Top 10 games of the Orlando Magic's 2024 season
10. Dec. 1, 2023: Magic cap off nine-game win streak
142. Magic Wizards final 12.01.23. 130. 38. Final. 125
The Orlando Magic were having a rollicking time at the Kia Center in the week after Thanksgiving. They were on a long homestand and were making the most of that opportunity.
They were feeling good, in other words. Eight straight wins will do that. And so when Jalen Suggs got a steal and ignited a 2-on-1 fastbreak, he sparked a play that symbolized the joy and spirit the team played with.
Channeling Dwyane Wade from his infamous alley-oop, Suggs threw a lob to Cole Anthony on the opposite side of the lane and then ran toward the cameras underneath the basket with his arms raised as Anthony grabbed the ball with one hand and jammed it in.
This is everything the Magic have become about. There was the defensive play that sparked the play to begin with, but then the joy and bravado that characterized this team and its culture.
They were allowed to be young and boisterous. That was not viewed as a weakness at any point in the season. Nor was it ever an excuse. The Magic embraced that part of themselves.
And at this point, this team was enjoying the moment. Why wouldn't they? This was their first time winning at a consistent level.
The game itself was not particularly memorable. It was a close game, but never threatening. And the Magic got a chance to celebrate their franchise-record-tying nine-game win streak.
Moe Wagner probably provided the most poignant commentary of the evening in the postgame press conference.
Wagner wanted to make it clear to the media and those outside the locker room that this win streak was not something that sprung up randomly or quickly. It was the product of three years of work as a group, building this team to be ready for these opportunities.
That, too, was a message throughout the season. The Magic and their young players had complete ownership over their process and their climb to become a playoff team. This was them at their most mature. They had fun on the court but were serious about the work it took to get there.
At this early stage of the season, the Magic got their proof that all that work was worth it.