The NBA Cup returns! The questions Orlando Magic fans need to know about East Group B

The Emirates NBA Cup is here!

OK, it is just a week and a half into the season. Barely anybody has been able to make up time from the shortened preseason and find their rhythm. The NBA's standings still look a little topsy-turvy -- the Orlando Magic are just 2-4 and the Chicago Bulls and Philadelphia 76ers lead the Eastern Conference at 4-0.

This seems like an odd time to start playing some meaningful games or games that have some extra incentive to them.

But the NBA was determined to create some intrigue and winning pressure at the start of the season. They did not want the entire world to think it could skip out on the NBA until Christmas or, worse, after football season ends.

The NBA Cup may be a bit of a gimmick still. Fans may not be completely bought in on this tournament. A lot of teams may not be completely bought in on this as it enters its third year.

But one truth remains: The teams that do care about this want it and want to win it. Even a team like the Milwaukee Bucks got into the tournament last year motivated to win it, seeking redemption from losing in the semifinal in the first edition. They lifted the trophy last year -- do not let anyone say Damian Lillard did not win anything in Milwaukee.

Making the most competitive people on earth compete for a trophy and a little extra money does create drama -- even if cynics laugh at teams celebrating an in-season trophy and raising a banner celebrating their victories.

The Magic have used the NBA Cup exactly how a young team should.

In the first edition of the tournament, the Magic took a bad loss on the chin in the opening game. But then they powered through the rest of group play, including an upset win over the Boston Celtics in a Black Friday matinee. Orlando finished group play in first place with a 30-point cushion that Boston erased.

But the Magic made a statement. They were a force and they used that NBA Cup showing to power their way through the rest of the season and into the Playoffs.

Last year's NBA Cup served a similar purpose.

The Orlando Magic were looking to advance out of group play after losing their lead while idle on the last day. They were determined to make the games count (even with Paolo Banchero out of the lineup).

The Orlando Magic steamrolled through the first games, and, even with a blowout loss to the New York Knicks in the last game, they secured passage to the knockout round. In Milwaukee, the undermanned Magic (now without Franz Wagner) showed a lot of guts and determination in falling just short of taking the trip to Las Vegas.

Before this season, it felt like the Magic were either thinking of bigger ambitions than an NBA Cup or they would be a perfect team to make waves again in this early-season tournament. Orlando would be the kind of team that is young enough and hungry enough to take this tournament seriously and is designed to win these kinds of games.

Things have changed. The Magic have found themselves struggling to find their identity to start the season. Their defense has not taken form (although Thursday's win was a step in the right direction). The offense has not quite found its rhythm.

The NBA Cup is not coming at a great time for the Magic to make those waves. They need to figure themselves out and probably cannot focus on any one game over any other.

Then again, maybe some competition and a carrot is enough to get them to focus and find their way again.

Ready or not, the NBA Cup is here throughout the league.

Who is in East Group B?

The Orlando Magic were put in East Group B in a random draw during the summer.

The Magic were always destined to be in the "Group of Death" in the East because they were underseeded as the 7-seed in the East (they were put in pot three with the pots ordered by the previous season's standings).

But East Group B proved to be tougher than anyone anticipated.

The Orlando Magic will play the Boston Celtics (2-3), Philadelphia 76ers (4-0), Brooklyn Nets (0-5) and Detroit Pistons (3-2). That is the Magic and Pistons, two teams expeced to compete at the top of the East. The Celtics are still the Celtics with their heavy three-point shooting. And the Sixers are the surprise team in the East to start the season.

Orlando has already seen and struggled to defend Philadelphia and Detroit. This week, Orlando gave up its worst defensive rating in consecutive games since March 2022 in a pair of road losses to Philadelphia and Detroit. Those will be the Magic's two road games in NBA Cup group play.

Those two games will come at the end of group play near Thanksgiving. The biggest games come at the end. But all four games will provide challenges, starting next Friday against the Celtics at home.

East Group B Schedule

Reminder about how to advance. The winner of each group advances to the knockout round.

The Wild Card entry (the fourth spot in the conference) is given to the second-place team with the best record with point differential as the first tiebreaker. So it is OK to run up the scores.

Are those courts back?

The NBA wants this tournament to feel big and they have tried to give it a different visual language than just a run-of-the-mill midweek game.

The biggest change are the different colored courts that teams play on which clearly denote these as Cup games. Some have been hits. Many have been misses.

The league has started to dial back the court shades, but the courts are indeed back with each team getting a new court for these games.

For whatever it is worth, the Orlando Magic's court was rated the best in the league by The Athletic's NBA writers.

The Magic have done well to make sure their look does not hurt the eyes.

The NBA Cup game next week will also mark the debut of the Magic's new Statement Edition jersey -- the one that looks like the Magic's original warmups. The league opted to have teams wear these jerseys rather than the ever-rotating City Edition jerseys (which the Magic have not revealed yet).

So fans will get a surprise with the new jerseys making their on-court debut.

Can the Magic advance?

Before the season, it felt like East Group B would come down to the final game between the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons. But both teams have struggled out of the gates. The Philadelphia 76ers suddenly look like an offensive juggernaut.

The intrigue of this tournament is that it is still far too early in the season to draw sweeping conclusions about any team. And a lot will change during the next month as these games play out.

If the Orlando Magic can right the ship to end this road trip and start off with a win in Friday's opener against the Boston Celtics, then anything seems possible. The Magic just have to get themselves back on track.

Where in the last two seasons, the Magic entered the NBA Cup tournament playing well to start the season and eager to play these meaningful games, the Magic are not playing well right now. They need to get themselves right. And that is the priority.

It will be a different challenge. Perhaps this year the NBA Cup is not as much of a priority as it was for the team in previous seasons.

But here comes the cup all the same.