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5 Most important stretches of the Orlando Magic's 2024-2025 season

The Orlando Magic have had nearly a week to sit with their schedule and map out the trouble spots and the easy parts (on paper). Which stretches of games will define their season?

By Philip Rossman-Reich

The Orlando Magic face some difficult stretches in their schedule, especially early in the season. That could define their season.
The Orlando Magic face some difficult stretches in their schedule, especially early in the season. That could define their season. / David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
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2. Jan. 27-Feb. 6: The West Coast road trip

Jan. 27: at Miami
Jan. 30: at Portland
Feb. 1: at Utah
Feb. 3: at Golden State
Feb. 5: at Sacramento
Feb. 6: at Denver

The Orlando Magic usually take two big West Coast road trips during the season. That is the nature of being about as far East as you can be. It typically means you have a lot of travel (the Magic though are not in the top five in most miles traveled).

This season is a bit different.

Orlando does take a brief three-game road trip to Phoenix and Los Angeles in November in between NBA Cup games. That means the Magic pay for that trip with a bit of a longer road trip in January. One that somewhat awkwardly starts in Miami on Jan. 27 (the Magic are probably heading home for a few days before traveling out West).

At least the road trip is not coming in the second game of the season like it did last year.

As far as Western Conference road trips go, this is pretty manageable.

The Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz may be well out of the playoff race by this point in the season. And Golden State, Sacramento and Denver are all playoff-capable teams, but teams the Orlando Magic should feel competitive with. The Magic lost both games to the Warriors and Kings (all four of those games were close) and they swept the Nuggets last year.

Road trips are always major moments on the schedule. The West Coast road trip is always the highlight of the season. It is one of the biggest moments on every schedule.

And this road trip in late January and early February is a big one. Especially considering it is the last really difficult stretch before the end of the season.

Orlando plays six straight games (and five at home with the All-Star Break in the middle) against teams that did not make the playoffs immediately after this game. The Magic feasted on teams with losing records last year. And they could be in for some serious momentum after a successful road trip.

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