The Orlando Magic will open their 2027 season on Oct. 21 against the Atlanta Hawks, beginning the season with a key division rival and direct standings competitor in what is expected to be a tight Eastern Conference.
That matchup against the Hawks, who swept the Magic last year, including a victory in the third game of the season, will only highlight how intense every game will be. With potential tiebreakers on the line early, the Magic will need to start on the right foot.
That is not the only East competitor the team will see early.
The Orlando Magic will start with two games at home, playing the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 23 before starting a three-game road trip to New York and Toronto (twice) that will include the NBA Cup opener against the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 30.
The NBA schedule might be a marathon, but it is also a full sprint. And this year the team will be feeling that pressure more than ever. The sprint starts from the beginning.
Orlando will work mostly in anonymity this year. The Magic had its national TV appearances cut nearly in half, going from 14 at the start of last season to eight this season. Six of those appearances come after the All-Star break in the midst of the Playoff chase.
Just as the beginning of the season is important, the end is set up to give the Magic momentum to climbe the standins and heading into the Playoffs.
It also includes an NBC broadcast against the defending champion New York Knicks on Tuesday, March 30. Both games against the Knicks at Kia Center will be on national TV, with an afternoon Easter ESPN game on Sunday, March 28, preceding the Tuesday game.
Orlando will have 14 back-to-backs, the same as last year. That will include four home-home back-to-backs.
From the Magic: Single-game tickets for the 2026-27 season go on sale on Friday, August 14 at 1 p.m. and will be available online at OrlandoMagic.com/tickets, at the Kia Center box office (located on Church Street), or via Ticketmaster at Ticketmaster.com/Magic. Orlando Magic season tickets, partial plans, group and single-game Kia Center suite rental opportunities are on sale now. For additional ticket information, log on to OrlandoMagic.com or call 407-89-MAGIC.
The path is laid out for Orlando now.
Every team will have some moment in the schedule they will complain about. That is the nature of the league and a long season.
But the Magic have some advantages if they can find their footing. The race truly begins at the start.
A race at the beginning
Everyone is anticipating a season where the Eastern Conference will be extremely difficult. The teams are very bunched up and there are a lot of teams hopeful to make some noise in the East.
Every game is going to feel the pressure. And every Eastern Conference game will not only be a chance to climb over teams in the standings, but a chance to secure tiebreakers.
That pressure will start from the beginning of the season with that opening night game against the Atlanta Hawks.
Five of the first seven games will be against Eastern Conference playoff teams from last year. One of the two that is not will be the first look at the Trae Young-led Washington Wizards on Nov. 2.
That comes before the Magic take the first of their two West Coast trips in mid-November -- a Phoenix/Golden State/Sacramento/Utah trip. The other West Coast trip comes in January to visit Portland/Los Angeles/Denver.
Everyone is trying to get a feel for what this Magic team will be. Working with a new coach for the first time in five years, they will need some time to get used to what their new coach is asking of them and buying in.
But the league is unforgiving. There is no time to ease into things. The Magic need to hit the ground running if they want ot accomplish their goals and earn homecourt advantage.
There is no respite. And all of these games will have some meaning.
This is indeed a challenging start to the season. But if the Magic get out to a solid start in the first quarter -- through the NBA Cup games -- it will set them up for a big season.
Heading for home
Just as the start to the season will be vital, the closing kick will be key too.
The Orlando Magic have used the end of the season in all three of the team's recent playoff runs to improve their seeding. They won five straight near the end of the season last year to climb out of the 9/10 Play-In Game.
Things are set up for the Magic to have a strong finish once again.
The longest road trip of the year will be in March -- a five-game, nine-day trip to Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Milwaukee and Boston. That will be a big trip and part of an intriguing closing kick. But one that at least looks manageable on paper.
It is the cost for a home-heavy finish to the season.
The Magic will play 14 of the 23 games after the All-Star break at Kia Center. They return from the All-Star break with a season-long six-game homestand that does not include any teams expected to contend for the title -- the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns are the only teams from last year's Playoffs in that run, with the Indiana Pacers also coming to Orlando during that time.
The long road trip follows. But the Magic also have a four-game homestand near the end of the season to build one last push to end the season strong -- Washington, Miami, Boston and the home finale against Toronto from April 3-9.
The Orlando Magic close the season in Miami against the Miami Heat on April 11.
That is an advantageous finish to the season. Orlando should be able to build momentum after the All-Star break and climb the standings, even with how even the Eastern Conference appears to be.
That makes the start all the more important for this team. If the Magic can get off to a hot start it will set them up well for the rest of the season.
Because the finish is one where the team can get rolling downhill.
Every game will matter this year. That has become evident with how tight everyone is expecting the Eastern Conference to be.
The Magic will know very early on what they can accomplish and where they stand against the middle of the East especially.
If they can get through that and position themselves well, the finish should put the Magic in a spot to be competitive and make some waves.
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