The Orlando Magic did not have the season they imagined when things began back in October.
Orlando had ambitions to be the four-seed and win homecourt advantage to get out of the first round. The team saw itself taking a leap closer to contention.
Nobody saw the injuries overtaking this team and putting them behind the 8-ball. Certainly nobody saw the team struggling to find any 3-point rhythm.
By the end of the season, the Magic were scrambling to secure their spot in the Playoffs and find some solid ground. They eventually did find it though, going 12-6 to end the season and rallying to earn the 7-seed. That came with a big win in the Play-In Tournament and a five-game playoff series where the Magic's defense at least acquitted itself well.
Orlando had a wild season. Everyone is still trying to make sense of it and plan out a future for this team. The Magic certainly have their work cut out for them to improve this roster.
Before anyone can close the book on the season, it is worth taking one final look back. There were a lot of encouraging and strong games and showings throughout the season.
In a 41-41 season, there were a lot of games to celebrate. And after a decade of finding silver linings and hope in these games, it is nice to be able to put (still mostly) wins on this list of the top 10 games of the 2025 season:
10. March 8: Magic get gutsy win vs. Bucks
The Orlando Magic were reeling after a 1-6 homestand following the All-Star break. They knew when the schedule came out that this homestand was their chance to build momentum to the end of the season. With all the injuries, it felt more important than ever to take advantage of.
It all fell apart quickly. Close losses to the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors were frustrating. A 40-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers was downright embarrassing. Three losses to the Toronto Raptors and Chicago Bulls by a total of five points made it feel like the team was a sinking ship.
The Magic stared a difficult five-game road trip in Milwaukee against the Milwaukee Bucks. They had lost 10 straight games at Fiserv Forum and had gone 1-11 since the building opened in 2018. Things looked bleak.
Orlando needed a win any way it could get it and put in a spirited performance to score the victory. Orlando raced to the lead and got a strong showing from Cole Anthony, including a memorable block on Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Still, the Magic had to show poise and resolve, hanging on from a late 3-point barrage from Damian Lillard to get the win. Nothing was easy at this point. But for one evening, everything felt like it would be OK.
And the road trip proved to be the spark for a strong finish that saved the season.
9. April 15: Play-In Tournament Win
The idea of the Play-In Tournament is still a foreign concept even after a half-decade of the made-for-TV event. Everyone dreads the idea of losing a playoff spot and having to play an extra game to get in. It is a stressful event.
For young teams, it is limited exposure to postseason pressure. Not that the Magic needed it. But facing a tall task in the first round, this was the chance for a true playoff moment.
Orlando gave the Kia Center faithful a night to enjoy and celebrate, even in a difficult season.
The Magic built a big lead right out of the gates, leading by 20 in the first half. They gave that lead away and had to carefully rebuild it in the second half. But it still led to a raucous and celebratory night to make the Playoffs.
More than that though, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner struggled, combining for 30 point on 10-for-28 shooting. It was 26 points from Cole Anthony, 19 from Wendell Carter and 16 from Anthony Black to helped the Magic get over the top and into the Playoffs.
8. Dec. 10: Jalen Suggs leaves it all on the floor
Less than a week before the Orlando Magic played their NBA Cup Quarterfinal game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Franz Wagner tore his oblique, joining Paolo Banchero on the sideline with the rare basketball injury. It felt like the world was collapsing around the Magic.
The NBA Cup felt like a secondary concern. The Magic just wanted some faith and stability. It felt like a game against the Bucks, who had figured things out and would go on to win the NBA Cup this year, was not what they needed. They needed to figure themselves out.
Even though the Magic lost 114-109, they showed the nation their heart and spirit. They showed why the Magic had no plans to fold even with all the injuries. They left everything on the floor.
This was Jalen Suggs' coming-out party as much as anything. In addition to his frenetic defense, he scored 32 points and did everything he could to will the team to victory. After the game, he was unusually quiet, taking the loss hard, even with everyone proud of the effort the Magic put in that night at Fiserv Forum.
7. Dec. 23: Orlando Magic make second comeback
The Orlando Magic were playing by the seat of their pants in late December. They had settled into the reality of missing both Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner and they were trying to find their way. The Christmas week brought with it two crazy comebacks (we will get to the other one later).
But while the win over the Miami Heat was glorious for its own reasons, the win over the Boston Celtics that followed seemed to confirm that this was not a fluke. That there was something in the water with this Magic team.
Before getting to the sequence that led to Tristan da Silva's humongous three-pointer that gave the Magic a four-point lead, there was Trevelin Queen's 17 points. A national reporter sitting next to me on press row asked, "Who is this guy?"
That is the kind of thing the Magic were doing at this point. They had everyone stitched together and they were finding ways to win. In this game, not only did the Magic have the late heroics, but they also erased a 17-point deficit against the defending champs.
6. April 25: Franz finishes Game 3
The Orlando Magic always knew their playoff series with the Boston Celtics was going to be a tall order. They were scrambling to prevent the 3-point shooting that scared them to their core. It was always an uphill climb. And that did not get into the magic trying to figure out how to score against their versatile defense.
The Magic were going to have one game where they found clarity. But even after taking a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Magic found themselves tied with the Celtics with 2:31 to play. It was a gut-check time, and whether the Magic could finish this game would determine whether it would be a sweep or not.
Franz Wagner delivered, targeting Kristaps Porzingis with a pair of thrilling moves that gave the Magic a four-point lead and a playoff win to avoid the embarrassment of a sweep. Wagner spun to his left on the first move to get past Porzingis and finish a layup. He then attacked Porzingis and finished at the rim to put the game seemingly away.
