The gravity of Tuesday's Orlando Magic game against the Atlanta Hawks is hard to ignore.
The Magic and Hawks are separated by one game entering Saturday's games, but have two games remaining against each other. It almost feels like a mini-playoff series between the two teams with the duo also likely to face each other in the 7/8 Play-In Game on April 15.
There is a lot on the line and a lot at stake for both teams.
But the Magic have to sit and wait for it to come. They must let the rest of the league catch up to them. There is nothing to do but wait.
And plan and prepare.
For the Magic these four days off—they took Friday off to travel back to Washington and are scheduled to take Sunday off before practicing a final time Monday—are a chance to rest, recuperate and focus on themselves.
With four games remaining this season, every game is important in the postseason chase. And the Magic could do a lot to secure homecourt for the Play-In Tournament by taking care of their business starting Tuesday.
"Knowing where we're at and what we have to face, we're going to be in the Play-In, so we're going to have extra games to get into the playoffs—hopefully just one," Wendell Carter said after practice Saturday. "The rest and recovery is always amazing. I feel like the teams that win are the most recovered. Plus, the talent and playing hard. I think recovery is a huge part of it."
The Magic's practice on Saturday was focused on getting the team moving again after the successful road trip this week. Orlando was not wholly focused on Tuesday's game yet.
But the Magic still have plenty to clean up before that game. And with the Magic controlling their own destiny, they know everything starts with them.
The Magic have not had the season they wanted at the start. They have struggled in a lot of areas they felt certain they could count on. They will have to assess and determine what went wrong after the season ends.
But Orlando has a clear goal and a clear aim to achieve in these next four games. The only direction to look is forward.
"You can't focus on what we have done in the past," coach Jamahl Mosley said after practice Saturday. "We have to focus on what we are doing moving forward. You have two at home and two on the road. Take care of home. I think that same concept and same mindset has to be there as we walk into it. Just take care of home."
Improving at home
Taking care of home is where it will start where the Orlando Magic finish their regular season schedule at the Kia Center with a back-to-back against the Atlanta Hawks and Boston Celtics.
Home has not been as kind to the Magic this year as last year -- where they went 29-12 last year compared to 20-19 this year. Orlando is just 3-9 at the Kia Center since the All-Star break, dropping six of seven games during a homestand in February.
Tuesday's game is critical to easing the pressure from their difficult final four games. But the Magic are essentially playing for the right to be home for their most critical games. It has been a struggle for them to win there—defeating the Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings at home since the All-Star break.
The Magic have rebuilt their reputation mostly on the road, winning their last five road games and going 8-2 away from the Kia Center.
That might mean it is a good thing they finish the season with a two-game road trip in Indianapolis against the Indiana Pacers and then again against the Atlanta Hawks in Atlanta.
"I think it's a good and bad thing in my opinion," Carter said after practice Saturday. "You want to be able to pick up games on the road. We were phenomenal at home last year. We dropped some, but you also don't want to overreact. You want to understand the significance of playing at home and understand you do need to win your home games. But we can only look forward from here. These last four, we've got to make the most of them going into the Play-In."
Winning six of their past eight games, the Magic are feeling a lot more confident these days. They have given themselves the control they seek entering the season's final week.
Winning the final two games at home would be another shot of confidence for this team.
Improving on offense
Part of that has come from the team finding itself more on offense.
In the last eight games, the Orlando Magic have a 115.5 offensive rating, far better than the team's overall average of 108.7 points per 100 possessions.
The team is playing at the slowest pace in terms of possessions per 48 minutes in that time. But Orlando's fast-break points are up from a season average of 13.9 points per game to 15.8 points per game.
Orlando has tried to increase its tempo and pace throughout the latter part of the season. It has had some success but has remained inconsistent. A few days to practice could help the Magic find some more focus and comfort offensively to finish the season strong.
"I think what we constantly talked about: How do we play faster,? How can we get the ball over [midcourt] by 21 [seconds] and looking to push the pace to flatten defenses out so you are playing against close outs over set defenses," Mosley said after practice Saturday. "The ability to push the pace with each guy on the floor. When the ball hits your hands, you want to have a race to the rim first. If you don't have it, and the defense sets up against you, you need to move it side to side to shift the defense."
Those pieces are still coming together. Just as it is still unclear how the Magic will come together to close this season.
They do not know who they will face in the Play-In Tournament yet. They do not even know if they will have that game at the Kia Center or at home. As big as Tuesday's game is, it is still just one game on this path.
Orlando has a lot to sort through and a lot to figure out. The aim has always been to play their best at the end of the season. The team has found some life.
But there is still work to do to achieve their goals remaining for this season.
"We went through this last year in terms of wanting to have homecourt advantage," Wendell Carter said after practice Saturday. "We play them two more times before the season ends and more than likely we'll be playing them. I think it's a great test for us to understand that we want to pick up as many of these last four as can so we have homecourt advantage going into the playoffs. We have all went through it literally. And some of us and guys like KCP understand the meaning of having homecourt advantage in the playoffs."
Orlando hopes that some time off allows them to sharpen themselves for this final push. They hope that it puts them in a position to win the division and clinch a home game for the Play-In Tournament.
Right now, the team is focused on improving itself that little bit more to get there.