Orlando Magic's familiar problem hangs over their Playoff chase

The Orlando Magic's pair of blowout wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks breathed new life into the season.

The Magic are on a season-long four-game win streak. They scored 20-point wins in a road back-to-back for the first time in franchise history. And they defeated a streaking Timberwolves team soundly with one of their best defensive performances of the season.

Things look the way everyone imagined at the start of the season.

More than that, a look at the standings sees the Magic in an advantageous position.

They are sixth in the Eastern Conference, a game back of the Toronto Raptors with several big games ahead this week -- Wednesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Saturday in Miami against the Miami Heat (the teams are virtually tied with the Orlando Magic one game ahead in the loss column) and Monday night in Atlanta against the Atlanta Hawks.

Essentially, the Magic control their own destiny for the 5-seed now. They are one game behind the Raptors and one game behind in the loss column with a season-series-deciding game in Toronto on March 29.

The only thing that has been missing is the same thing that has been missing all year. And even in this moment of positivity, injuries continue to rear their ugly head.

The Magic released updates on both Anthony Black and Franz Wagner after the weekend's set of games. And neither are particularly encouraging for a Magic team desperate to be free from the injury bug.

Anthony Black left Saturday's game within the first two minutes after he was hit in the back and struggled to get up and down the floor.

The team revealed that an MRI showed a left lateral abdominal muscle strain. His return will depend on how he responds to treatment. But the Magic will be without Black likely for this critical week of games that features some direct playoff competitors.

Franz Wagner is also continuing his rehab from a left high ankle sprain. Wednesday marks three weeks since the team announced that he would be out with lingering issues from his left high ankle sprain that has bothered him since early December.

The Magic said he continues to progress in his return and his return will be dependent on how he responds to treatment. There was no timeline for a further evaluation update and it is unclear how far in that progress he is. Wagner did not travel with the team for the weekend back-to-back.

Wagner has played in only four of the last 39 games with the left high ankle sprain. And time is running out with just 19 games remaining in the season.

If Wagner misses another week, that is five more games off the schedule, leaving just 14 before the Playoffs for him to get ready and ramp up. It is not clear when Wagner might return or how close he is, but time is running out.

The news Tuesday morning certainly puts a damper on what was a crowning weekend for the Magic.

Back in the Playoff race

The Orlando Magic have now climbed back into the race for fifth, sitting a game behind the Toronto Raptors and still technically tied with the Miami Heat. The team is one loss behind the Raptors and one loss ahead of the Heat. They are now two losses ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers in eighth.

There is a long way to go before playoff seedings get into real focus. But after nearly an entire season of feeling down about this team and frustrated by the team's position in the standings, the Magic have some measure of control over their own destiny for the first time.

If the Orlando Magic take care of its business, the team will escape the Play-In and potentially put them in a 4/5 matchup with, likely, the Cleveland Cavaliers. They still have matchups with several key competitors in the Heat (Saturday), Hawks (Monday and April 1) and Raptors (March 29).

Orlando has been on a tear since the All-Star break, posting a 7-3 record and a +10.9 net rating, the sixth-best in the NBA. Orlando has a 116.2 offensive rating (ninth) and 105.3 defensive rating (second).

The Magic finally look like the dominant team everyone hoped. But there is still a lot of work to do.

Needing their best

Even without Franz Wagner in the lineup -- and Anthony Black dealing with a quad contusion that caused him to miss a pair of games last week -- the Magic have shown themselves capable of competing and winning.

But they know they will need their best players and full lineup to compete in the Playoffs. Orlando has feasted on a lot of weaker teams since the break, even with some good wins.

This week will be a major test for the Orlando Magic with a lot of playoff-level teams and those two big games over the weekend against the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks on the horizon. The schedule does not care about the Magic's injury issues. Orlando must still compete and find a way to win.

That is what the team has been doing for a long time now, even when it was at its worst.

The hope is that the Magic can finally be whole when the postseason begins. That would seemingly be the first time in a long time for this team.

Even at this moment when the Magic are flying high and closer than ever to achieving their goals, they are still dealing with bad injury news. That is the kind of season it has been.