Franz Wagner finished with 32 points and Paolo Banchero had 29 as the Magic gave a glimmer of hope that their defense was going to give the Celtics more problems than expected and that the Magic could make this a series.
It never felt closer than this.
5. March 16: Magic win on ABC!
Orlando Magic fans want attention. They cheer for a small-market team and they often feel overlooked in the national landscape. Paolo Banchero is rarely mentioned among the best young players with analysts focusing on his flaws far more than his strengths.
Then again, the Magic had a long history of losing when they get to the spotlight. They nearly lost by 30 to the New York Knicks in an NBA Cup game on TNT. They lost by 40 at home to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Fans want the attention, but didn't want the national TV games. Orlando always seemed to lose.
When the Magic were gifted an ABC game, their first since Dwight Howard's penultimate season in Orlando in 2011, it was both a cause for celebration and a bit fearful going up against the Cavs again.
On that critical March road trip that turned the season around, Orlando's win over Cleveland was a mission statement of the team's potential and a major national statement of some sorts. Orlando went to Cleveland, erased multiple double-digit deficits and never quit before pulling away for the win.
The Magic played the way they always envisioned, getting a big three from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for a brief lead and then finishing with a Paolo Banchero jumper with the defense afraid of Caldwell-Pope's spacing. Orlando had its first regular-season national TV win since 2019 and the confidence that carried them to the end of the season.
4. Jan. 25: The last hurrah of the Magic's trio
The Orlando Magic were trying to find their footing with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner just returning as the calendar turned toward late January. Jalen Suggs was back in the lineup for the first time in three weeks after he strained his back. All that chaos was back.
But the Magic were still off. Banchero and Wagner had not found their rhythm. The pieces were not fitting together. And against a more confident Detroit Pistons team, the Orlando Magic were struggling.
They were down two entering the fourth quarter and everyone recognized this was a must-win game. Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs all stayed in to start the fourth quarter. It was clear that they knew how important this game was. They were not coming out.
The Magic went on a 20-4 run to take control of the game before Suggs exited with a knee injury following an altercation on the court between players. That would be Suggs' last game action of the season.
But considering what the Pistons became, this was the sign of how good this group was together. And the potential the Magic lost without them.
3. Oct. 28: Paolo's 50
For more than a decade after the Orlando Magic traded Dwight Howard, they were looking for a star to galvanize their team. They were looking for a player who could take over a game and just will his team to victory.
Paolo Banchero looked like that the moment he stepped on the floor for the Magic as a rookie. He broke the team's 20.0-point-per-game drought. He stepped up in his first Playoff series.
The early part of the season began to show that Banchero was going to make a leap. What he did in his last fully healthy game before his oblique tear was a sign of what he could do.
Banchero dominated the likely Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers with a 50-point performance, the first 50-point game for the Orlando Magic since Tracy McGrady in 2004. He nearly put together a 50-point triple-double with 13 rebounds and nine assists.
The last assist was a three-pointer for Anthony Black that iced the game and ensured the Magic got the win as they continued to confound the Pacers.
But this game was all about Banchero and how he was turning into a superstar. We will never know how it would have fully developed. Three quarters later in Chicago, Banchero would tear his oblique and miss the next two months. His season was interrupted and he struggled to reach those heights again, showing hints of it as the season closed.
2. Nov. 21: Franz becomes a star
Paolo Banchero's injury was a blessing in disguise. Blessing is too strong, because losing a player like Banchero is devastating. It felt like the season was over before it started. Nobody knew if the Magic had enough to sustain the loss of the attention and gravity that he creates.
It was a blessing though because it pushed Franz Wagner to the front.
The younger Wagner is usually quiet and contemplative. He is an intense competitor, but the complaint about his play is that he fades intot he background too much. Nobody knew if he could take the attention and pressure of being the guy.
The way he played after Banchero's injury proved otherwise. And no game displayed that more than a Nov. 21 game in Los Angeles against the Los Angeles Lakers.
He got his "movie moment," hitting a game-winning three in the dying seconds to give the Magic an improbable win -- aided by missed free throws from Anthony Davis, but you have to take the opportunity when you get it.
Wagner had 37 points and 11 assists. He made four of his 10 3-pointers. It felt like everything was in front of him. There is a reason coach Jamahl Mosley was shouting All-Star him in the back halls of Philadelphia a few weeks later before Franz Wagner's own injury derailed things.
1. Dec. 21: Magic comeback vs. Heat
The Orlando Magic were at their lowest point in the second quarter when Moe Wagner collapsed to the floor with what clearly a torn ACL, even if nobody wanted to believe it. The Magic were in a daze throughout this pre-Christmas game. They fell behind by 25 midway through the second quarter.
That is game over. The Magic were without their top four players with Jalen Suggs sitting out the game with a minor injury and Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner out with their oblique tears. It was hard to imagine the Magic could win.
Orlando trailed by 20 at the half. A comeback did not seem in the cards.
When Orlando cut it to 12 late in the third quarter, it was some sign of life. But Miami extended the lead back to 22 to end the third quarter.
Somehow, Orlando rallied. Cole Anthony scored 35 points. There was no quit in this team. And the Magic showed what their culture is about and who they are. They just kept fighting, unrelenting and unforgiving, until the end of the game.
Orlando took the lead with 2:43 to play on a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope jumper. The Magic took the lead for good with a Goga Bitadze layup and got an and-1 from Cole Anthony to ice the game.
There was no more improbable win or game that exemplified who this Magic team could be than this December night against the rival Heat. It is a game everyone will remember for a long time.