The Orlando Magic are mostly riding high right now.
Up 3-2 in their series with the Detroit Pistons, their focus is squarely on trying to advance with a Game 6 victory at the Kia Center, in perhaps the biggest game in their arena's history.
The Magic are not focused on anyone but themselves.
With all four East series reaching six games for the first time since 2003 -- an inauspicious year for the Magic's series -- the picture of who advances in the Playoffs is not quite in focus yet.
Orlando has played significantly better this playoffs than the team did in the regular season. But even in these Playoffs, the Magic got a very brief reminder of why the team was the 8-seed.
The Magic have had to wear the 30-3 run they gave up to open the second quarter of Game 2 around their necks. It was the only thing keeping the Magic from a first-round sweep as it turned out -- or the inspiration that brought them to victories in Games 3 and 4.
They no longer need to wear that as the worst run in these Playoffs. Their 15-point Game 2 loss is no longer the worst single run in these Playoffs. As it turned out, the Orlando Magic's 52-point loss to the Toronto Raptors no longer looks so bad in comparison.
The Atlanta Hawks lost Game 6 at home 140-89 to the New York Knicks, bowing out of the playoffs with a huge whimper. The 51-point defeat was the biggest point differential in an elimination game since 1956 and the third-largest margin in an elimination game in NBA history.
New York went on a 31-4 run in the final 8:11 of the first quarter to put the game far out of reach. The Knicks buried the Hawks with a 31-7 run in the first 7:21 of the second quarter to lead by 50 points before halftime.
It does not get worse than that for any team in such a big spot. And it was a frustrating way to end a solid season for the Hawks, who unseated the Magic as Southeast Divison champions.
Those runs and this game certainly feel much worse than what happened in the Magic's most embarrassing loss of the season.
The Toronto Raptors put the Orlando Magic at their lowest this season with a 139-87 defeat on March 29. The loss was the worst defeat in Magic hisory. It also included an NBA-record 31-0 run.
The Game 2 loss in this year's playoff to the Detroit Pistons, where the Pistons went on a 30-3 run to turn a tie game at halftime into the only runaway victory in the series, was a painful reminder that the Magic that frustrated for most of the seaosn was still there.
Orlando's confidence has completely changed. It seems unlikely the team would face such a deep embarrassment any time soon. It does not seem likely to happen in the critical Game 6 either.
The Hawks lost Game 5 by 29 on the road. A blowout of this magnitude is always unlikely, but not impossible.
The Hawks will now have to wear that throughout the offseason. A terrible way to go out. And it clears the Magic of some of their embarrassment.
New York is the first East team to punch its ticket to the second round. The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers will head to a Game 7 after Boston lost a 3-1 series lead.
The Magic they have put their embarrassing and lifeless play behind them. They are still in position to advance.
And that could set the Magic up for some potential revenge against those Raptors in a seven-game series.
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