Last year, ahead of the Orlando Magic's regular season finale, there was a mix of tension and excitement.
The Orlando Magic had a tall task facing the Milwaukee Bucks at the Kia Center. A win would lock in a playoff spot (it turned out to be the 5-seed), and a loss would have sent them tumbling to the 8-seed and a road Play-In game in Miami.
More than that, it felt like everything was on the line. A season's worth of progress and excitement would not have been lost with a defeat, but it would have been a letdown after sitting in third a week before to limp into the postseason.
The Magic won that game, relieving that pressure and showcasing the team's potential all before pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in their first playoff series. It all felt so energizing and propelling.
The experience fed the team through the offseason. They spoke openly about returning to the playoffs and advancing further. The team's goals and mindsets changed.
Even in a difficult and injury-filled season, the Magic had their eyes set on the playoffs and the postseason. The season had only one purpose.
After an often frustrating and difficult season, that moment is finally here.
Following a 117-105 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, where both teams sat the majority of their starters, the postseason has finally arrived. The Magic host the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday in the Play-In Game. The real test begins.
The team is indeed in a different place than they were last year.
"We're in a good place," Anthony Black said after Sunday's game. "I feel like we are all on the same page. We're ready to contribute to winning no matter what it takes. We're in good spirits. We're making shots right now. Our defense is going to stay our defense. We're confident coming into Tuesday."
The Magic have been waiting for this part of the season to come. Everything has built up to the postseason. The Magic entered last year as young pups experiencing everything for the first time. This year, they had the determination that comes with experience.
They feel more prepared for the postseason than they were last year. There has been a clear desire to get through the season to these critical games and how much they have thrived it seems under the pressure to end the season.
The return to the postseason
The Orlando Magic have acknowledged they played with expectations to be back in this space. Part of this season's frustrations were not meeting those expectations of returning to the playoffs proper and earning homecourt advantage for the first round.
Nobody foresaw the Magic struggling to a 41-41 record.
Then again, nobody foresaw the team's top four scorers missing significant time throughout the season.
Still, the team has always had confidence in what it could do and believed it would be back in this spot. Coach Jamahl Mosley has often said the goal was for the team to play its best basketball at the end of the season with an eye on being ready for the postseason.
The Magic accomplished that goal, going 12-6 in the last 18 games to return to .500, clinch the division title and earn homecourt for the Play-In Tournament. Entering Sunday's game, Orlando had a relatively stellar 115.3 offensive rating in its previous 15 games. The team added a devastating 107.0 defensive rating.
This was a team rearing for the postseason and peaking at the right time. Everyone feels that way. There is no celebrating little milestones, there is only the focus on that overarching goal.
Mosley said the team has focused on playing one game at a time for the last several weeks, taking care of the job in front of them first. That has enabled them to find their gear to close the season.
All the while, the team kept its eyes on the postseason. It never lost sight of that goal or why that was important to them.
"I think there is a level of focus and understanding of what we need to do and how we need to play," coach Jamahl Mosley said before Sunday's game. "We talked about playing our best basketball at this time of year. Our guys are doing a great job 1-15, staying focused on this game but also the possibility of getting into the postseason."
The playoffs are no longer some far-off goal for them to achieve. It is the reality and expectation. The regular season is the weighing station. It is no longer the destination, it is a weigh station.
The Play-In Awaits
Of course, the job is not done yet. The Orlando Magic are not in the playoffs yet. They still have to win that pesky Play-In game against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday at Kia Center. And if they lose that, the Orlando Magic will get another crack against the Chicago Bulls or Miami Heat on Friday.
While the Magic have playoff experience, they have not faced the realities of the Play-In Tournament and the do-or-die nature of that part of the postseason.
The team is now wholly focused on Tuesday's game to ensure they get back to the postseason again. Nothing deviated from that thought now that the team knows its opponent.
"It's a meaningful postseason game, but it's one game. It's not a series," Paolo Banchero said before Sunday's game. "So you can't ease your way into anything. You have to be ready to go for that game. Once that game is decided, hopefully with a win, you have to focus on the next opponent. Us going through the playoffs last year, I think nobody will be surprised with what to expect. I think it's just a year last year that we had experience so this year trying to use that experience to help us with whatever opponent we have coming into the postseason."
This is what that experience was supposed to mean for this team. They are comfortable playing under the pressure that comes in the postseason. This is what everything has been building toward.
Everyone from last year spoke before the season about how fun the playoffs were. Getting a taste of the postseason fed the team throughout the ups and downs of the season.
This is where they always wanted to be.
Now comes the serious part. The attention to detail and intensity that comes from these big games. They hope that experience form last year enables them to play sharper and more focused. They hope it makes them comfortable under pressure.
The reality is that for all the hopes for improvement and steps forward, the Magic would not really know where they stand until they are measured in the postseason.
They have been waiting for and are ready for that challenge now.
"I think we couldn't be in a better spot as far as I would say peaking at the right time," Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said after Sunday's game. "We've been playing well the last few games to end the season. Everybody is getting into a rhythm. We are starting to fix a lot of stuff throughout the season we needed to fix. We are in a great spot. We all feel great. We're ready."
That time has finally come for the postseason.