Orlando Magic Daily
Fansided

The 5 most important Orlando Magic games in the 2024-25 season

The Orlando Magic are less than a month away from the beginning of training camp. There is a lot of work to do before the season begins on Oct. 23. But already, there are a few games that are rising in their levels of importance.

By Philip Rossman-Reich

The Orlando Magic have a lot to look forward into the 2025 season. There are already games on the schedule that look bigger than the others.
The Orlando Magic have a lot to look forward into the 2025 season. There are already games on the schedule that look bigger than the others. / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next

4. NBA Cup finale: at New York Knicks (Dec. 3)

There is still a little bit of suspicion around the league about the importance of the NBA Cup.

The league's second running of this mid-season tournament is an idea that is still trying to catch on. To some, it feels like "fetch" trying to happen. To others, it is a nice distraction early in the season.

Last year, even as the Orlando Magic competed to win their group, they were confused about the rules. Moritz Wagner had to pause his press conference and ask a public relations official to help him with the math that put the Magic in first place in their group and what needed to happen on the final day of the tournament.

For a team like the Magic, the In-Season Tournament was a valuable experience. It put them in pressure, must-win situations. For the Magic, last year's In-Season Tournament run seemed like the team announcing its seriousness about competing in the East as the beginning of their nine-game win streak in November.

This year's NBA Cup schedule will be tougher. The Orlando Magic were drawn into a group with the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks, two teams that expect to compete in the Eastern Conference. The Magic will again have something to prove.

The stakes were increased with the NBA putting the Magic and Knicks in their featured game on the final night of the NBA Cup's group play phase. Assuming the Orlando Magic take care of business against the Brooklyn Nets and Charlotte Hornets in their group, the final game against the New York Knicks on Dec. 3 at Madison Square Garden will have implications on whether they can advance in the tournament.

Never mind that it is the nationally televised game in the Eastern Conference on TNT at Madison Square Garden. This is a pretty big spotlight.

Who knows how serious the Magic or Knicks will take the NBA Cup. It is small potatoes in the long run. Then again, the Indiana Pacers got a nice experience boost from reaching the In-Season Tournament Final last year, just as the Orlando Magic did.

The experience is what you make of it.

Dec. 3 is going to be a night a lot of Magic fans are looking forward to and it is a chance to tell the rest of the NBA world the Magic are a dangerous team early in the season.

Home/Magic News