There is an unmistakable feeling in the Kia Center and around the Orlando Magic these days.
Through an often frustrating and disappointing season, the Magic have mostly had to deal with a crushing sense of pressure and unmet expectations.
The Magic have struggled to look like themselves or the team they expected to be throughout this season. They did not look like much of a future contender.
But those frustrations are quickly subsiding. Instead, something else is replacing them.
Joy.
The Magic have had their ups and downs this season. They have struggled a lot to meet those expectations they have set for themselves.
But after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 128-122 at the Kia Center on Wednesday, winning their fifth straight game and climbing into fifth in the Eastern Conference's standings, the Orlando Magic are looking more and more like the team everyone thought they could be: A hounding defensive team that makes everything hard (even on a good shooting night) and a team with offensive weapons that can put constant pressure on opponents.
The Magic stared uncertainty in the face and now they are making a statement to the East that they are the team everyone thought they could be.
"The season could have went any two ways," Desmond Bane said after Wednesday's win. "We were struggling to find our footing, to find consistency. We could have started pointing fingers and playing the blame game. I thnk during the All-Star break and leading up to it we got a chance to look ourselves in the mirror, have some honest conversations and it propelled us."
As much as you can downplay Wednesday's win as just one game, defeating another top-four team in the conference (after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday) on national TV, at that, was indeed some kind of a statement.
And the rest of the Eastern Conference is now warned that the Magic have finally arrived.
The return of the Magic's joy
The characteristics that have defined the Orlando Magic during their Playoff run in the last three years have been two-fold: Their intense defensive effort and their seemingly unrelenting energy and effort.
Both elements have been missing at various points in the season. But the team's frustrating season took away much of the joy and energy that had defined the team.
Desmond Bane said the team has spoken a lot in the locker room about what feels different after the break. He said Tristan da Silva commented to him that this is just fun.
With the intensity the Magic are defending and the way they are sharing and moving the ball, there is a clear joy in the way they are playing that has enabled them to play with a lot more confidence.
"It's just ebbs and flows of a season," Paolo Banchero said in the locker room after Wednesday's game. "You have to stay with it. For the most part it has been a frustrating season. If you keep working at it and keep going, stuff is going to turn in your favor. We have to keep going. We can't be satisfied. We have to play another one tomorrow."
Bane has long said he likes the team's process. But that process is starting to net results.
Orlando used the All-Star break as something of a reset for themselves. They came back refreshed and focused. They have gone 8-3 since the break and have one of the top defenses in the league in that time.
The team has been playing with a different confidence and swagger.
Even on a night when the Cavs shot 49.4 percent and made 17 of 44 threes -- making 6 of 16 in a desperate attempt to come back in the fourth quarter -- and the Magic gave up a 128.4 defensive rating, their worst defensive rating in a win this season, the Magic's identity and joy were on full display.
"I think it just keeps going to the mindset that these guys have for one another," coach Jamahl Mosley said after Wednesday's win. "Knowing that they believe in each other and trust in each other. The ball was being shared, our defense was turned up. They hit some big-time shots. But it's just one game at a time. I think we have to keep finding ways to win one game at a time down the stretch."
It helped having a player like Desmond Bane who could pace the offense when Paolo Banchero was out. The Magic's two stars put in work with Bane scoring 35 points on 12-for-19 shooting and Banchero pouring in 25 points on 8-for-18 shooting. Bane added six rebounds and six assists. Banchero had an additional eight rebounds and seven assists.
Even with things not always going perfectly on either end, the Magic never wavered in their effort or intensity. And that is the trademark of this team.
Just one game
The Orlando Magic are not thinking about the bigger picture, the standings or what a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers might mean to the outside world. They are not thinking about how their perception around the league might change -- power rankings have started to place them in the top 10, and there are a few national articles describing the Magic as finally arriving.
The mantra for this team has been to focus on just one game. They are not concerned about their five-game win streak, only the things they have done game-to-game to build it.
They are focused on their improved defense and the intensity it has brought. They are focused on the ball movement and pace that has powered their offense to wins like the one they had Wednesday. They are focused on keeping everything in sync.
"It just talks about the resiliency of this team," Jamahl Mosley said after Wednesday's game. "There are going to be different ways to win games, and we keep finding those ways. It's taking it one game at a time. The goal today was to take care of this game and take care of home."
After all, a big win against the Cleveland Cavaliers will mean nothing if the Orlando Magic drop the ball against the Washington Wizards on Thursday. There is always another game to prove yourself.
And the Magic still have a lot to prove after struggling for so long this season.
But the signs are all there that the Magic are becoming the team that they and everyone else thought they could be. There are signs that the team has started to put those disparate pieces together that have struggled for so long.
"I think every game is important," Paolo Banchero said in the locker room after Wednesday's game. "This game, being on national TV, against a great team in Cleveland, a team that if you want to accomplish your goals, you probably have to get through. We knew we had to be locked in, and this was a good team effort."
Wednesday's win did make that statement. This team has figure out what makes it tick and how to be successful. They have finally become the team everyone imagined.