Orlando Magic Podcast – Ep. 192- “The Magic Standard“

Orlando Magic Podcast – Ep. 192- “The Magic Standard“

Live from Orlando Florida you’re listening to the Orlando Magic HQ podcast the voice of magic fans join us every week for a unique fan perspective on all of the latest Magic news and updates the show starts now what’s up magic fans welcome back to another episode of the Orlando Magic HQ

Podcast brought to you by the believe podcast Network and bet online for your host Al myself Anthony today is Friday April 5th and man the season is almost done I can I can taste I can taste the playoffs playoffs are right around the corner we haven’t clinched anything yet

Right we we may we we’ve clinched playing right we we clinched the eighth seed but that doesn’t mean anything to us right because we we don’t we don’t want the play in the goal out the goal is to make playoffs the goal right now is to make playoffs with homec court

Advantage and in today’s episode where we’re going to talk a little bit about um some of the Dynamics that are happening in the NBA there there’s there’s a potential team out there that we may or may not be facing in the first round we don’t know um who is missing a

Very very big piece to what they’re doing we’re also going to be talking about a very important uh um public figure out there that believes that if we play against this this said team that the magic might might do some some crazy things and uh bring out the brooms out

But before we get into any of that um let let’s touch base with with you Al how’s everything how you doing my man all good man all good my week uh got better as it went along last time we recorded we were coming of a three-game losing streak um so definitely

Definitely feeling better uh now that we’ve won three in a row so that’s just a magic for you right they ups and downs with this team right now we’re feeling pretty good heading into Charlotte tomorrow yeah yeah and listen uh kind of we we’ll talk more about this later on

In the episode but coming down the stretch man you you really like what the magic are doing magic currently on a three- game winning streak um has some tough tough games um that disappointed a lot of magic fans rightfully so um you had a loss against the Clippers win

Against Memphis win against Portland and then a win against a very very feisty New Orleans Pelicans but before we Deep dive into those games just a quick word from our sponsor bet online is down to the last four teams B online has been your tournament bracket headquarters all

March long and now that we’re almost down to the finals we still got a lot more in store MLB is here and NBA NHL playoffs are around the corner as always B online is a number one source for your summer Sports wagering head of B online

Today to say updated on all the action remember to use promo code believe for your 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit B on line the game starts here and also don’t forget our newest sponsor cut the social betting app um this was a a social app that we’ve partnered with

Where you’re able to socially wager with any of your friends on any specific topic so definitely a lot different than what you’re used to um give it a try give it a shout you can join the believe crew on the cut app today and bet directly against literally anything

Anything so if you want if you want to bet with your friend about you racing to whatever you can definitely do that so be sure to follow at cut bet on all your social media channels and download the app via the App Store on Cut Kut t.com

Use Co use uh promo code leave magic for a 10% deposit bonus all right so now that we got all that stuff out of the way just a really quick shout out to our guy Luke Luke just dropped an awesome awesome article on Orlando Magi hq.com

Where he does a a deep dive um around uh Mo Vagner Mo Vagner has has been a a player that has been a quickly quickly fan favorite Mo Vagner is one of those guys where you absolutely hate him if he’s not on your your team and you

Absolutely love him if he’s on your roster and dude when you think about other players in the NBA who kind of has that ability um it it’s it it brings a different Dynamic to the team right because Mo Vagner has his neck and we we know that he has his neck where he’s

Able to really get under the skins of of individuals like we’ve seen this firsthand right um and it brings a different element because the Orlando mat man the Orlando Magic have always been a team where we’ve always felt like it’s been a little while since we had that that rough edgy type personality

Right like the the type of person that really can can piss you off and and I felt like the last time that we really had somebody like that was uh was Matt Barnes Matt Barnes was a different was a different animal right Mo in my opinion

Isn’t that at that level he’s like a nicer version of Matt Barnes but he’s still a type of person that man he’s he’s going to get he’s going to get under your skin he’s going to he’s going to like if you’re not careful Mo Vagner

He he’ll dunk one on your head like and he does his he does his he does his Michael Jordan dunk that I I it I go crazy every single time he does it it’s it’s it gets me hyped and I know that teams hate it because Mo Vagner is a

Type of player that he can talk smack but he can also back it up and we’ve seen the numbers that he does no he’s not in the starting lineup but coming off the bench this is a player that can definitely do a lot of damage Yeah man so if you’re a magic fan

