Before the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics tipped off their series nearly a month ago, coach Joe Mazulla warned that the Magic were not the typical 7-seed.
He said the Magic were a good team and well-coached and were better than a 7-seed. The Magic would challenge the Celtics' ability to defend without fouling, their ability to rebound and their ability to match the Magic's physicality. Those were all he things Orlando would test.
This was still an interesting clash of styles. Many compared the Magic's young forwards to the Celtics' young forwards. In many ways, this was a face-off of teams with similar dispositions and philosophies. This was the Magic looking at their future.
Orlando had to use this as a measuring stick of how far the team has come and has left to go.
The Magic were under no delusions that this would be easy for them. They were the ones making up a deficit. They expected a lot from themselves, and losing in five games was disappointing. Orlando could not muster enough offense to take advantage of the pockets their defense created.
But it was a critical moment for this team. They knew they would get this lesson at some point, going up against a championship team. Against an experienced team with title aspirations, the Magic saw just how close and how far they are from contention.
The lessons from this series will carry with the Magic into their offseason, cementing core beliefs about their team but also making clear the areas they need to improve.
"You have to take the lesson," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Game 5. "You have to reflect on it as you go forward this summer and not look at an excuse. But how can you improve on the next season? What did they do so well that you gave yourself a chance but you didn't get over the hump. I think you have to be able to look back and reflect on specific things that we need to work on as players as well as coaches to be able to see what we need to do better and get over that hump."
Orlando saw on one hand that the team can compete with the best. But it also saw that there is still a lot of work to do to get to that level. The urgency is high to make up that deficit.
Orlando stood toe to toe with Boston throughout the series. The Celtics could not run and hide in the first two games. The Magic won Game 3. Boston needed a heroic effort from Jayson Tatum in the final minutes of Game 4.
In many ways, the Magic were not far from the Celtics in that regard.
A wide gulf
But it was still a five-game series. There is still this wide gulf between the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics.
Orlando's defense was viewed as stellar throughout the series. But it still gave up 117.4 points per 100 possessions, the third-worst mark in the Playoffs. The low possession count accounts for the relatively low scores.
It was still not the series the Magic wanted.
"We wanted to go to the second round," Paolo Banchero said after Game 5. "I don't think anyone is necessarily happy that we didn't get blown out four games. That wasn't the goal. The goal was to win and go to the second round. I'm not taking any moral victories from this series. The goal is to win."
The numbers would back up how much the team has to improve.
The 118.4 defensive rating in Game 5, when the Celtics finally broke through the dam of the Magic's defense, was only the third-best offensive rating the Celtics posted all series.
Orlando still found itself fouling too much and still found itself giving up pockets of good shooting.
Struggling offense holds the team back
Those only felt worse because the Orlando Magic's offense was so anemic.
The 27th-ranked offense in the regular season did not show up outside of Banchero and Wagner in the Playoffs. Wendell Carter was the only other player to average 10.0 points per game.
Orlando posted a 103.8 offensive rating in the series. The Magic shot 26.3 percent from three.
It is tough to play elite defense against the best teams in the league for an entire 48 minutes. At some point the offense must carry its weight. And the Magic know that well now.
That was part of the message president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman delivered during exit interviews. The team plans to make "win-now" moves. And clearly the Magic's offense is not good enough for anyone to consider the Magic more than plucky team.
Orlando exited the series with more assurances of who the team is and its identity. But it left knowing there is work to do.
Championship precision
Playing the Boston Celtics and seeing the precision they play with was a critical lesson for this team. The Orlando Magic crumbled for stretches that were too long that left them an impossible hill to climb.
In the end, the decisive moment was the end of Game 4 when Jayson Tatum buried shots and the Magic could not answer. The Magic could feel the calm and composure the Celtics brought. they could see that champion's confidence that comes from experience.
"They're champions," Banchero said after Game 5. "I think we could see that and we felt that with the way they played their poise, how it seemed like nobody on the court for them was afraid of the moment or afraid to step up. I think you can learn from the experience.
The Magic will spend their offseason trying to define what a championship Magic team looks like. Everyone will take the lessons from this series and learn from it.
Orlando knows it has the star power to compete. It knows it has the defense to compete.
What the Magic are missing is the offensive support to keep up and matchup. They are missing the experience and precision too. The Celtics were playing on another level, even when the Magic took away their biggest weapon.
There is clearly still work to do.
"In some ways, it's a blessing that you just got done playing the champions," Mosley said at exit interviews. "You were just on the court with the NBA champion of last year. You understand what they did, how they played, what was different, what you need to do. You got to see that in real time. Your ability to know how you have to work this summer, how you have to approach this summer, the things you need to do, how you have to focus your mind, your body and your spirit to get right and come back and play the style of basketball that you need to get back to that level."
Orlando knows it will learn a lot from this series and this experience. It will make the team better in the long run if they take advantage of it.