Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff has had to sit and think about the Orlando Magic more than anyone outside the AdventHealth Training Center last year.
He was locked in a seven-game series with his good friend in Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley. Bickerstaff has seen what this team can do and seen this young team realize what is possible for them.
His Cleveland Cavaliers won that series, but it was the start of something for the Magic.
"I think everybody has confidence in what they can do and what they're capable of," Bickerstaff said before Saturday's game. "When you play in a playoff series and individually you can have some success, that breeds confidence and that breeds growth in your game and understanding when it matters the most I know I can do this. I think that's what you've seen with all the guys."
The Magic have spoken a lot about how that experience manifests itself. The team was galvanized by the pain of the Game 7 loss to work and get back to that moment. They spoke unendingly about the need to get homecourt advantage.
Bickerstaff said where it looks like the Magic have grown is the belief in what they do. He said they know good or bad, they can do that and give themselves a chance to be successful.
Those words were probably ringing around for him after he watched the Magic dismantle his Pistons 111-100 on Saturday at Kia Center.
It was not a clean game for Orlando. But it was also not a game that they were ever sweating. And that says a lot about how far this team has come.
A professional win
This is a professional win. It is not pretty. It is not their best. It was enough. A sign of the team's base skill and ability. And how thoroughly that alone can dominate weaker competition.
This is what a good team does regardless of fatigue or jet lag or injuries or anything else thrown in their way. They find ways to win. They make games and results forgettable.
"When you think of those really good teams around the league, those playoff teams and veteran-led teams, no matter how the game flow goes, there is never a thought or feel they are going to lose those games," said Jalen Suggs, who left the game in the first half with a sore left hamstring and did not play in the second half. "I think we're starting to garner that.
"Knowing when we walk into these games hurt, tired, long stretch, a lot going on, there was never a belief that this team was going to come in and beat us. That isn't a discredit to them. I think it more speaks on us and the growth and maturity we're applying over here."
The Orlando Magic controlled the game from the first quarter on. But they let the Detroit Pistons come within one point in the third quarter. Orlando did not blink or waver. The Magic never doubted they would win. That run was within their control.
As if to prove that point, Orlando went on a 10-0 run to extend the lead back to double figures. It only took brief moments of defensive clarity to pull away.
This team knows they have that in them. They know they can fine-tune themselves and lock in when the shots do not fall. It is about having the reserves to persevere and find it. When this team does find it, it is devastating. The Magic see how good they are.
They know what they are capable of, it is about knowing when to hit the gas.
"We're always confident in our defense," Anthony Black said after Saturday's game. "That's what we hang our hats on. We have a lot of players who love to play defense maybe even more than offense. I think we get a kind of sense of when to turn it up. Which is good and bad. The third quarter and second half we tend to lock it up and get on the break."
The Magic ended up holding the Pistons to 100 points, a quick flurry with the benches in got them to the century mark. They forced 17 turnovers and scored 29 points. Orlando knows that moment is coming at some point during the game when the defense blitzes its opponent.
On a lot of nights, that can be enough.
Orlando was not crazy efficient on offense—shooting 46 percent and 12 for 39 from three—they had a lot of moments where the ball stuck and they tried to force things to Franz Wagner in the post. The Magic seemed stuck a bit in the mud.
But the Magic either pushed through those struggles or made them irrelevant. They looked to force turnovers and get out and run—19 fast-break points and 52 points in the paint. They found enough pockets where they snapped out of it and moved.
Their defense was always there to pick them up. Once they stopped giving up threes and locked down the offensive glass, the Magic were unbeatable.
By the second half, Orlando was first to every loose ball and having a good time moving the ball and finding shots. The Pistons' heads were spinning.
"I think that mindset becomes a habit," said Franz Wagner, who scored 30 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out eight assists. "In those moments it is really important to remind yourself and keep finding back to our game. But also understand we're in the NBA, teams are going to make tough shots even when we do defend well. Stick to the process and not get frustrated. I thought we did a good job with that."
Playoff experience breeds confidence
This is what good teams do. This is what everyone calls a "professional win." A game where the team does not have its best stuff but still finds a way to gut out a victory. And do so comfortably.
The Orlando Magic have talked about a lot of the same things since training camp. They have talked about the maturity and poise they would need to compete at a higher level. Now that they have been to the Playoffs, they know what it takes to get there. That institutional knowledge has changed them. Everyone can feel it.
Suggs said after the game he did not want to compare this year's team to last year's team, but it was easy to see and feel the growth year over year.
Would the Magic have won a game like this last year? He is not sure he could say one way or the other. But it is easy to see the mindset of this team is a lot more mature and a lot more confident than it was last year.
Just as Bickerstaff noted before the game, this is the biggest area the team has grown.
This is a sign they are improving and doing what they need for later in the season.