Again and again we’ve all been following Mo Vagner the last few years but it’s amazing what Luke was able to to uh explain throughout the article the fact that he came here with just a chance to just possibly make a roster spot and then who he is today you know we’re a

Playoff team now he’s a key component of that team um of course France’s Brothers now on the team as well so he’s found a home in Orlando and hopefully it will last here for a long long time so check it out Orlando hq.com it should be right

On the main page uh again major props to Luke great great article that he uh put together for us absolutely now Al let’s talk about this Clippers game 197 we lose by three points uh we struggle it was a back and forth but we we definitely struggled there was a lot of

Things that we can literally point at that we can say man we really if we’re going to be serious about this playoff run then we we really need to fix some things up throughout these games we see that free throw has been has been a pretty big issue uh before this this

Pelicans game fron hasn’t been playing his best basketball even Paulo has looked as if he’s taking a slight step back but when you look at the Clippers game give me give me your quick thoughts on on that that specific layout because when we when we talked about this home

Stretch I was was I was I was overly confident man I I felt like this was our way of of stamping the seal and saying man we’re we’re here we’re ready for the playoffs we’re going undefeated didn’t work that way it’s okay we we’ve won a

Majority of the games we can at least hang our head on that but um what were your thoughts on that Clippers game yeah man I mean at the end of the day I went into that game honestly myself thinking we’re gonna lose a game right they they’re healthy right now James Harden

Paul George kawh Leonard Russell Westbrook I’m like it’s going to be a tough game let’s be sincere now the magic found a way to battle and they did you know the fourth quarter it was a good game they were right there um they took the lead momentarily late in the

Fourth quarter it took a five-point lead that lasted like 30 seconds Paul George hit a three then Paul George hit a layup and that was a wrap they were they were feeling themselves we were never able to recover from that um but once again the same Trend that happened during that

Three- game losing streak um the previous week happened again here the final minute and a half two minutes of that game our execution was just horrible turnovers uh poor decisions and again that’s the same thing that cost us a game against Golden State that’s the same thing that cost us

A game against the Clippers we just were not prepared to handle that final minute against a tough opponent um had it been Charlotte had it been the Wizards we probably win that game but hey it’s it’s a different different Stakes you got Steph Curry going against you you got

Paul George going against you you got to be able to bring that up and we were not um to your point France did not show up in that game Paulo kind of did but he did struggle with some late game execution um so I think that even though

The score shows that it was a close game in my opinion the Clippers really just overall in my mind should have won by a lot more we I was shocked at the end that we were in that game so not upset with the loss but I will say I’m upset

With the fact that how we lost the game we had it right there in our hands playing at home I wish we would have been able to find a way to close it out but um not disappointed the Clippers are a better team let’s be honest today um

But it would have been nice to win that game listen it’s okay to be upset you expect to win every single game and and playing the song has been such a a big part now of of the winning experience and the magic have been winning so much

It kind of feels weird when we don’t win a game right because like do we not listen to the song we’re so used to listening to it after a magic game and um you know it was it’s tough because you had you had a healthy James Harden

You got you got Paul George you got Kawhi Leonard uh Russell Westbrook like you you got you got these guys that um that you you expect for for it to be a tough game and the fact that the magic you know were at least able to battle it

Out keep it close um even though that you know it’s it’s a game of runs you you take the lead you lose the lead and you know it just didn’t end in our favor so the most important thing is that you you end that that losing streak right

Because you lose to the Sacramento Kings the Golden State Warriors and the Clippers like you’re you’re getting beat down man and you don’t want to go on a losing streak towards the back end of the season where you’re now like really fighting your way clawing your way into

This playoff bracket so um I it was awesome to see the magic just kind of taking out all their frustrations on the Memphis Grizzlies and it was it was was it was it was it was a rough a rough day to be in Memphis Grizzlies like it

Was we put the beat down on them like that almost up by damn near 50 points like in an NBA game like it was it was a Smackdown it was a beat down it was a laid down like any any type of violent verbage that you can possibly use that’s

Exactly what what it was if you’re Hispanic that we took the Cheta we took we took the belt and it was just nonstop against the Memphis Grizzlies um literally their only saving grace was the fact that coach M ended up you know taking taking all our guys out and

Putting the third string in you know with like seven six seven minutes left on the clock so um outside of that what is it does that make you feel better knowing that we were able to get that win even though it’s against a very um you know not not the Memphis Grizzlies

