Top 10 games of the Orlando Magic's 2024 season

9. Nov. 22, 2023: Orlando Magic beat the champs, Part 1

There is nothing more fun than a team learning to win for the first time. Especially when they are brought up together through repeated draft picks rather than given an outside injection from free agency or trade. The latter situation tends to put a lot of pressure on teams that are not always ready for it.

It felt like Orlando was playing with house money all year because the team had such little pressure on them. Wherever they ended up, it would seem like a success.

Back in late November, nobody really knew just how good this Magic team could be. Nobody had a sense of what was in store. It still felt like the Magic were finding their identity. Nobody knew what was real.

They needed a big win to make everyone see what was possible. They needed a big win for proof of concept of what they were doing.

The win came in their final game before Thanksgiving (and then was backed up in their first win after Thanksgiving—more on that later). On the second night of a home-home back-to-back, the Orlando Magic defeated the defending champion Denver Nuggets at home.

That might have been the night when the home fan base really started to believe that something was cooking with this team. This was just a major win.

That it came with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner each pouring in big games—23 and 27 points respectively—and the team getting an uncharacteristically strong offensive performance, showed the team could adapt and win in multiple ways.

It also showed they could win against a marquee opponent. That kind of stuff matters especially for a young team. It gave the team a surge of confidence—it was win No. 5 of the nine-game win streak—and that carried them throughout the entire season.