The mood swings of the last two weeks have given everyone a sort of whiplash.
The shock and sadness of Paolo Banchero's injury on Oct. 30 sent the season into a spiral. The Orlando Magic went winless on a five-game road trip and for the three games immediately after Banchero's injury looked non-competitive. The team had to rediscover its identity and find its footing again.
Returning home was a relief. The Magic want to protect their home floor and they get a ton of energy from being in their building in front of their fans.
Still, nobody saw the Magic turning things around so quickly. They answered with a five-game win streak, winning the first three games of the homestand by 25 or more points and following that up with gutsy fourth-quarter defensive displays to win the other two.
The Magic are right back over .500 at 8-6 and sitting in third in the Eastern Conference, still one of three teams with records better than .500. They are right where they want to be in the standings, at least.
The question after a refreshing and resetting week is whether they can take all of this on the road, where they are just 1-6 this season. They have no choice but to find out with their West Coast trip coming this week.
The Magic learned a lot about themselves at home. They found themselves again.
"I would say the biggest thing is our mental," Jonathan Isaac said after practice Sunday. "Can't say it enough, Paolo went down and to have that adjusting period, I thought we found ourselves. It feels good that we're still here. We're resilient, we're a tough team and we figured it out. It's easy now because of what we're coming off of. We feel good. We're energized. We're just out there hooping."
A 5-0 homestand
The Orlando Magic were indeed out there hooping.
During the team's five-game homestand, Orlando posted a league-best +20.2 net rating with an other-worldly 92.9 defensive rating (10.9 points per 100 possessions better than the second place Houston Rockets during the last five games). Even the Magic's 113.2 offensive rating in the last five games is 16th in the league.
The Orlando Magic feasted on three teams at the bottom of the standings in the injured New Orleans Pelicans, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets, winning each game by 25 or more points. They then showed incredible resolve to defeat the Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers with devastating defensive fourth quarters.
Including the Orlando Magic's win over the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers before Paolo Banchero's injury, the Magic are 7-0 and have a league-best +17.4 net rating at home (114.8 offensive rating/97.4 defensive rating).
Coach Jamahl Mosley constantly praises the energy and lift the team gets from its home crowd. It helped the team find its footing again. The homestand gave the team important clarity.
"I think just tightening up our defense," Mosley said after practice Sunday. "Just really focusing in on exactly how we want to play, how we set the tone each game. I think that's really important for us to realize how much that means to this team and how it helps us do what we need to do in the long run."
It will be important then to try to port that on the road.
Road struggles
For as good as the Orlando Magic have been inside the Kia Center, the team has struggled on the road in some dramatic ways.
They are 1-6 on the road with only that win over the Miami Heat on opening night. They were involved in blowout defeats in four of those six losses, losing only close games in Chicago and Indianapolis on the road.
The Magic's overall numbers are frustrating, to say the least. Orlando posts a 102.1 offensive rating on the road and a 109.4 defensive rating (fifth-best on the road in the league). The shooting problems were exacerbated on the road during the team's five-game road trip two weeks ago.
Context matters, of course. The Magic started the road trip with a loss to the Chicago Bulls where Paolo Banchero appeared to play most of the fourth quarter with the torn oblique that has him out of the lineup. The Magic needed some time to adjust and they never quite got a grip on the road.
That frustrating road trip was five of the Magic's seven road games. Orlando's upcoming West Coast trip is a chance to start making background.
"Be us. I think that's the biggest piece," Jamahl Mosley said after practice Sunday. "We have a standard on which we go by and who we are here. To be part of this group means you are going to work the defensive end of the floor, you are going to play hard every single night but you are going to have fun playing basketball. At home or on the road, you've got to enjoy this game, you've got to enjoy each other and enjoy the camaraderie and chemistry this group has created and not overthinking it and just play basketball."
The road ahead
The Orlando Magic know the road will be tough—every West Coast trip is.
The Orlando Magic will face an injury-depleted Phoenix Suns team on Monday. The Phoenix Suns have lost three of their last four (heading into Sunday's game at the Minnesota Timberwolves) after going on a seven-game win streak. But they are without Bradley Beal (left calf strain) and Kevin Durant (left calf strain). They are just getting back Grayson Allen (right hamstring soreness) and big man Jusuf Nurkic has dealt with his own injury issues (left ankle sprain).
They then head to Los Angeles to face the LA Clippers on Wednesday. They have lost their last three after a four-game win streak. And then the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. The Lakers have won their last five.
No road trip is easy and the Magic understand they have to be sharper and play better. There is another long road stretch ahead beginning Black Friday in Brooklyn for the resumption of NBA Cup play.
They have gotten into the habit of falling behind early in games—with a -9.5 net rating in the first quarter and a shockingly bad 117.7 defensive rating. The Magic have performed well in the fourth quarter, but especially on the road have found themselves down too far for it to matter.
Everything for this team starts with its defense. And that is how the Magic can get over the hump.
" court is still the same. That's where I think guys need to register and understand it's going to be our defense regardless of what we do," Mosley said after practice Sunday. "The process of shots falling or not, you can't control that. You can always control our attitude, our energy and our effort on the defensive and making the right play on the offensive end whether the ball goes in or not. We can't let that determine how we play beyond that."
The old adage is defense travels. And the Magic hope their defense can set them up to reverse their struggles and put that five-game losing streak completely behind them.
The Magic found their formula to win at home. Now they have to take it on the road. That is the true test for a team hoping to contend.