CHICAGO -- Wendell Carter was clearly a bit uncomfortable in an otherwise forgettable showing on Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
He got hit in the face at some point in the game on Monday against the Detroit Pistons. Officially diagnosed with a nasal fracture, he played Wednesday's game in a mask for the first time.
When asked about playing in the mask, Carter compared it to his football days. He is still getting used to it with each workout. But playing through it definitely gives him some level of toughness. It makes him feel tougher, at the very least.
It is also a sign that this is just what everyone has to do this time of year. With two games remaining, it is all hands on deck to get to the Playoffs and prepare for the postseason. Playing with a broken nose is just par for the course.
This is what a season's worth of work has been building toward.
"That's the point of it all, right? You can be as good or as bad throughout the whole season, but when the postseason comes, that's when you want to be at your best," Carter said after shootaround Friday. "Since I've been in the league, I've always understood that. A lot can happen throughout a year. But it all matters that you be at your best both mentally and physically when it comes to the postseason."
The Magic looked like they were drifting to the postseason with that six-game losing streak that followed their seven-game win streak. They ended up losing eight of 10 games in that stretch.
But the last four games have turned things around. Wins over the Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans, Cade Cunningham-less Detroit Pistons, and heavily depleted Minnesota Timberwolves are not likely to impress on paper. But they are all victories on their ledgers.
And those games were chances for the Magic to get themselves right and get back on track. That is how Orlando has climbed to seventh in the East with a chance still to climb out of the Play-In with two games remaining.
The Magic are less focused on where they are in the standings, and more focused on their process. Regardless of the opponent, the Magic have used the past week to get themselves back on track.
This is a team that knows how to play and prepare for the postseason. It knows the team must be peaking at this moment.
Playing their best
The message from coach Jamahl Mosley for much of the past month has been to focus on one game at a time. It has been a message to focus on the team itself rather than on the bigger picture. If the Orlando Magic took care of its own business, the team would be fine in the standings.
The Magic as a group have been to the Playoffs before. They know how to get themselves ready. It is about fine-tuning things for the difficult games ahead. And, in this case, gaining some confidence after a difficult three-week stretch.
The mindset has focused more on trying to play their best at this time of the season.
"It's always one game at a time," coach Jamahl Mosley said before Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. "You've heard me say that from the beginning. In these Playoff runs, you always talk about playing your best basketball. It's honing in on details of the game. What can you do to get better? What chemistry works with different lineups and different units? You are looking at them throughout each game."
That is one of the things that has shifted.
During this four-game win streak, the Magic are posting a 120.8 offensive rating and 110.3 defensive rating, both well above the team's season averages. During the eight losses in 10 games, the Magic had a 111.2 offensive rating and 122.4 defensive rating.
Getting their defense back on track has always been the battle for the season. That is what the team did so successfully during its win streak, just as it has done during this win streak.
Regardless of the opponent, seeing the team round into form is exactly what the team expects.
"I think that's vital for us all being on the same page," Paolo Banchero said after shootaround Friday. "Just having communication while the game is going on, before the game, the gameplan, after the games, seeing what we did well and what we didn't do well. Communication has to be at the highest level at this time of the year."
Orlando is not playing its best quite yet. The team is not downing a murderer's row of teams quite yet. The Playoffs will present far more resistance and a tougher challenge.
But after three weeks in the wilderness, the Magic are playing a whole lot better.
Been here before
The approach is also different now because the Orlando Magic have been here before. As Wendell Carter explained, everyone on this team knows this is what the team has been preparing for.
This is a group that is not unfamiliar with the postseason anymore. The disappointment everyone feels this season comes from a team that has gone through these battles before. They know what this time of year is about.
With the Magic getting healthier with Franz Wagner and Anthony Black's return to the lineup, the Magic got a shot of energy and are rounding into a better postseason form.
But that is also one thing this team knows. It cannot look ahead to the postseason until it takes care of the games in front of it.
"You don't want to look too far ahead," Paolo Banchero said after shootaround Friday. "You want to get these last two wins to position yourself as good as possible. When we do that, we'll look to see who we pay in the Play-In. Hopefully, we win that and get ready for whoever that will be in the first round."
The Magic know the detail that it takes to win in the Play-In and the Playoffs. They know the preparation. And that has come out as the team has found itself the last few weeks.
This is the time of year that teams want to play their best. The Magic are healthy, at last, and playing their best at a critical time.
They know right now, it takes whatever they can give to get over the top.