Magic is now the 4th seed in the East. Countdown to 50 wins.

otownflava21 · Post #21 » by **otownflava21** » Wed Mar 6, 2024 5:12 pm

What would be a more prolific First Round playoff for the city of Orlando…

Magic vs Heat or Magic vs Knicks?

p0peye · Post #22 » by **p0peye** » Wed Mar 6, 2024 6:35 pm

I got my standings screenshot as a poster on the wall now.

jezzerinho · Post #23 » by **jezzerinho** » Wed Mar 6, 2024 6:39 pm

otownflava21 wrote:What would be a more prolific First Round playoff for the city of Orlando…

Magic vs Heat or Magic vs Knicks?

For the people of Orl themselves, I think it has to be Miami. Winning would be massive, losing would be crushing. So yeah, Miami.

For national visibility, validation of the team etc, probably NYK, esp if they win.

RookieStar · Post #24 » by **RookieStar** » Wed Mar 6, 2024 9:11 pm

otownflava21 wrote:What would be a more prolific First Round playoff for the city of Orlando…

Magic vs Heat or Magic vs Knicks?

I dunno.... but as a non-native Orlando fan, all I can say is, BOTH those teams fans would probably outnumber the Magic fans in our own homecourt

davey_wavy · Post #25 » by **davey_wavy** » Wed Mar 6, 2024 9:36 pm

otownflava21 wrote:What would be a more prolific First Round playoff for the city of Orlando…

Magic vs Heat or Magic vs Knicks?

If this happens I will literally give my tickets away. There’s no way I will attend a playoff game at HOME where the opponents crowd outperforms our own. If it’s Miami or NY message me and the tix are yours. I can handle the regular season, playoffs though…. I’ll get in a fight and it’s not worth it

anothermagicfan · Post #26 » by **anothermagicfan** » Wed Mar 6, 2024 10:55 pm

eyriq wrote:
JoshuaPotter wrote:No jinx. Next 2 games are critical. 1 game right now is what is between the 4th seed and the playins. Not exactly a lock. However 1 of those games come against NYK whomever wins that likely gets the 4th spot for a little while longer.

Where are my fellow 50w season people at? Guessing @golffreak is in on it.
.700 ball the rest of the way!

I got us at 52 wins. This group can do it!

golfreak · Post #27 » by **golfreak** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 4:03 am

Changing to title to 50 wins.
Great come back tonight.
13 to go.
Next up is away @Knicks without Brunson ??

Optimus_Steel · Post #28 » by **Optimus_Steel** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 4:21 am

I’ve been hurt before, I don’t want to get too excited yet

RookieStar · Post #29 » by **RookieStar** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 4:47 am

Ultimate jinx thread....

With that said, got a question for yall... would you prefer we stay at 4 or 5 and face MIA? Or we drop down to 6 abd face CLE in the 1st round?

DiplomaticMagic · Post #30 » by **DiplomaticMagic** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 5:57 am

Outside of Boston, the team I fear the most is the Miami Heat.

Rather play Bucks, Cavs, and Knicks over the Heat. I'm scared we will draw the Heat and get swept. Just dont like the matchup for us.

But I really think we are going to be in 1st round vs Miami in a 4/5 matchup. Just dont know whos going to be homecourt yet

Post #31 » by **SOUL** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 6:13 am

For what the expectations were before this season and now, I don't think there's any room to be picky or to "aim" for a specific team. Play your best ball and let the chips fall where they may.

RookieStar · Post #32 » by **RookieStar** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 6:24 am

Cmon guys... anyone here who thinks we are anything but first round fodder or a speed bumo to the ECF is deluding themselves.

(Anti-jinx activate)

p0peye · Post #33 » by **p0peye** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 11:55 am

We are still a play-in team from talent perspective which has been propelled to high seed by injuries to key players in several better teams (Sixers, Cavs, Knicks). We are not a contender team until one of Paolo and Franz becomes All-NBA talent level with other being perennial All Star.

basketballRob · Post #34 » by **basketballRob** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 12:21 pm

p0peye wrote:We are still a play-in team from talent perspective which has been propelled to high seed by injuries to key players in several better teams (Sixers, Cavs, Knicks). We are not a contender team until one of Paolo and Franz becomes All-NBA talent level with other being perennial All Star.

We've played games this season with 8 players out. If you add up the injury games for our top 10 players, it's probably near the same as any other team in the top 8. Wendell and Fultz were starters at the beginning of the season. The last time we beat NY, the starting lineup was Goga, Paolo, Caleb, Chuma, and Suggs.

Fultz missed 37 games, Carter 29, Franz 8, Harris 24, Isaac 21, Suggs 5, Paolo 2, Ingles 14, Moe 2, and Cole 1 = 140 games by our rotational players.

