The Magic are currently in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with a 35-38 record. That is not what the team was hoping to do going into the season, but it is also not as bad as it could have been with all the injuries the Magic had to deal with this season.
Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero both missed significant time with oblique injuries, and Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner are both out for the season. So, the Magic had to rely heavily on young players like Anthony Black and Tristan da Silva and players who usually do not play much. While there were some rough stretches, the Magic still have a chance to get some more playoff experience this season.
The Magic are currently six games behind the Detroit Pistons, who hold the last immediate playoff spot, and they are unlikely to fight their way out of the Play-In Tournament before the end of the regular season. So, the Magic’s road to the playoffs won’t be easy, but the opportunity is still there.
If the season ended today, the Magic would start the postseason with a game against the Hawks
The Play-In Tournament consists of three games in each conference. First, the teams in seventh and eighth place and the teams in ninth and tenth place in each conference will face off. The winner of the 7-8 matchup moves on to the playoffs, facing the number two seed. The loser has to play the winner of the 9-10 matchup to decide which team gets the final playoff spot and has to face the team with the best record in the conference.
In the Eastern Conference, the four Play-In teams currently are the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, and Miami Heat. The Hawks and Magic have the advantage of getting two chances to secure a playoff spot. The Magic are also 2.5 games ahead of the Bulls and unlikely to fall into the bottom half of the Play-In Tournament if they finish the regular season strong.
If the season ended today, the Magic would have to face the Hawks in their first Play-In game. So far, the Magic have played the Hawks twice and still have two matchups left in April. Each team has won one game.
A win in that Play-In matchup would mean that the Magic would go on to face the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. A loss would mean that the Magic would have to face either the Bulls or the Heat and go on to face the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round or head into an early offseason.
If the season ended today, the first round in the Eastern Conference would also feature matchups between the Indiana Pacers and the Milwaukee Bucks and between the New York Knicks and the Detroit Pistons. The top three seem set, but there is still room for movement between fourth and sixth place.