That you expect to have if Moran was there exactly yeah so this was a game that again coming into it just like I said hey against the Clippers we’re going to probably lose this game that was no way that we’re going to lose right we we knew from the jump that they

Were short-handed they were injured really badly injured and it was great to see that right from the beginning we’ve been struggling a lot lately getting games started in a positive way this game was the opposite we were up thir 3313 after the first quarter ended so only allowing 13 points wild and then

From there like you said it was a 40-point game it was a 50-point game almost it was an easy game from there so it was great to see that the team kind of woke up after two three tough tough losses and said hey let’s take it seriously let’s Bank this team and take

Control of business but yet and I’ll let you talk about Memphis game in a little bit but you then look at the game on Monday against Portland and it was kind of the opposite where we kind of said hey they are also injured they’re also kind of tanking let’s chill and it

Showed cuz Portland truly took it to us they were battling every possession it nearly cost us the game at the end so I like to see that against Memphis but for some reason unfortunately uh it didn’t carry over to Monday night which I did not like and then mostly also did not

Like it very much um so while I liked it I would have loved to see it continue on that Monday night game against the Blazers as well yeah I think for me when you’re playing a team like the Blazers on paper this is a team that you’re supposed to

Smash like they there shouldn’t be it’s not competition like granted they’re being led by sco Henderson uh a in so they they have good young solid pieces but our team our talent our death should overpower them and it just didn’t happen man so it was it was definitely

Disappointing um we’ll take the win but yeah man you you said it right coach mol even afterwards his his response and I actually loved it like he was not this was coach mz’s 100th win like they’re supposed to be celebrating and I’m not sure if they did or didn’t but they’re

Supposed to be celebrating your 100th win congratulations but he wasn’t happy man and rightfully so like for for a second you know he lost a whole good guy thing and and he definitely like laid it in man before before taking any questions from the media you know he wanted to

Address the fact that the Orlando Magic did not play um towards the Orlando Magic standard and that was the first time that that you really start to think like yeah man like we’re we’re we’re at a point where you know this word culture gets thrown around so much and you know the magic

Haven’t had culture and and and this and that and the front office they didn’t even like using the word culture and screw the word culture man standard I love it buy into it we got a standard man like if you come here and play for

The magic this is this is where we’re at this is what we do and on a daily basis we strive to be here because here is where we’re successful and I I love the fact that coach Mo called the team out man this we we didn’t play to our level

Of brand B uh our level of brand of basketball we did it and the fact that you know coach MOS took a second to acknowledge that and and not be satisfied with with a onepoint win against the Portland Trailblazers um it it it shows that man this this coach coach Mo season 1

Granted it’s a different Dynamic but coach one coach Mo season 1 you know wouldn’t wouldn’t have talked the way that he did so now you’re starting to see a a more experienced uh coach Moos and I I loved it man if if you take anything from that game you take in my

Opinion the win is is that is we we got we got a chance to see coach MOS in in that element yeah and to your point I loved it I love the fact that he again didn’t hold back he led the press conference with those comments so you love to see

That um into your point it’s been a trend right we’ve seen Paulo struggle France struggle the starters kind of just not play up to their potential and he had enough and and I love seeing that because then we transitioned to the game against New Orleans on Wednesday night

And we saw the team play a much better game right so we at some point we were leading by almost 20 points in that game although once again the fourth quarter wasn’t the greatest and the Pelicans actually made it a interesting game in the final minutes they still played a

Really solid game throughout um Paulo finally snapped out of it the funk that he’s been in so did France um so what were the the stats here on this one so 24 points for France my goodness it been it’s been a while that he hasn’t scored

More than 20 yeah and then Paulo 32 points that was great to see um I mean what else can you say about ji and and Jaylen sucks on the defensive end and of course then the bench you you saw uh Wagner coming with 18 points so we saw

More of a traditional Magic basketball game last night and I think for sure it had to do with those comments from from Mostly kind of pushing the team and said hey man we got to get back on track here and I get it man we were home for eight

Games almost three weeks the guys might have been too comfortable at home I don’t know what it was but it was great to see our magic brand of basketball being played last night against the Pelicans now hopefully that will continue as we go here into Charlotte

Again a game that we should eat easily win and then an interesting game on Sunday against a Chicago team that’s fighting hard so hopefully we can continue this momentum but to your point I love the fact that mostly led the way and led the chge saying hey this is not

