Before the Orlando Magic took the court for Media Day two months ago, Jamahl Mosley delivered a message for his team.
Everyone had talked about their playoff ambitions and what they hoped to accomplish in the postseason. They wanted homecourt advantage after falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a seven-game series where the home team won every game.
The regular season and every game within it is important. But their eyes were already on April and May. They know what they are capable of doing. They know what their ultimate destination will be.
So before they left to meet with the media to start their season, Mosley said he would split the season into a set of seven-game series. The Magic would get used to the rhythm of a seven-game series and know that their goal is to win a seven-game series. It would be his way of checking up on the team's progress and keep the game engaged and fighting.
The goal ultimately will be to win four such series at the end of the season. But however they can practice and lock in will be valuable.
Everyone is already thinking about this team's eventual playoff appearance.
Sunday's game against the Brooklyn Nets served two important functions then.
It was Game 1 of the fourth series of the season—Orlando went 3-4 in the first series, 5-2 in the second series and 6-1 in the third series. It was also the second straight game against the Brooklyn Nets, a chance to see how a team might adjust to them in real-time with an opponent still fresh.
Not to mention, the Orlando Magic's NBA Cup finale looms on the horizon against the New York Knicks on Tuesday. That is as close to a playoff game as the Magic will get—barring a complete blowout, the Magic should advance in the tournament.
Orlando is thinking about and wanting to prepare for the playoffs.
Let's not get it twisted though, the Magic's 100-92 win over the Nets on Sunday was not a playoff game. No one is playing at that intensity or level quite yet.
It still had elements that tested and pushed the Magic like a playoff game or series might. It still required the Magic to do that must basic act: Find a way to win.
That is a lesson in itself.
"It was rough. One of those games you got to dig deep and lock in," Goga Bitadze said after Sunday's win. "It was a different game. We're built different. We know what we can do and we did it. We locked in. We had certain guys in and out with foul trouble. It's a great team. They play really scrappy and we found a way to win the game. I'm really proud of the team.
That is the biggest thing the Magic have to know how to do when they get to the end of the season. That is what they will have to do Tuesday at Madison Square Garden and then in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup should they advance.
They have to think already what the playoffs will be like.
A completely different Game 2
This return game against the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday was completely different than the game on Friday.
Instead of forcing turnovers, the Orlando Magic were coughing the ball up repeatedly—22 turnovers for 35 points. Where the Magic drained threes on Friday, they made only 7 of 28 (25 percent) in Sunday's win.
Where Franz Wagner was a dominant scoring force in Friday's game, he struggled to get much going downhill with 20 points on 4-for-17 shooting in one of the worst shooting games of his career.
How he still got to 20 points only spoke to how disjointed the game was. The two teams combined for 60 fouls and 63 free throws, taking away all rhythm from the game.
That is the recipe for a team filled with frustration. The kind of game a young team like the Magic does not figure out how to win.
They figured it out Sunday.
"Rough. . . but with it being as rough as it was with there not being a real rhythm to the game, the poise these guys show is the mark of a team that continues to grow," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Sunday's win. "To be able to withstand whatever was happening throughout the game and not lose our heads and keep our cool for the most part says a lot about the growth of a team that understands what we're trying to accomplish."
They know they will need this poise and composure down the line. This is the time to discover this about their team.
The Magic never quite lost control over the game even when they fell behind by a small margin—never more than five points.
In the fourth quarter, like they did against the Charlotte Hornets, hitting key shots and getting big baskets from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and plays from Franz Wagner to find Wendell Carter for a big alley-oop, one of Wagner's eight assists.
Orlando did not play its best again. The game became an ugly and physical mess. That is exactly how both teams typically like it. And the Nets' response to their loss Friday was to turn up the physicality. The Magic had to overcome their own frustration.
But when the game was on the line, the Magic made the plays they needed to make. They found the shots they needed. They found the stops they needed—they always have that defense to lean back on.
As the Magic go through this season, these skills will help them steal wins and build their record. It will be games like this that ultimately help the Magic accomplish their preseason ambitions.
"Just being poised," Carter said after Sunday's win. "Fortunately, this group has been in many situations the past three years of late-game situations and had some playoff experience last year. We kind of understand what it takes, understanding how the game is being called and paying attention to the little things. I think we did a really good job of that tonight keeping our composure."
Playoff experience counts
Experience matters. The Orlando Magic are leaning on the experience they have gained. And this experience will help them survive games like this one.
It will be winning a game like this that could earn them homecourt advantage or even the 3-seed. Knowing they can play a game like this could help them steal a game in a seven-game series and steal momentum in a series.
To win 12 of the past 13 games, the Magic have had to find a way to win a lot of games already this season. Regardless of who the competition is.
No one will confuse the Nets with the kind of playoff teams the Magic have to beat and compete to one day win a championship. Orlando has to clean up the turnovers and reduce the fouling, even if those felt like isolated incidents to this game. They were still things the Magic overcame in this game.
But there are bigger challenges ahead. Orlando has benefited from a fairly weak schedule. The Magic have only three wins against teams with records at .500 or better. They still have much to prove before they can be deemed a true Playoff threat.
Tuesday's game against the Knicks will be a big part of that narrative. And it will be a test of just how prepared and developed the Magic are.
To this point, Orlando has passed every test. The team has won every series. And they are preparing for the important series that are coming—both in the regular season and beyond.