reply with your response!
There is something to the charged atmospheres that often follow Magic-Heat games at Kia Center. After Orlando's blowout win in the season's opening game, Magic fans let their voices be heard in the Kaseya Center in a major way.
There is definitely some bad blood.
But that rivalry goes without saying because of the geographic proximity. Who are the Magic's rivals? Or better yet, who will be?
The NBA completed its Rivals Week slate of nationally televised games Saturday. The Magic, of course, were not featured during those games. They are a team still establishing itself in the league's zeitgeist and narratives.
The league does not quite know what to do with the Magic—thus the seemingly low five scheduled national TV games (with one added on for advancing in the NBA Cup).
That is fair too when it comes to the Rivals Week notion. The Magic are still establishing rivalries and the teams they will be competing with moving forward.
Rivalries are ultimately made on the court through intense, high-stakes games. And the Magic do not have a lot of playoff games under their belt.
They largely parted from their series with the Cleveland Cavaliers with mutual respect and a solid pronouncement of their potential. The Cavs leaped into title contention this year and the Magic are dealing with injuries keeping them from their full potential.
There are still mini-rivalries that exist for the Magic.
The Toronto Raptors' fans have weird hate for Jalen Suggs after their team passed on him to take Scottie Barnes. The Pistons have started something with the Magic as they make their first foray into playoff contention.
The league has tried to force the Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder onto national TV to play up the Paolo Banchero/Chet Holmgren matchup as the top two picks of the 2022 NBA Draft.
The team is still carving out its storylines and the teams they are fighting. But already we can sense which rivalries will emerge. Here are four teams that we could see becoming the Magic's big rival:
1. Indiana Pacers
The Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers have not played any games of standings significance. But as a team like the Milwaukee Bucks starts to age, there is a spot open in the top four in the Eastern Conference. Someone has to fill it.
It feels like in the battle for the next up-and-coming contender in the Eastern Conference, it will come down to the Magic and the Pacers.
A potential playoff series between the two would be fascinating, to say the least. They are opposites with the Pacers playing a fast-paced, high-scoring offense and the Magic playing a drag-out defensive style that slows teams down. They have played some surprisingly competitive games with the Magic coming out on top—4-2 in the last two years.
Paolo Banchero dropped 50 points on them in a win earlier in the season. The Magic have been the Pacers' Kryptonite, holding the Pacers to a 109.5 offensive rating.
There has been some chippiness in this series.
Tyrese Haliburton appeared on WWE NXT at the Capitol Wrestling Center in Winter Park and threw shade at the Magic. The Magic and Pacers could be battling each other for a long time.
For now, Game 81 between the Magic and the Pacers is a big one with potential standings positioning on the line in the penultimate game this season.
2. Cleveland Cavaliers
If rivalries are built in the playoffs and in meaningful games, then the only team the Orlando Magic have played in that setting is the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Their seven-game series was very much the new kids on the block taking on a more veteran playoff team. So the fact the Magic took the series to seven games was a major statement. And it speaks to how thin the margins are in the playoffs. The Cavs could look very different if they had not won that Game 7 at home.
The two teams have moved at different speeds. The Cavaliers reached the Play-In and did an all-in move for Donovan Mitchell. They got supercharged when they fired their developmental coach in JB Bickerstaff for a championship-experienced coach (as an assistant at least) in Kenny Atkinson.
That the Cavs zoomed to the top of the standings while the Magic somewhat stagnated or had less lofty goals this season has cut into the rivalry potential.
They have played each other just once since the playoff series and that was the first game the Magic played without Paolo Banchero. They still have a nationally televised meeting in late February after the All-Star Break (a big game for the Magic as their only likely healthy game on national TV before the playoffs).
Still, the Magic and the Cavs are going to be competing against each other for a long time. And, at least for now, they can claim to be somewhat equals because of that playoff series last year. The Magic and Cavs are going to have more battles in the years to come.
3. Boston Celtics
At this point, everyone in the Eastern Conference is trying to dislodge the Boston Celtics from their perch atop the conference. They are the defending champions and have been to the Eastern Conference Finals in six of the last eight seasons.
They are the standard in the Eastern Conference. And whoever is going to lay claim to the conference crown has to go through them.
Orlando is not quite on Boston's level yet. But the team has scored some pretty big wins over the Celtics and there is a sense that the Magic's mix of size and versatility could be what stymies the Celtics. The results are mixed.
That Orlando has those wins over Boston, including this year's comeback win without Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, speaks to the potential for this to be a heated series when the teams get there.
But the Magic have also gotten blown out plenty, like this year's loss at TD Garden. The Magic are not quite on the Celtics' level yet.
Orlando and Boston will have a playoff battle soon. And that is when the rivalry will take off. Orlando honestly will not know where the team stands on their path to a title until they face the Celtics head-on.