Up to a standard we got to fix this yeah P Kings game was a very um man it was a scary game because of how physical it was I feel like Jaylen sugs was just getting it it it looked like a wrestling match man the stuff that they were

Really doing to him and and it’s from a from a referee standpoint an officiating standpoint um I I feel like man the whistle was just not on our side and luckily man nobody nobody got hurt because there was some instances where you really were like I I was scared that

Something was going to happen man we can we can’t lose a player like Jaylen Suggs right now like it’s it’s he’s too crucial to what we’re doing as a team to really be effective and and play the the way that we want to be able to play and

You know it’s to me um that was scary but at the same time the fact that and and this is stuff that Paulo benera talked about this is stuff that coach mes talked about how you know they were very proud of the team that they they didn’t lose their composure and they

Talked a lot about that that for a young team to be able to hold their composure um and and still battle and and finish a job and win like that that was huge because man even even for the Pelicans man they got three players that got ejected out of the game toward towards

The end man so um you know again for young team that didn’t lose their heads no matter how how much um you know fight there was jayen Jaylen Suggs was super vocal against CJ McCullum and the other guys man and and you love to see the fight

Because at at one point you you don’t want to be pushed around either right you don’t you don’t want to be punked out and I feel like even though we were getting beat up the magic was still showing their presence and at the end of

The day man we we got the dub and and to me that’s the most important thing Gary Harris um when you look at the scorecard you know zero points in 30 minutes is a little tough you’re going to want more from Gary Harris because his three-point shooting would definitely help the team

Stretch the floor out a little bit but um overall exciting game magic need games like this um less physical hopefully because we don’t want any of our guys to get hurt but it was a good practice playoff like game to get us prepared and ready for the

Postseason for sure you said about I mean it it got physical and I just wonder what the refs were looking at man because there were times when Jaylen suck got hit three times last night really really hard and none of those plays were looked at for a second review

They were looked at for a nothing like they were just like nope regular play that last one legitimately got tackled on a fast break and they’re like oh he traveled first like crazy to me that they they would not even consider the fact yeah he might have traveled with

Ben right after that he got clovered so like call something on that um but either way to your point it was great to see the team keep the composure it got ugly at the end they made a huge comeback and for a second I was worried because again it was getting too

Physical the refs were getting involved too much the momentum kind of shifted completely to their favor but luckily we were able to close out that game that was a game that I was afraid of because the Pelicans are also playing for a lot um heading to the playoffs but it was

Great to see that we kept our composure we won that game um because again every game in my mind matters we have six left and trust me every single one would matter here as we try to lock in home court yeah and then speak speaking of

Locking in home court taking a look at our standings the magic currently with the fourth seed um in the East you got the magic um tied right now uh or or excuse me one game behind Cleveland you got Milwaukee that they’re in a losing uh two game losing streak um not too far

Away from Milwaukee New York they’re right behind us Miami um you know they’re they’re not tooo far back so these games they’re they’re slly running out man the magic are looking good um in their seating and where they’re at and it was just announced that um earlier today Julius Randall

Will miss a remainder of the Season I’m still not 100% sure whether that’s a good or bad thing just yet because you would think that you know no Julius Randall um is a big blow for their team um but they they’ve been still playing really good basketball they just got

Back uh Mitchell Robinson um OG is still um you know he’s still waiting to get healthy to to bring them on so New York is still going to be a tough team to play against um in the postseason but I don’t care man I I’m still telling you

That’s the team I want bring me the nicker boers like now like that’s no no matter what happens with anyone else I don’t care what happens in the seatings in terms of um who we play but if I can choose and and I can decide bring me the

Knicks and just to kind of recap for some of my reasons from last episode the most important thing is they’re dealing with health issues uh the Knicks are going to be the Knicks and I think that that should be like number one like somehow someway the

Knicks are going to find a way to be the Knicks and I think that you can hang your hat on that um but all jokes aside man I I think that from an experience standpoint playing against the Knicks um I like the way that we match up I like

The fact that Jaylen Brunson is a undersized guard who is a massive offensive threat but I think that Jaylen Suggs can uh I want to see what Jaylen Suggs is able to do under a playoff um environment against Jaylen Brunson I think that that would be an awesome

Awesome du and I think it’s going to be prime time TV man I I really do so bring me the Knicks now ASAP um and I can’t wait to really see where we end up falling and who we end up playing in in in the first round but if I can choose

