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4 Orlando Magic games the NBA should flex onto national TV

The Orlando Magic are going to be front and center in the postseason chase to close the season. That should get the team some attention and potentially a few national TV games added to the schedule. I didn't think so.

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic should be due for some more attention as he jumps into the All-Star Game this year. The postseason chase should get the Orlando Magic at least one more national TV game.
Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic should be due for some more attention as he jumps into the All-Star Game this year. The postseason chase should get the Orlando Magic at least one more national TV game. / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
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Second-Half Orlando Magic games the NBA should put on national TV

Feb. 14 vs. New York Knicks
March 8 at New York Knicks

The Orlando Magic will host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 13 for their lone scheduled nationally televised game on TNT.

That game is big because it is not just the big nationally televised game on the schedule but also the raising of Shaquille O'Neal's No. 32 to the rafters of Kia Center.

The game the following night at Kia Center could be just as big though. The Orlando Magic have two games remaining against the New York Knicks and two chances to pick up major ground they have lost in the last month in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.

The Magic trail the Knicks by six games for fourth in the Eastern Conference. That is a long way off. But these look like two playoff teams who have played entertaining and spicy games so far this season.

Regardless of whether the league wants to feature these games, these are big ones for the Magic if they want to make up ground and potentially sneak into the 4/5 matchup in the Eastern Conference.

They only need one of those games to win the season series. Orlando has proven to be a difficult matchup for New York -- and New York is likely without Julius Randle for the Valentine's Day matchup in Orlando. These will be good games regardless.

And they are games that could easily be featured on national TV.

The early game on Feb. 14 is between the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers. After the trade deadline, it is not clear whether the Bulls will still have Zach LaVine and whether that team will still be in the playoff race. The Magic are working hard to fend them off right now, but they still have a big hill to climb.

The early game on March 8 features the Atlanta Hawks and the Ja Morant-less Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies are hanging closer to the Western Conference than most thought. But the Hawks and Grizzlies are both teams that are largely outside of the playoff picture at the moment.

If ESPN wanted a different game for that early window, Orlando Magic and New York Knicks from Madison Square Garden is a good replacement (either that or the Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans).

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