Sent from my SM-G781U using RealGM mobile app

Post #35 » by **SOUL** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 1:32 pm

p0peye wrote:We are still a play-in team from talent perspective which has been propelled to high seed by injuries to key players in several better teams (Sixers, Cavs, Knicks). We are not a contender team until one of Paolo and Franz becomes All-NBA talent level with other being perennial All Star.

Which is totally fine, we're right on schedule in terms of talent and ahead of schedule with our current record.

Skybox · Post #36 » by **Skybox** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 1:34 pm

Long way to go, but...

Right now, we host NYK in 1st round...I'll take that all day, as far as matchups go. Brunson is the engine and Suggs could do a lot to neutralize him. OG is a great role player, but he's not going to be the guy to beat you as a "vest" guy. Could come down to Randle's offense vs Paolo's (OG can maybe neutralize Franz?)...Even healthy, they're not as daunting as the rest of the pack imo.

Counting on Suggs to basically limit another team's best guard is priceless. NY probably can look at OG the same way but bigger and more points. Both teams have role players beyond the first 3...that's a fair fight. NY's first 3 have more scoring, but ORL has those defensive wildcards in Suggs and Isaac that can potentially swing a series if the matchups are right.

No answers for BOS, MIL, or healthy PHI...maybe someday. If we beat a healthy PHI, Goga probably earned a 20m per deal in a week :lol:

p0peye · Post #37 » by **p0peye** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 1:47 pm

SOUL wrote:
p0peye wrote:We are still a play-in team from talent perspective which has been propelled to high seed by injuries to key players in several better teams (Sixers, Cavs, Knicks). We are not a contender team until one of Paolo and Franz becomes All-NBA talent level with other being perennial All Star.

Which is totally fine, we're right on schedule in terms of talent and ahead of schedule with our current record.

Definitively, it is a stage we are in.

Post #38 » by **Def Swami** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 2:16 pm

Home court is definitely in play. Still have the easiest schedule remaining. Finishing 13-6 and winning 50 games would be an amazing outcome for this group.

JoshuaPotter · Post #39 » by **JoshuaPotter** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 4:07 pm

p0peye wrote:We are still a play-in team from talent perspective which has been propelled to high seed by injuries to key players in several better teams (Sixers, Cavs, Knicks). We are not a contender team until one of Paolo and Franz becomes All-NBA talent level with other being perennial All Star.

I believe we are very much under the radar still. I am not mad about it. Injuries are in fact part of the game. I do not take pleasure in saying that injuries are part of the game. I for one would love to have a 100% fully functional uninjured for the rest of time Isaac.

I will continue to say that teams are likely considering us as under the radar until further notice. IE we are just a fringe playoff/play-in team. Will we still get trounced in the playoffs? Yeah probably. Would we get trounced in the play-ins? Depending on the team. Absolutely.

We are simply put. A playoff team right now. I also wouldn't say we are contenders. The challenge is a lot of teams haven't figured that out yet so we are getting what I would call trap game wins.

Bakomagic · Post #40 » by **Bakomagic** » Thu Mar 7, 2024 4:20 pm

Skybox wrote:Long way to go, but...

Right now, we host NYK in 1st round...I'll take that all day, as far as matchups go. Brunson is the engine and Suggs could do a lot to neutralize him. OG is a great role player, but he's not going to be the guy to beat you as a "vest" guy. Could come down to Randle's offense vs Paolo's (OG can maybe neutralize Franz?)...Even healthy, they're not as daunting as the rest of the pack imo.

Counting on Suggs to basically limit another team's best guard is priceless. NY probably can look at OG the same way but bigger and more points. Both teams have role players beyond the first 3...that's a fair fight. NY's first 3 have more scoring, but ORL has those defensive wildcards in Suggs and Isaac that can potentially swing a series if the matchups are right.

No answers for BOS, MIL, or healthy PHI...maybe someday. If we beat a healthy PHI, Goga probably earned a 20m per deal in a week

I agree with BOS, MIL, PHI being a really tough draw.

Knicks: Dealing with 48 mins of Suggs and AB can make for an inefficient series for Brunson. Also, hypothetically, having the Minister of defense disrupting Randle, while Randle has to deal with Paolo coming at him on the other end would be a daunting task for Randle.

Then if we can count on our bench to provide their normal scoring punch with Cole, MoW, Ingles. We should be able to beat them with our depth.

Indiana: similar to NY, AB/Suggs could hound Halliburton and Isaac can battle Siakim, while Paolo/Franz should be able to do their thing offensively.

MIA: Aesthetically, I would hate this matchup. They are so good at frustrating us and thrive in a game with no rhythm, and coach Spo is elite. Plus, Jimmy Butler's ability to draw fouls and make heavily contested shots in clutch moments would do a number on my blood pressure, haha.

CLE: Tough if their healthy, good defense D. Mitchell can be unstoppable when he's on and Garland can put up points in a hurry. They do a great job at taking away points at the rim with Allen and Mobley.