After Late Turnaround, Magic Feel Well-Positioned as Postseason Journey Begins

ORLANDO, Fla. – One thing needs clarifying right away: the Orlando Magic wanted more out of this regular season than what they got.

A second consecutive Southeast Division title, secured with last week's victory over Boston, was a good accomplishment. However, given their preseason aspirations, that was the baseline for actualizing their original vision.

After seeing its advantages first-hand last April and May, securing homecourt advantage was a recurring theme from Day 1 of training camp. That happened too, but through the Play-In Tournament as the East's No. 7 team rather than a top-4 finish for the playoffs.

Injuries, plus a myriad of other factors that have either been a constant thorn in the Magic's side or can't be addressed in-season, tempered those expectations Orlando had of itself and forced itself to adjust frustratingly.

To borrow words from starting center Wendell Carter Jr. Friday in Indianapolis, the Magic aren't satisfied, but they're living with their reality. They've had no other choice.

Orlando's loss Sunday, rather meaningless considering the situational context, meant the Magic finished the 82-game slate with equal wins and losses – 41 each way. That's historic, in a way – the 2024-25 Magic became the first team without a winning record to win a division since the 1976 NBA-ABA merger.

Set to face the same Hawks team with much different on-court personnel little more than 48 hours later, the Magic's main desire was to leave State Farm Arena healthy for Tuesday's Kia Center clash. Regardless of result, count that mission as a success.

But reaching the .500 mark is worth acknowledging on its own. Because not only is it the first time it's happened in consecutive seasons since 2010-12, but Orlando had to display impressive resolve to get there.

Following a loss on Mar. 19 to the Houston Rockets, the Magic found themselves six games below .500 with 12 regular-season games to play. They'd been hovering around that mark since a 1-6 homestand out of the All-Star break set them back.

Orlando, however, won nine of the next 11 games to secure, at worst, the even mark they finished with Sunday as its regulars watched from the sideline.

"With everything we've gone through, with the bodies being down, guys being in and out of lineups and the adversity that we've hit this year, for this group to get to .500 says a lot about their character," coach Jamahl Mosley said Sunday.

"If you would've told me the things that we would've had to go through this season and to end the year .500 with a chance to go into the playoffs with one game, I probably would've said I don't know how that's going to be possible," Jonathan Isaac said Sunday.

Few notable numbers jump off the finale's box score, but Isaac's 12-point, 10-rebound, 3-block, plus-21 line included many of them – a nice marker to cap an up-and-down season for him. That in itself is a microcosm reflective of Orlando's season to date.

Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac (1) dribbles against Atlanta Hawks guard Keaton Wallace (2) during the first half at State Farm Arena. | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Not every team is capable of such late-season turnarounds, and it's increasingly less common in youth-led teams such as Orlando's. So, why didn't a rocky return from the week-long season break rattle this Magic team?

"We had gone through it," Mosley said. "Looking in the mirror, trying to figure some things out, hard conversations that needed to be had. When you're able to do that in those moments, it propels you forward, because that means you've learned something from that lesson in those losses, in those games, which were all close games. So, you're forced to look at certain things that you may not have had you won two or three of them. That's a benefit of that moment happening."

"I think the trajectory could only go up from there," Carter told Magic on SI. "We understood that we had to change that sh-t all around. No one was going to feel sorry for us, no matter who was playing, so we had to figure it out. That's what we did."

Now, in a time of year the Magic have wanted to apex toward all year long, Orlando is confident in its play as of late with the high-stakes rematch versus Atlanta looming.

The Magic, who were 41-41 at Sunday's final buzzer but woke up Monday 0-0, feel well-positioned – even if this isn't exactly what they'd envisioned their postseason path entailing when this journey began several months ago.

"There's a high level of focus," Mosley said. "They're understanding what we need to do in that Play-In game, knowing that we have this opportunity and ... knowing it's one game to make sure you take care of business."

"For us to be in this position, playing great basketball at the end of the season – before this loss, we rattled off a few straight," Isaac said.

"I think we're in a great position, ready to take care of the Hawks Tuesday at home."

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