A lot can change in a week.
Exactly a week before, fans were booing the Orlando Magic off the floor for a 130-101 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The defeat seemed to assure the Magic would not escape the Play-In Tournament. Chants of "Fire Mosley" were audible from a group of fans behind the Magic's bench.
Coach Jamahl Mosley had no choice but to agree with their frustrations, at least.
Things looked bleak. The Magic's offseason decision seemed inevitable -- and potentially imminent. It felt like the Magic had packed it in for the season, resigned to their fate in the 9/10 Play-In Game. Nothing felt certain.
Four games later, the Magic are rolling, taking advantage of a softer schedule and taking care of their business with four straight wins. Everyone is looking up the standings and thinking of how the team can climb out of the Play-In.
Things change quickly.
"With us, it's just one game at a time," Mosley said of the whiplash of last week to this week. "But also in the league, just wait a week. The narrative changes."
The Orlando Magic are 44-36 and one game back of the fifth-place Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors. There is so little time, and the tiebreakers work against the Magic, that just one loss or one win by either team would keep the Magic from passing either team.
The path down the standings is equally precarious. The Orlando Magic are one game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Hornets. They do not own the tiebreaker in that case either. A single loss opens the door for either team to climb over them and into seventh and a home game in the Play-In Tournament.
That this is even part of the conversation after the Magic's frustrating three weeks following a seven-game win streak feels like a minor miracle.
It is a testament to Mosley. The Magic's beleaguered coach has some fight left in him. And his team does too.
The Magic may still have some big decisions to make this offseason. These momentary results will not change the offseason. But this team is no longer going down without a fight. Mosley has gotten his team back after a moment of disconnection.
Magic are responding to Mosley again
The booing and frustration with the team that centered on Jamahl Mosley a week ago was warranted.
The Orlando Magic face a narrow path to try to climb the standings because the team no-showed two games that it acknowledged were critical to their playoff hopes. A 52-point loss to the Toronto Raptors feels especially painful as it cost the team the tiebreaker in their playoff chase.
But considering how low the team was just a week ago, it is a credit to their coaching that they have fought hard to bounce back and give themselves a chance at it in these final games.
There is confidence again.
"It's been a rough season with a lot of ups and downs," Goga Bitadze said after Wednesday's win. "I think a huge part is coaches. Obviously, players are on the court, but the coaches have done a great job staying positive. You can't get down on yourself and bring negative energy. Mose has been nothing but positive all season. It's a tough season, a lot of injuries, a lot of ups and downs, but we stayed positive."
That was one of the traits that attracted the Magic to Mosley, who would usher them through the tough early rebuilding years. His relentless positivity and work ethic helped build a culture for this team.
The Magic might have recovered because Mosley has mostly put on blinders to the noise around him and the franchise and focused on the work with his team. That is how he has always been.
The team finally responded to it and have found something that has clicked again after a frustrating month that saw them slip in the standings.
Getting healthy has been a big factor, too. Everyone acknowledges that health has been the biggest thing holding the team back. Even a dash of Franz Wagner and Anthony Black has unlocked another level for this team.
Still, it felt like the Playoffs or escaping the Play-In was going to be an impossibility. It still might be -- one loss would lock the Orlando Magic into a Play-In spot just as one win for the Atlanta Hawks or Toronto Raptors would keep the Magic from overtaking them.
But this is a confident team once again.
"I think we have a good chance right now," Bitadze said after Wednesday's win. "Obviously, you never want to leave it up to the other teams for them to decide where you are going to be. That's where we are right now. We have to take care of business. We like every matchup, to be honest. I think we can go with anybody. Nobody wants to see us in a seven-game series. That's how we feel. We have to prove it, obviously."
That must be a credit to coaching. Mosley has never wavered in his belief and the team is believing again.
The league knows Mosley is a capable coach
A late-season push to climb to the 7-seed does not change the big picture.
Despite the win improvement, the Magic still feel stagnant, likely facing another first-round loss and another trip to the Play-In Tournament.
Orlando's defensive identity collapsed this season into the middle of the pack (14th in the league after finishing second last year). The offense has improved, but not nearly enough (18th, which, if it holds, would be the team's highest finish since 2012).
The expectation around the league is that the Magic will part with Mosley this offseason and seek a coach who can bring more structure and elevate the team into the contender class.
If that is the direction the Magic go, Mosley should be able to find a job quickly. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported that Mosley is still well-thought-of around the league and that the New Orleans Pelicans may be eyeing him for their vacant coaching position.
There should be several openings around the league if Mosley wants to dive right back into the storm after this season ends.
The situation in Orlando feels less like Mosley's failure as a coach (although he certainly has his flaws). It feels more like a message and a team that has gone stale and needs a shift to maximize the talent on the roster.
There will be a lot of time to discuss that when the offseason begins. Mosley's focus certainly is not there, even if nobody can be naive to the noise surrounding him.
Mosley has done what all great coaches do: Fight to the end. If this is his last stand, his team is proving how good of a coach he can be and fighting for him to end the season.