The Orlando Magic have had a lot of heartache on the final night of group play in the first two editions of the NBA Cup.
They held a wide scoring margin to at least earn the wild card as they sat idle during the first edition of the cup in 2023. All they could do was watch the Boston Celtics blow out the Chicago Bulls to win the point differential tiebreaker and advance to the knockout round.
The Magic again entered the final day of group play with a sizable score differential last year. It would take an absolute blowout to cost the Magic a chance at the knockout round.
As a seeming statement, the New York Knicks would build a 35-point lead to put the Magic in danger of not advancing before easing off the throttle.
The Orlando Magic lost by 20 and indeed advanced to the knockout round to fall to the Milwaukee Bucks on the road in a hard-fought game.
The last night of NBA Cup action can get pretty wild. The Magic know that better than most.
Orlando once again heads into the final day with all the advantages. They control their own destiny. A win and they not only advance, but they are the top seed in the Eastern Conference. A loss and they are at the whims of the point differential gods.
The Orlando Magic know they can advance and build on their momentum with a big win against a tough Detroit Pistons team. That is their only focus.
"We want to advance," Franz Wagner said after shootaround Friday. "That's the first thing. I think we've just been having a good rhythm. We want to keep that going and keep running our stuff."
The Orlando Magic have won eight of 11 games since group play began with the 123-110 win over the Boston Celtics on Nov. 7.
After this team's slow start, the Magic are third in offensive rating with 121.6 points per 100 possessions and seventh in defensive rating at 111.6 points allowed per 100 possessions.
With a solid win over the Boston Celtics, a narrow victory over the Brooklyn Nets (where the Magic needed an 11-0 finishing kick to win the game) and a dominant 41-point blowout over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Orlando Magic have taken care of business in Cup play.
They have turned that into success throughout these last three weeks. Orlando is a factor now.
"Obviously, we want to go to Vegas," Jalen Suggs said after shootaround Friday. "I think we have played pretty well in our Cup games the past couple of years. We want to close it out. Instead of a rescheduled game, it is much easier to go catch a flight to Vegas, enjoy that with the boys and go play some basketball out there."
But this team wants to do more. And they want to advance in the tournament.
How the Magic advance
The Orlando Magic are one of the few teams with multiple paths to advance to the knockout round.
The simplest is for them is to win.
The Orlando Magic clinch Group B, the first time they will have won their group after going 3-1 in each of the first two seasons of this competition, with a win in Friday's game against the Detroit Pistons.
On top of that, the Magic would clinch the top seed in the Eastern Conference and a home game against the Wild Card on Dec. 9 or 10 with a win.
The Toronto Raptors are the only other undefeated team remaining in the Eastern Conference and completed group play at 4-0 and a +55 point differential. The Magic currently have a +61 point differential and would improve that with a victory.
A Magic loss would complicate things, sending the Pistons on to the knockout round as the Group B winner and the Magic into the pool of one-loss teams for the wild card.
The Magic's point differential, though, will help them.
The big game to watch is the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks. With a New York Knicks win, the Knicks advance as the winners of Group C thanks to their win over the Miami Heat.
That throws the Heat with a +49 point differential into the wild card mix. The Heat are idle tonight.
It means with a Knicks win, the Magic cannot lose by more than 11 points to advance. Miami will almost certainly have the third tiebreaker (points scored). Orlando needs a close loss, if the team is going to lose.
The other game to loss is the one between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Atlanta Hawks. The Magic hold a 28-point lead over the Cavs. Save for a blowout on either side, the Magic would have a path to advance even with a defeat.
Bigger fish
Everyone's attention and value in the NBA Cup is different.
Some people see this competition as a valuable practice for the Playoffs and a trophy worth pursuing. Others see it as the NBA trying to grab attention and contriving a competition that makes zero sense.
Both sides probably have a point.
The Magic have always emphasized playing well in the Cup. If the team can win a trophy -- their first league-wide trophy -- why wouldn't you go for it?
But the challenge ahead of them on Friday against a Detroit Pistons team that just had a 13-game win streak snapped is a big one. Orlando knows that getting a win over an Eastern Conference rival and a team that beat them earlier in the season is critical to establishing the team's place in the standings.
"Ultimately, bigger than that, we played Detroit already. They have our number this year," Suggs said after shootaround Friday. "So we want to get a win for that. Obviously, the Cup is a bonus. We still have to play another game to get to Vegas anyway. Above the Cup, we want to play a good basketball game and prove to ourselves we are who we say we are."
The Magic expect a physical game. Orlando and Detroit have similar building philosophies. This is expected to be a long-lasting rivalry.
Still, the Magic control their own destiny not only for the Cup, but for this game. The Magic know they will have to do some work to keep this roll going and do it against a quality opponent.
But the rewards are plenty of motivation to come up big.