It’s a Nicks man easy so you’re still going with the Knicks but I’m guessing you wanted I’m guessing you still want us to have homec court advantage though right in that situation like okay just making sure yeah of course um of course yeah they they’re listen they’re going

To have homecourt Advantage at our home anyways but at the very least at the very least right at the very least you know where it’s in our environment I think that what we at the what we should do is we need to send that one guy like

If we all chip in if we all chip in do a GoFundMe we send that same guy at that Pelicans game that was standing behind the booth if we send him to Madison Square Garden n that’s too much of a vacation that’s too much but shout out

To him man he was he was definitely fun listening to from from from home on TV but um because here’s the thing man we’re not there’s going to be zero magic fans in Madison Square Garden unless we travel out there we’re not going to have a huge presence right we’re just we’re

Just not they’re going to have a huge presence on our end so if we’re going to play the Knicks we we need to be we need to lock in that homecourt Advantage it just has to happen that’s the thing you know so so to your point though so if we

Look at the standings again so surprisingly enough only two games behind the Bucks guess what we played them twice more before the end of the season so that’s not crazy to think about that we might be able to reach him but that may be too far but Cleveland

Half a game half a game ahead of the Knicks Indiana two and a half behind us Miami lost tonight three games behind us so we pretty much have separated ourselves from Philly and Miami at this point uh pretty decent three game three games and a half at the moment but that

Race for the three- six it’s going to be interesting heading into the last week of the Season uh again the Bucks I don’t think we can get to the second seed but we do play them twice more you never know so it’s going to be a wild wild

Here uh final week of the season the final six games of the year um talking about Julius Randle I think it’s a huge uh breaking news you know affecting the Knicks if we play them in the playoffs of course you never want to see injuries but guess what man let’s be honest it

Does make him a weaker team right let’s be real that’s like but how many times have we dealt with it I’m I’m not I don’t care like I I’m I’m over caring Broly like if you don’t if you don’t have your players because they’re hurt whoopy do we’ve been dealing with that

For the last decade we’ve been there I feel sorry for nobody now when I when I look at teams I don’t want to see there’s one team that I’ll be honest with you that I I I would rather steer away from is the Miami Heat like if I’m

If I’m looking that’s the only team that that scares me a bit because they are a fraudulent uh six seed right when I mean fraudulent I mean they don’t they don’t I’m not going to say that they don’t care about seating but they’re at a point where just get inside

The playoffs just get just get into the postseason and then it’s it’s starting fresh there are D they’re a dangerous team you you can you can hate on the Miami Heat all you want but this is already a team that has already been to the finals their teams their team is

Experienced or Eric sposta is experienced I do not want to see my opinion I don’t want to see the Miami now this is me talking about it with a few games before the end of the season if we end up drawing the Miami he in the

First round then I want all the smoke but if I can choose which teams to steer away from Miami he would be the team that I would gladly pass over I’m on the same boat I’m on the same boat so one last thing regarding the standings I

Want to bring up is the fact that we actually own the tiebreakers against Cleveland New York and Indiana so heading into the final week that is crucial so that means that if we finish with the same record as the Cavs the Knicks or Indiana we actually end up

Ahead of them in in the standing so that’s going to be massive again so keep that in mind um it’s going to be fun man I I honestly don’t care who we face at this point bring on whoever it’s going to be fun the fact that we’re going to

Be a playoff team this year man it’s surreal to me that was never honestly let’s be real magic fans that was never a goal ours heading to the season our goal was to be where Chicago is right now or Atlanta like making the play in

That was the goal to be here today is massive we got to take advantage of it bring on whoever now my opinion again I I just want home to feel like home court for selfish reasons I’m g go to all the games and I want to have a blast if we

Face the Knicks I’m warning you guys I may get arrested just just saying because every time we play the Knicks I get into it with Knicks fans so keep an eye on that if I’m not on the podcast you know what happened now I’m not the only one that

Wants a Knicks right not necessarily want the Knicks but I’m not the only one saying that we have a really good shot against Knicks Shaquille O’Neal in his TNT broadcast where they were discussing um you know matchups to see they they were talking about the Knicks and the magic if the playoff standings

Were to begin today if the seatings were to begin today and Shaq gladly with his chess said the Orlando Magic are sweeping New York Knicks and he proceeded by singing Orlando Magic so he clearly believes it in his hearten uh in his heart of hearts that the magic are

