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I know they had a better record last year this time with 9-4 but seems like this year they play better, they have beat celtics, 76ers, lakers and spurs so far and they have less serious opponents for playoff race in the east. Maybe their games with the hornets, wizards and heat will be decisive for the 1 and 2 last spots in the east?

Nah Miami or Washington will finish above them, possibly both, along with Charlotte.

Yes! DJ AUGSTINE MVP BABY LETS GO!!!


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Remember how the magic started last season?


No.

The Magic are an unbalanced team, with a below average PG and inconsistent SG/SF, loaded front court... Not a play off team to me...

Last 3 east slots are anybody

Cavs
Wizards
Heat

Are getting replaced

They were good last season until their best players got injured. They started good this season too and they have Bamba plus Isaac gets playing time so it is posible.

NY Kicks wrote:The Magic are an unbalanced team, with a below average PG and inconsistent SG/SF, loaded front court... Not a play off team to me...

True under normal circumstances, but there are many weak rosters in the east this season. Looking at the teams that currently have a worse record than the Magic the only one that looks better to me on paper are the Wizards, so I'd say Magic, Heat and Hornets will fight for the eighth sport.

This deserves a poll in my opinion.



I think it mainly depends on the competition, if Charlotte, Detroit, Miami, Brooklyn and Washington stay healthy and start winning, I would favor three of them above Orlando, but right now neither looks too good, so Orlando is right in the mix.

538 gives them right now a 27% chance to make the playoffs. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2019-nba-predictions/

Last year we started well because we were shooting unsustainable numbers, this year we are playing better defense and moving the ball so much better. Vucevic is playing at an all star level right now so it will be interesting to see if he can keep it up. I really think we could sneak in and it's between us Wizards, Heat, Hornets for those bottom play off spots

i doubt it... although 36 wins could be enough in the east so who knows

If we stay healthy, then yes. Clifford has this team playing Basketball at a level we haven't seen in awhile. We even won some games while shooting poorly, that's why I don't think it's a fluke. Also, Evan hasn't even shown up yet this season, he's shooting below his averages right now.

Maybe. 5 spots are almost locks (tor, bos, ind, mil, phi) and I expected Mia, Det, Cha and Was to fight for the remaining 3. Now two of those teams are struggling, so as right now there is room for one. There are also those who do better than they were expected (like Indiana last year), so maybe Orlando is that team this year or maybe it's someone else (or maybe those struggling teams stop struggling). But right now Orlando has a change.

Depends if we change our PG position. Seriously though... we suck at that. If we encounter the Kyries,Kembas,etc etc.. we will get smoked.

Young gun 6 wrote:Nah Miami or Washington will finish above them, possibly both, along with Charlotte.

The wizards just are not good. They wont figure it out. Heat arent good either. And of all teams, they should tank the year to get a top pick. Their roster is very mediocre with no hope the next 3 years with the contracts they gave out. Need to tank for a possible star.

They have a chance. I think we know who top 5 will be so another 5-6 teams have a shot at remaining 3 spots. I think only Cavs, Hawks and Bulls are out for sure. If Knicks get Porzingis back soon they still could be in the race.
Oh and Vucevic should be an All Star this year if he keeps playing like that. Besides Embiid there is not much else in the East as it comes to big men. Maybe Drummond but he is just an empty stats machine.

Last year's hot start felt a lot more unsustainable, it was built mostly on incredible shooting from 3, which was clearly a fluke. In the first 12 game last season we shot 41% from 3. Aaron Gordon shot an incredible 59.5% from 3 on a good volume. And it's not like we were getting great looks constantly, the players just got hot taking normal shots and downright chucking quite a bit. This year the ball movement has been a lot better, even in the games we shot poorly we've gotten pretty good looks.

Getting to the playoffs will be hard, but if we are lucky with injuries I think we have a decent shot.

Dupp wrote:Remember how the magic started last season?


No.

Magic fan here.

During the rebuild, the Magic has been not-horrible virtually every season until around game 15. The Magic has a horrendous road trip coming and that will tell us all a lot about the true nature of this year's Magic roster.

As an aside, the Magic has the same win total that Boston has.

Magic about to have a crazy west coast test. Check in about two weeks from now.