We have had a few days to sit with the schedule now.
The big games are easy to circle and the dates that we care about are obvious. Everyone is looking forward to the Orlando Magic's 14 national TV games, including five at the Kia Center. They are looking forward to that opening night game against the Miami Heat and the opening three-game homestand.
Everyone is looking forward to the team's pair of games in Europe. Everyone is just generally looking ahead to the season.
For the most part, every team will face the same schedule. There are some advantages and disadvantages -- such as the number of back-to-backs and games with rest advantage of disadvantage. Most of those appear to break even for the Magic.
Now everyone is doing their deep dives (mine is coming in a bit). Everyone is getting to see where the soft spots and hard spots might be. After all, no one can predict how good or bad anyone might be this season.
When I initially went through the schedule, my early impression was that Orlando had a good chance to get off to a hot start in the first quarter of the season.
The Magic would face their share of elite teams and get some national TV showings. But for the most part, the schedule would be balanced and allow them to wrack up plenty of wins.
Even the team's season-long five-game road trip early in the season feel fairly manageable with plenty of opponents who did not make the playoffs -- although one is the Philadelphia 76ers.
A cursory look at the schedule suggested we would learn a lot about the Magic in the first two months of the season. In reality, it should be a chance to race to the front of the pack in the Eastern Conference.
The Magic's first two months has one major advantage
The Orlando Magic will open their season with three straight home games, the longest season-opening homestand in franchise history and the first time the Magic have opened with consecutive home games since the 2016 season.
That is followed by a season-long five-game road trip. But even that trip is not too difficult with the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards on the slate, along with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks make up the other two games on that trip.
Through the first eight games, Orlando has the chance to get off to a very strong start. On paper, the Magic are likely to be favored in every game -- even the finale against the Hawks in Atlanta on Nov. 4.
That trip is followed by seven of the next nine games at the Kia Center, where the Magic started 10-0 last year to climb into the top seeds in the East.
The second look at the schedule confirms that the start of the season could be big for the Magic. Orlando could be a team that gets out of the gates fast. And that could set them up for the season they imagined.
A lot of that has to do with where the Magic's opponents are from right out of the gate.
"By mid-November, Orlando will be the top seed in the East and have the overall best record in the NBA," Alex Speers predicted on The Athletic NBA Daily podcast. "They do not play a Western Conference team until Nov. 10, and that team is Portland. They don't play a Western Conference team that made the Playoffs until Nov. 16 when they face Houston. Their first 10 games are all against the Eastern Conference, none of whom are the Knicks or the Cavs."
Taking that point a bit further, the Magic play only four Western Conference teams in the first 20 games of the season -- the other two are home games against the Golden State Warriors and the LA Clippers.
That always comes back around. Every Eastern Conference team has 30 games against the Western Conference. Orlando will not hit its first West Coast road trip until after the NBA Cup in December. The team's second West Coast trip is not until right after the All-Star Break (which could be some nasty jet lag for any players who make the All-Star Game played in Los Angeles).
Every team in the East has to worry about those long West Coast trips. The Magic may not be as concerned with their trips out West this season. They are certainly not thinking too hard about the Western Conference to start the season.
Then again, Orlando took a West Coast trip very early in the 2024 season and turned out just fine.
Either way, if the Western Conference is indeed tougher, the Magic will not see any of those teams until they are more established as a team. That is theoretically a favorable stretch.
The start has been vital before
The Orlando Magic will still have tough games early in the season. They face the Atlanta Hawks twice and the Detroit Pistons in the first 20 games. Those are teams who will also be aiming for the same spot in line the Magic are fighting for.
The Orlando Magic face the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in Nov. 12. The Magic face their share of playoff teams to start the season.
But the lack of any Western Conference teams should give the Magic a chance to stack up wins and build some cushion.
A strong start has been vital in the team's previous 50-win seasons. In all of their 50-win seasons, the Magic almost always started the first quarter of the season 10 games above .500, at least.
Season | First 20 Games | Final Record |
|---|---|---|
1993-94 | 11-9 | 50-32 |
1994-95 | 16-4 | 57-25 |
1995-96 | 16-4 | 60-22 |
1999 | 14-6 | 33-17* |
2007-08 | 16-4 | 52-30 |
2008-09 | 15-5 | 59-23 |
2009-10 | 16-4 | 59-23 |
2010-11 | 15-5 | 52-30 |
The Magic will know from the very start of the season if they are in store for a big year. Their best teams have always flown out of the gate.
That likely would not matter who the opponent is in the end. The good teams can and should beat anybody.
For a Magic team still trying to prove that they will be in that group, the start of the season will be vital. It will be their chance to make a statement.
Indeed, the schedule is set up for them to do so and gain confidence for this critical season.