It is just Summer League. The only players who would realistically be playing in critical moments during any game of consequence are Jase Richardson and Noah Penda, and even they might find it tough to find minutes in this rotation.
Yet. . . it was hard not feel some de ja vu or feel some nervousness as the lead dwindled down Wednesday afternoon.
The Summer Orlando Magic had been brilliant with their hounding defense, their attack on the offensive glass and their execution on offense. They built a 30-point lead and were threatening to crash the Summer League playoffs.
It is natural for a team to let off the gas with such a big lead. The Philadelphia 76ers whittled the lead down to 18 at the end of the third quarter. Then slowly brought it down, closing to within four points with 1:15 to play.
Everyone could feel the game getting tighter. Jase Richardson, virtually unflappable all game long, committed three turnovers in the fourth quarter. Two of them came in the backcourt, the kind of gaffes that fuel insane comebacks.
The Magic held on for the win. But the scars and ghosts that haunt the Magic after their embarrassing Game 6 remain.
No, this was not the main roster. But holding on for the 99-92 victory was all too familiar to the theme that will permeate this season.
As much as the Magic likely want to move on from their failures in the last playoffs, their Game 6 loss was so severe and so total that it will be a ghost haunting them throughout the year.
The first time the Magic take a 20-point lead? They will face questions of maintaining and holding that lead -- especially if it comes against a quality opponent.
The first time they face a long scoring drought? The team will have to fight that feeling of "Here we go again." They will have to respond.
The Magic are more than what happened during Game 6 and in that playoff series. The Magic know they left a lot on the board with the injuries they faced.
But this season will be about having the maturity to overcome them and answer those questions.
The Magic have ben through the first-round wringer plenty. They want more. And getting to the next level will take putting these ghosts behind them.
Answering for Playoff failures
Ultimately, the journey to competing for a championship starts with how a team and its players answer doubt.
Few teams win championships without some measure of playoff failures. The New York Knicks lost painfully in the Eastern Conference Finals and the second round before breaking through for a title last year.
Failure is part of the champion's journey.
But it is one thing to lose a seven-game series and another to let it slip through your fingers.
The Magic have been a team that has gotten its share of playoff scars. They lost a 18-point lead in Game 7 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2024. They survived injuries to make the Playoffs again in 2025.
Last year, they survived injuries again and took the 3-1 series lead over the Detroit Pistons. The Game 6 failure is one that will be hard to live down -- losing a 24-point second-half lead, missing 23 straight field goals and scoring an NBA Playoffs-low 19 points in the second half to lose a clinching game at hom.
The only way to improve is to move forward, face it again and learn those lessons.
The Magic will be tested in the same way. They will take a big lead in a big game against a quality opponent. They will feel that familiar pressure and feel the doubt creep in because this happened. Their season will be defined how they respond to this doubt.
They cannot let these ghosts haunt them. It is a story today. They must quickly make it a thing of the past.
It is a long journey to get back to the Playoffs. Even though the Magic are talented, there is no certainty that they will return to that situation. They have to earn their way back.
And then they have to break through and accomplish the thing that has been so elusive for them.
The season is a test
The failure in the playoffs last season and three straight years out of the first round would have likely led to major changes on almost any roster around the league.
The Orlando Magic opted to retain their roster. President of basketball operations Jeff Weltman has said publicly that the reason was how well the team played when they were not facing injuries. There is a belief in this group.
This is a season, then, that the same group that faced one of the most embarrassing defeats of the Playoffs will have to find a way to overcome it.
There will be plenty of moments that test them throughout the season. Every team takes a big lead during the season. Every team blows a lead during the season.
The Magic have often looked immature in these moments, allowing mistakes to compound. This season is a test of their maturity.
How serious are they about competing at the highest levels? That takes a level of poise this team has yet to gain.
Orlando has a new coach and a new frame of reference to help guid them through the ups and downs of a season. But ultimately answering the call, executing under pressure, maintaining focus and intensity will come down to the players.
The ultimate bet the Magic made this offseason was in themselves. And the question is whether this is the right group to take that next step.
Orlando should be feeling that pressure to do so.
The team is just beneath the second apron. It would be impossible to justify maintaining that spending level for a team struggling to escape the first round. The Magic need to make measurable progress.
And that will mean facing down all of these questions that surround the team. Questions they likely want to move on from, but cannot until they prove themselves on the floor.
Wednesday was just a Summer League game. But it felt like a familiar story for this team. That story will get told again throughotu this season.
The Magic will need to come up with a new answer.
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