The Orlando Magic knew how vital it was to play well in the three-game homestand following their West Coast trip, just as they knew the homestand after their game against the Atlanta Hawks could determine their season.
Not to mention how vital the game against the Hawks is to open the post-All-Star Break part of the schedule.
If the Magic learned anything from their playoff run last year, it is how important every game can be.
On the final day of the regular season last year, the Magic faced a win-and-in game. Their win over the Milwaukee Bucks delivered the Magic the 5-seed. If they had lost that game, they would have finished eighth.
The race to the playoffs this year figures to be just as tight.
There is still time to make a push. No matter where the Magic are right now.
"We have everything we want right in front of us," Gary Harris said after shootaround before the team's last game before the All-Star Break. "We control our own destiny. We're still in a good position. Granted, all the things that have happened and all the things we've dropped, we still control our destiny and that is going to the playoffs and making noise in the playoffs."
But Orlando is in a different place. The team is not in control of its own destiny. Not in the way it was last year.
Last year, the Magic were 30-25 and eighth in the East at the All-Star Break. They were a half-game out of sixth and 2.5 games out of where they ended up at the end of the season in fifth.
The team trails the Detroit Pistons for sixth by 2.5 games. The Orlando Magic hold only a half-game lead over the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks by 0.5 games for seventh and the Southeast Division lead and all that could entail.
Not only that, the team is still mired deep in a rut. The Magic have not won consecutive games since before Christmas and have the second-worst net rating in the league since Dec. 24.
It does not feel like Orlando is on the verge of a breakthrough as the team was at last year's All-Star Break. The Magic had won six of eight heading into the All-Star Break and spearheaded a 17-10 finish to the season.
Orlando is working with something the team did not have last year too: Expectations.
Last year, everyone would have been thrilled and excited for the Magic's arrival in the postseason no matter where it ended up. This year, the team entered the season proclaiming they wanted to be a top-four seed and win homecourt advantage in the first round.
Injuries have derailed that. The team's losing streak has put it in a hole, and it has to find a way out. The Magic have their work cut out to make up ground after the All-Star Break.
This season has been growth interrupted.
The decision to stand pat at the deadline only increases the pressure. Everyone feels it as the Magic are trying to measure up to who they know they can be.
The pressure is indeed on the rest of the season.
"It's probably going to be the most important 26 games of my career," Wendell Carter said after shootaround before the win over the Hornets. "We definitely have the opportunity to be in the top-5, top-6 running heading into the postseason. Every game has to matter. Every game we have to show up. Every day we have to find a way to win. Each man to a man we have to find ways to lift this team up. We need it right now."
So what do the Magic need to do and accomplish this season? What are their goals for these final 26 games?
The Magic may not be able to hit the marks they envisioned at the beginning of the season. But there is still plenty for them to reach.
Finishing above .500 and the 6-seed are all that matter now
Ultimately, results are what matters for this team.
The Orlando Magic needed to use this season to prove that last year was not a fluke and establish themselves as perennial playoff contenders. Orlando wanted to prove it could break into the top half of the Eastern Conference as a future title contender.
Maybe Orlando proved that in the short period the team was healthy with how long it held onto a top-four seed despite the injuries. Everyone seems to recognize the Magic are only in the Play-In hunt because of their injuries.
They are better than their record. At least that is what everyone wants to believe.
More than anything, the Magic must get back into the playoffs this year. Even if it is to be fodder for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, or New York Knicks. Playoff failure is still a lesson learned. It is still important to see where the team needs to solve some problems.
Not that they are not so obvious.
Right now, the Magic have to make the most of the group they have. They must make the most of their time remaining together.
That is why the only goal that matters is making the playoffs and climbing to the 6-seed, proving they are not in so much danger that they could fall out of the playoff picture with one bad season.
To say the least, the season is a failure without a playoff appearance. And certainly, more questions about the team and its overall project are raised if they fall short.
There is a lot of pressure to make the playoffs.
"Each game has to matter," Wendell Carter said after shootaround before the win over the Charlote Hornets. "It doesn't matter who we're playing, where we're playing, time of day, we have to bring that juice every night. I'm not saying we're going to go 26-0. It has to be a consistent effort from the first guy on this team to the last guy on this team , understanding what our roles are, what is expected form our teammates and doing that every single night."
The primary goal for the team remains to make the Playoffs. And the season is at least partially salvaged with a playoff appearance.
Finally becoming whole
How will the Orlando Magic do that?
Obviously it will start with finding some internal fixes to the reasons the Magic have sunk in the standings. Getting healthy and seeing Jalen Suggs back on the court will go a long way to solving many of those problems, even if it is not entirely on his shoulders.
As the Magic think about their long-term steps, they do not even really know what they have.
Orlando has seen the trio of Suggs, Banchero, and Wagner on the floor for a scant 97 minutes over six games. They have a +8.1 net rating with a 108.6 offensive rating (not so good) and a 100.5 defensive rating (elite).
It is still too small a sample to say anything. But that trio still can do a lot of good things together.
One of the key reasons Jeff Weltman said the team did not do anything at the trade deadline was because the team did not have a chance to look at its team when healthy. There was still some evaluating to do.
All of the Magic's future moves branch out from that core trio.
If the Magic are indeed preparing to do big things this offseason, they need to know how this trio would work together. They need to know what this team and this trio needs to be successful.
The obvious answer to that is better shooting and offense considering the Magic have the worst 3-point field goal percentage hte league has seen in more than a decade and the second-worst offense in the league.
Even Weltman is not attempting to spin that like he did last year when he noted the team was 19th in the league in 3-point field goal percentage after the All-Star Break. Orlando must meaningfully address its shooting this offseason.
But the Magic certainly hope for another offensive surge like the one the team had in going 17-10 after the All-Star Break last year.
Orlando feels the team is better at shooting than it has been this year. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is shooting a career-worst from three in his celebrated career. So many other players are shooting their worst in their careers.
Maybe the team needed to get healthy to get everyone back to normal or even a notch below normal. Getting Suggs and back into a catch-and-shoot role would help him too after having to be a creator and on the ball a lot more with the injuries.
Getting even a 20-game glimpse of that will be vital to determining the next steps.
It all starts with salvaging a playoff appearance and building from there. Orlando may need some help to climb the standings. But Harris is right that the Magic's success the rest of the season starts with the team getting itself right and winning more games again.