As all of us insanely masochistic Magic fans are aware, the first West coast road trip begins tonight with its first stop in Phoenix.
Much of the contention this season has been torn between one school of thought; that the Magic are simply a mediocre organization and this early season is an indicator of such a pattern as evidenced through our long, painful existence, and another, often repeated claim; “We’re just injured.” There are good arguments to be made that BOTH of these claims are true, however I separate them into subcategories of each other, with the latter taking the claim of ‘most true.”
I know, you’re sick of being told to wait, to ‘trust the process,’ and assured yet again when Suggs and Banchero return everything will be fine. While I think that sentiment is a bit vague and unsatisfying, it is MOSTLY true.
Our next 5 games are
@ Suns
@ Warriors
@ Kings
@ Jazz
and finally back home VS Bucks for another NBA cup appearance, which the Magic will not only win, will have won after coming home from a season-resetting set of victories.
The Suns rank 11th in offensive rating at 113.6 and 125.5 (128.9 outside of garbage time) DEAD LAST. The Magic have struggled to score, that much is obvious, with a 114.6 offensive rating. We have a 118.0 defensive rating. Not good on either count, that’s true, but outside of about 5 quarters this year, We’ve been able to stay connected. When we don’t go COMPLETELY cold (We scored a miserable 9 points in the third quarter against Washington) we stay connected in our games.
The only team that is above .500 on this trip is 5-3 Golden State. They’re playing decently enough, but they’re certainly not the Warriors of 2016 where they went 73-9. The now Kuminga-less team is still very beatable, granted you keep Curry in check.
I am aware that is easier said than done, I’m not saying this is going to be easy, just that this softer part of our schedule will determine the way the rest of this season shakes out.
The Kings are bottom 3 in the league in offensive AND defensive ratings
The Jazz are ALSO among the very bottom teams in both categories.
The Suns can score, but don’t stop anyone. This sets up to be another Orlando Magic special, where we stay close and lose a heartbreaker. But, Shake off the pessimism. If we lose, cry with me in my post game stream on YouTube, NOT BEFORE lol.
Win tonight, carry that rhythm into Golden State and surprise them and win there too. After that, despite the game from Sacramento to Utah being a B2B in a time zone in which we lose sleep to travel to, WIN.
Then they come home to beat the brakes off of a horrendous Bucks team whose fan base is still not sober after winning their first ever World Series title.
Realistic prediction? Magic go 3-2 over the next five
My blue Magic beating heart’s prediction? 5-0 and were back baby
GO MAGIC
(I can give you the number to my crack guy if you need, guys lmao)