The Orlando Magic crossed the midpoint of their 2026 season in the most emphatic way possible.
The league is still talking about Anthony Black's Earth-scorching dunk over four Memphis Grizzlies players in Thursday's game in Berlin.
The dunk broke a tie with two minutes to play and gave the Magic a win. The energy around the team has seemingly completely changed with the team getting back-to-back wins for the frist time since Dec. 1.
Everyone was still kind of basking in the glow as they practice in London for the first time ahead of Sunday's rematch.
"It was insane," Wendell Carter said before practice Saturday. "I was on the court and I saw the dunk. But after seeing it on the camera and seeing the play back, that was probably one of the best dunks I've seen in a very long time."
Moments like that have propelled the Magic already this season.
Desmond Bane's game-winning shot against the Portland Trail Blazers was a major turning point in the season. Orlando is trying to bottle that momentum into something lasting and something that can help the team reach its potential.
Their trip to Europe has been a good pause in teh seaosn, allowing the team to get healthy and come together. A win like Thursday's win could be a turning point moment for the season as they try to find their way.
Coming together overseas
The Orlando Magic have been through a lot already as they reach the season's midpoint.
There have been loads of injuries and uncertainty as the group comes together. It has been a shaky season.
But as the Magic near the end of their European jaunt, they are hoping that this is a moment they can come together and build confidence. They got Moe Wagner and Franz Wagner back from injury in the last two games, as they inch closer to being whole.
They are hoping this trip is a turning point.
"I think it is something we are going to be able to build off of throughout the season," Desmond Bane said before practice Saturday. "Just an opportunity for us to come together. It's a little bit different change of pace where we are in a city for three, four, five days. I think it's a lot of positive momentum headin gin the right direction for our team."
That is a big part of what this trip has been for the team.
It has been a trip to come together in a different way than they would in a typical road trip. They have had to spend a lot more time together, including on the long plane ride, and bond together. The community events and more force the team to spend more time together.
The journey to Berlin allowed the Magic to see where their teammates come from and share in their culture.
Franz and Moe Wagner hosted a dinner at a Berlin restaurant that several teammates, including Desmond Bane, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter, among others, attended. It was a big moment to get to know them a little better.
It was a big moment to get know each other a little better. That togetherness is what the Magic will need as they try to climb the standings and make the most of their season.
"Being in unfamiliar territory just with a group of guys that you are familiar with just allows us to come closer," Anthony Black said before practice Saturday. "We're forced to be on the road. We're in another country. We have to hang out."
The Magic have shown that resolve and togetherness throughout the season. They showed it especially in the way they closed out Thursday's game.
Finding maturity
For all the hand-wringing about the Orlando Magic's up-and-down December, they only lost consecutive games once. The Magic treaded water through all the injuries when they struggled to avoid long losing streaks the last few years.
Orlando has shown some poise and maturity in the way the team has won.
What might have gotten lost in the highlight of Anthony Black's dunk is how much momentum was going against Orlando at the time.
The Magic had lost an 11-point lead and trailed by three when Franz Wagner hit a game-tying three.
The Magic forced a turnover and that is what got Black in transition to make the highlight play and dunk all over the team. Orlando never looked back from there, maintaining full control over the game.
"I would say maturity, especially as young of a team as we are," Wendell Carter said before Saturday's practice. "It can be very easy to let games slip away. But on the flip side of that, looking back at some of those close games that we won, it should have never come down to a last-second shot or a go-ahead bucket when we are up for most of the game. At the end of the day, it's a win-or-lose league. To come away with a win is always important."
The Magic had the maturity to respond and still gut out those wins. That is something to build on just as much as the team responding to losses during the recent win-one-lose-one stretch was.
Orlando has shown maturity, going 15-8 in clutch situations, the second-most wins in the league in clutch situations in the seventh-most games. The Magic would like to avoid some of the situations they have found themselves in with some poor fourth quarters, but they are winning these games nonetheless.
The Magic hope this trip is something that can help them learn to keep leaning on each other and growing together.
"There are no goals that can get done individually," Black said before practice Saturday. "It's a team sport. For myself, my teammates put a lot of trust into me. A lot of responsibility. It's huge. This team, just everybody wants each other to do well. It's easy to be part of the team. We have great teammates and everybody works really hard. It's easy to work toward one goal together."
All those goals are still in front of them despite how frustrating the season has felt so far. The team knows that and has kept the faith and kept its composure to this point in the season.
They hope that this trip has reaffirmed that faith and helped spark the team moving forward.
A win Sunday would certainly cement some of their gains and set them up for a strong second half to the season.