Finishing in safe six may be harder than the Orlando Magic realize

The Orlando Magic returned from their All-Star break, laying waste to the Sacramento Kings. It brought them closer to one of the six guaranteed playoff seeds, and also gave them slightly more cushioning in the standings as they are a game ahead of the Miami Heat, 3.5 ahead of the Atlanta Hawks, four ahead of the Charlotte Hornets, and 14 ahead of the Washington Wizards.

Notably, the seventh through tenth seeds are all Southeast Division teams. The Heat are in the mix to be one of the top six, but they’ve been allergic to consistency . The same goes for the Hawks, which have the most talented player in the division: Jalen Johnson.

The Orlando Magic have 28 games left, but the squad in the mix they should fear most is the Hornets. The latter dropped a close one at home against the Houston Rockets on Thursday, but consider how they were 12 games below .500 on Jan. 8, and won their next 13 of 18 outings.

They're talented, unselfish and attractive to the eye. Growing pains will occasionally bite them, but their high-end talent is blossoming. Additionally, the Hornets have racked up quality wins in that span, including over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets (on Feb. 5) and San Antonio Spurs.

Borrowing a Pat Riley term, the Hornets are a team on the innocent climb, sort of like the Magic in 2023-24. It makes them highly dangerous because they don’t know it’s not their time yet, and they haven't been stopped, which is a powerful motivator.

How much confidence does anyone have in the Magic, at this point? Keep in mind that Franz Wagner is out indefinitely, and it’ll take more than whipping on the bottom feeders for them to earn any credibility. So far, 16 of Orlando’s 29 wins have come against teams with a below .500 record, and whenever it looks like they are about to get serious, they take two steps back.

They have no choice now but to keep winning, especially at home, so one of the surprise teams doesn’t embarrass them late in the season. Think of how much worse it would be for players and coaches if the squad with 28.5 projected wins (before the year) earned more, and worse, went further than the team with sky-high expectations.

Marinate on this for a second: if you were part of an opposing team, who would you rather play today: the Magic or the Hornets? Being a loaded team on paper that’s been derailed in part by injuries only counts for so much. Steady winning is what gets respect, and it makes them scarier currently than whatever the Magic are.

Orlando has played Charlotte thrice this year, with the former suffering two straight losses. The March 19 game in Charlotte will be the fourth and final one, yet it will be significant because it could determine the tiebreaker. The best thing the Magic could is wise up, and treat every game left like it's a Game 7.

Avoiding the Play-In Tournament is the least of what they have to do. Never forget how, since 1984, the sixth seed has one once (1994-95 Rockets), and every other champion has earned the first, second or third seed.