When the Orlando Magic were sitting at 1-4 through five games, it felt like alarm bells were constantly ringing. The whole project was at risk, and the Magic did not resemble anything like the team anybody promised.
The alarm bells have gone quiet. The Magic found their groove, quieted the noise and found their identity to close the first quarter of the season. They started to look like the team everyone imagined they could be.
It was never going to be a straight line to get to the team's hopes and dreams for the season.
There were perhaps too many changes to account for -- from an offense trying to play faster to the new pieces within the team and getting used to playing together again. But Orlando ended the first quarter of its season at 13-8 and showed signs of dominance.
It was a strange first 21 games. The first few games of the second quarter of the season have continued to show the team's potential and high ceiling. But the pieces are still coming together. Orlando has not played its best basketball yet.
The question then is: How quickly will the Magic find their groove? How quickly can they reach their peak? And after the slow start and finding themselves, can they still put themselves in a position to achieve their goals in the Eastern Conference?
Teams cannot win their season in the first quarter, but they can certainly lose it. Orlando did not lose anything in the first quarter. In fact, they may have survived one of the more difficult first-quarter schedules in the league.
The Magic will need to assert themselves in the second quarter. Where they finish at the end of the year might come down to how they perform heading into the midpoint of the season -- when the team travels from Berlin to London to face the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Magic have begun to round into form. But there are still plenty of questions to answer to get there.
1. What will this team look like when healthy?
Unfortunately, the Orlando Magic have to start with a question about their health yet again. It has quickly become the story for the season.
Jalen Suggs started the season on a minute restriction and missing back-to-backs as he recovered from a knee surgery in February. Paolo Banchero strained his groin 12 games into the season and missed the next 10 games. Franz Wagner suffered a high ankle sprain shortly after Paolo Banchero returned.
And then Jalen Suggs suffered a hip contusion that prompted the Magic to keep him out and let his other various injuries heal too.
The second quarter has started off with loads of injuries. And the Magic are trying to hold the ship together in the meantime.
The only thing Orlando has to hold onto as the team looks ahead to one day being healthy -- early or mid-January, maybe? Certainly, by the midpoint of the season -- is that there is proof of concept that what they do works and works at a high level.
Their starting lineup of Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter has a net rating of +18.0 points per 100 possessions (122.6 offensive rating/104.6 defensive rating) in 117 minutes across 11 games.
Among lineups with at least 100 minutes together this season, the Orlando Magic's starting group ranks third, behind only the Denver Nuggets' current starting lineup without Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun and the Oklahoma City Thunder's starting lineup.
It is just a lineup the Magic have seen so little. But they wanted to know if they could play at a higher level. Their revival after the slow start was coming anyway. But they at least have some idea that their main lineup works.
They just need to see it on the floor.
2. Who is the real Paolo Banchero?
There was undoubtedly a lot of excitement for the Orlando Magic's season.
It was not just the potential from the acquisition of Desmond Bane. Bane got off to a slow start shooting as he tried to acclimate to his new team. Everyone seemed to be going out of their way to try to make everyone feel comfortable.
Bane eventually found his fit. His game-winning shot against the Portland Trail Blazers was a turning point for the season. It set him on the right path.
But all is still not completely right.
The Magic banked on their health, for sure. They knew there would be some moment when they would have to fill in and step up. But they likely banked on another big leap from Paolo Banchero.
Slowed down by the early-season groin injury, Banchero has not quite lived up to the billing. Even before his injury.
Before his injury, Banchero averaged 21.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game with 46.1/25.0/76.6 shooting splits with 9.6 free throw attempts per game. Banchero was starting to find his groove as a playmaker and rebounder. But his poor shooting was a major concern.
It remains a concern as he is shooting 27.5 percent on jumpers, according to Synergy Sports.
It was not the leap into superstardom and perennial All-NBA play the Magic were betting on -- and gave him the bonus for going for.
Banchero has been a bit slow in his return, too. Some of that is a natural ramp-up. His triple-double in Thursday's loss to the Denver Nuggets was encouraging. But there is still a lot left on the board. Orlando needs Banchero at his best to achieve their goals.
He has done little to quiet his critics as the Magic try to compete for a championship.
3. Will Orlando Magic's pace last?
The biggest transformation for the Orlando Magic has come with their pace and the speed at which they are playing. Orlando was determined to play faster in training camp and pick up the tempo. The team wanted to use its defense to power its offense and transition play.
The turnaround is stunning.
The Magic were last in the league in pace last year at 96.5 possessions per 48 minutes and 26th in the league with 17.9 transition possessions per game, despite being one of the best teams at forcing turnovers. Orlando had to play a lot in the half-court and struggled to score.
This year has been completely different. The Magic are 11th in pace at 101.5 possessions per 48 minutes. They are sixthi n the league with 23.0 transition possessions per game and third in the league with 1.21 points per possession in transition.
It is the big reason why the Magic are 10th in offensive rating despite still shooting pretty poorly.
The question is whether Orlando can build an offense on this pace alone. And whether this is an identity that sticks and becomes consistent for the team throughout the season.
4. Can the Orlando Magic feast on the bottom of the league?
The Orlando Magic did not get off to the start everyone imagined. They struggled out of the gates and did not claim the conference supremacy that everyone hoped for.
Orlando has recovered. The Magic are in a logjam of teams that occupy the 3-7 seeds in the Eastern Conference at the moment. And the Magic, despite their injuries, seem poised to make a push up the standings.
That is because they have played the second-hardest schedule in the league so far, according to ESPN's RPI ratings. Orlando is 8-11 against teams with records better than .500, playing the most game sin the league so far against those teams.
The Magic are 7-1 against teams with records worse than .500.
And the schedule is about to lighten up with 13 of the next 16 games against teams with records worse than .500. That would take the Magic past the midpoint of the season.
Orlando has feasted on the worst teams in the league for the past two seasons. The team has not had many opportunities yet this year. But the next month is likely going to enable the Magic to add to their record.
Injuries could derail that. But Orlando should still have enough to pick up wins. This is a big quarter of the season to build some cushion and feast on some bad teams.
5. How will the rotation change?
Injuries create opportunity. It is a universal truth that a team is going to need every player on their roster at some point. It is what those players do with that opportunity that matters.
Orlando is still clarifying its rotation right now with all the injuries. The Magic have not seen their starters play enough together. And so there is still an opportunity for players to make it undeniable that they should play when the team starts having to pare things down.
There are already plenty of players who are pushing for playing time as some veterans have struggled.
Jett Howard has turned in the best season of his career, averaging 5.8 points per game and shooting 38.2 percent from three. Both rookies, Jase Richardson and Noah Penda, have been impressive in their limited minutes and seem capable of handling more.
That is a good thing the team wants to see. Especially with the trade deadline on the horizon and the need to cut some payroll and improve the roster.
It is not clear if the Magic are ready to move Tyus Jones out of the rotation for Jase Richardson. It is not clear if they have confidence in Noah Penda to give the same defensive impact as Jonathan Isaac.
But everyone is having that conversation. This team's playoff rotation is not set in stone.