Going to sweep the Knicks now chaquil and is a little bit of a troll let’s be honest he he says crazy things that I’m sure he doesn’t necessarily mean but it’s great for TV um but I I again I I like I like our out so my question to

You now um The Narrative is kind of changing a little bit right the the magic are being respected like you you have to respect us now because we’re in the standings man the coach MO is going to be unfortunately a runner up for coach of the year but do you do you like

Hearing uh what Shaq said about potentially the magic sweeping the Knicks and do you feel like there’s a chance I mean being honest with you you you’ll have to see it right National media media a guy like Shaq who unfortunately has actually bashed the magic quite a bit over the years I was

Surprised that he said it I was surprised that he said be honest so to actually see him showing us love I’ll definitely take it I’ll take any love that we can from anyone in the National media because I think we’ve earned it this season heck we’ve won 45 games and

We have six games to go like I mean come on let’s be honest um whether that can happen or not I mean can it yes if we go crazy and our shots start to drop especially our three-point shots yeah if defense is locked in sure will it happen

Probably not best case scenario to me we beat the next six if not seven games I I think it’s going to be a battle man because both teams are defensive minded both coaches are defensive minded it’s going to be a battle so that’s the issue

With that series that I have and why I’m trying to avoid it home court will be an issue even here in Orlando and the fact that again they are built like we are built my only concern is they have better Shooters than we do so if it

Comes down to hitting a couple threes more per game I think they have our number there they have better Shooters at this moment than we do but let’s see I I love the energy from Shaq I I hope it continues but I don’t see us sweeping

The Knicks in the first round best case scenario 4-2 what about you yeah I mean I think I think it would be a B I think for sure it would be a battle I wouldn’t even be surprised if it wi seven and I I would I would absolutely

Love that outcome again I’m thinking I’m thinking experience man like what what can this team go through this season to one highlight our game our team our Dynamic our magic standard on a broader broadcast so that it helps us in free agency what can we learn from it so that

Our players can now have postgame experience and I think that from my Long Haul perspective that’s going to go a long way I I do see us you know it won’t it won’t be as simple 40 sweep if it is oh my God whoever we see in the second

Round needs to be careful because we’ve we’ve hit a different level like we’ve we’ve evolved into like Charizard territory I I don’t I don’t know we we’ve we’ve grown up right Super Saiyan we we we’ve we we’re bigger right we’re a bigger better team we’ve evolved in a short period of time

Because you you know they they’ve they’ve always talked about how the postseason is more of a um it’s like it’s like dog years right every every postseason that you play in you know you you get a a a different level a different development from it because of

That experience and you can use that to share with others you can Sho that to build on um and and I think that for me right now is the most important thing um now you you take a look at the last six games Al there’s only six games left of

Season man it it’s I feel like the season flew by um it’s been a journey it’s been a roller coaster a lot of UPS a lot of downs a lot of in between um but no we did not expect that we were going to be at at this level and you

Look at the final six games you got tonight against Charlotte who do not have Lamela ball they damn near don’t even have Coach Clifford because he’s no longer going to be the head coach of that team right he’s accepted a a position to be in the front office then

You have Sunday against Chicago Chicago is always a fun team to play against you get a chance to be able to see Vu and for some reason Demar D roza has this thing against the Orlando Magic and then you have Tuesday against the Houston Rockets where we talked a little bit

This morning uh excuse me this afternoon about you know the Houston already kind of being out of the play in mix then you got Wednesday at Milwaukee Milwaukee has been a team that has been struggling um they they just lost against uh who was the team was it Detroit Memphis Memphis

It was Memphis um and this is like this is the time for them to get it together man this is first postseason with Damen Lillard um then you got Friday against Philadelphia you got Joel and B that’s finally back exciting for them I guess and then Sunday again

Versus uh Milwaukee so you look at those six games and you expect on paper guaranteed wins it’s never guaranteed but you expect guaranteed wins against Charlotte Chicago Houston but Milwaukee Philadelphia and then Milwaukee again is is where it gets a little gets a little challenging now the awesome thing is

That if the magic go absolutely bananas man we got we got a chance to be able to hit the 50 win mark which would be exciting it would be huge it would be great um momentum for the postseason and in order to do that you’re going to have

To play some really really good basketball on the back in um I was thinking that hey it would make sense for a team like Milwaukee to rest Giannis and to rest Damen Lillard but because they haven’t been playing great basketball they’re they’re too worried about seating so that that may not

Happen they they have some things to play for and Philadelphia has some some making up to do these these last six games with Joel and beid so unfortunately those are going to be those may be tough battles um it may not be too tough for Milwaukee on the last

Game because if that last game there’s not much to to play for then not a big deal but if there is um The Magic The Magic going to have to show up and show out yeah man it’s going to be I think what we what we wanted right it’s it’s a

It’s a final week where every game matters and I wouldn’t take it in any other way I I actually want it to be this way there’s been so many years so we’ve been watching you know taton by this time of the Season not anymore right every game matters up until that

14th of April game on Sunday against Milwaukee everything will matter um to your point Charlotte no doubt should be a winner tonight Chicago they’re playing better they’re playing for something they’re trying to Define whe they’re going to be the the ninth or the 10th seed so home cor advantage on that game

So they care about that game Houston they already kind of out of the playing already so they might not be trying as hard anymore but they’ve been balling out in the last three weeks so they could potentially give us a hard time in that game and then like you mentioned

The last three kind of tough on paper let’s see what they’re doing if Milwaukee has already kind of locked in that second seat by then then maybe they won’t care but if they’re actually playing against us and we’re trying to catch him for the second seed all of a

Sudden things may matter a little bit more for them so let’s see what happens I am hoping that we just win at the very least it’s GNA suck but I want to get 50 but it’s not going to happen I I think 4 and two in my eyes is where if we can

End up the season 4- two we’ll reach 49 wins in the season and that should be enough for us to get either the third or the fourth seed in the in the Eastern Conference which in my mind that’s what we want right home court advantage a

Playoff seed we just miss damn the 50 win mark by one game but I’ll be okay with that man I’m I’m I’m just going to I’m just going to put out in the air I’m going to speak it to existence the magic going go 5 and one we’re going to end

The season with 50 wins throw out throw out that would be incredible man that would be R can you imagine if we actually win 50 games let’s just do it make it make it happen make it happen um the tough part is you’re looking at one two three four

Four of those games um unfortunately away so that that’s that’s the only that’s the only tough part but man that’s we we want the smoke man don’t don’t take the foot off the gas pedal man go go go um we don’t want to look too far ahead into the postseason take

One game at a time worry about the now seating matters um I don’t I don’t care if we’re the second seat the third seed the fourth seed just uh you definitely want to be in that in that realm in that scope to make sure that you you lock

Down that home court advantage and for a team that um you know has has missed the playoffs has gone to uh multiple rebuilds um even though we made the postseason with Vu um and a and and forier it it didn’t it didn’t feel it didn’t feel like this I love those guys

And and have beautiful memories during that time span but it was tough it was a struggle it’s just not it’s not the same um this is a a different feeling and if we if we can if we can get there with homecourt Advantage man there there’s going to

There’s going to be a lot of if our social media was going crazy would play the song season wise I can only imagine how annoying it’s going to be for other fan bases during the postseason on that note it is a wrap I appreciate everyone for listening this show was presented by

B online we’ll catch you guys next week for all the latest Magic news and updates visit orlandomagic hq.com and follow us on Instagram at Orlando magicq and on Twitter at om magicq also remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel And subscribe and leave a five-star review on your favorite listening platform

In this episode of the Orlando Magic HQ podcast, Al and Anthony discuss the team’s goal of making the playoffs with home-court advantage. We discuss the recent games against the Clippers, Grizzlies, Blazers, and Pelicans and the importance of maintaining composure and playing to the Magic’s standard.

We also analyze the current standings and potential playoff matchups, with Anthony expressing his desire to face the Knicks and Shaquille O’Neal’s prediction of the Magic sweeping the Knicks in the playoffs. We wrap up the episode by looking ahead to the final six games of the season and the importance of securing home-court advantage.

Timeline:

00:00 Introduction
09:17 Week in Review
15:15 Coach Mo’s Emphasis on the Team’s Standard
16:26 Solid Performance and Resilience: Magic vs. Pelicans
22:31 Desire for a Playoff Matchup with the Knicks
28:59 Respect from National Media: Shaq’s Prediction
34:31 Analyzing the Remaining Games and the Importance of Finishing Strong
37:06 Excitement and the Possibility of Reaching 50 Wins

***
Follow us on social media to stay up to date on all of the latest Orlando Magic news and updates.

Website: www.orlandomagichq.com
X: https://x.com/omagichq
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orlandomagichq
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orlandomagichq

#Orlando Magic #OrlandoMagic #NBA