At the beginning of February, the Orlando Magic looked headed for more of the same—another playoff appearance, another lower seed entry, and perhaps another early exit.
Now, a far more ambitious path is beginning to open up.
Orlando has won seven straight games, improving to 38–28 and climbing all the way to fifth in the Eastern Conference with 16 games left on its regular season schedule. More importantly, the Magic are now just 2.5 games behind the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, putting home-court advantage in the first round very much within reach.
That would be a meaningful development for a franchise that has reached the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, only to exit in the first round both times as the lower seed.
This year presents a chance to change that.
The last time Orlando made it beyond the opening round was 2010, when it advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference finals. A year earlier, the Magic reached the NBA Finals for just the second time. It was indeed a glorious time for this franchise.
Since then, playoff relevance has been fleeting. From 2011 through 2025, Orlando made the postseason a mere six times and every appearance ended quickly in the first round.
This year’s team hopes to break that trend and offers the franchise its best opportunity to reach the second round since 2010.
The Magic are coming off a crucial 121–117 road win over the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center, completing a season sweep of their in-state rival. Miami entered the night riding a seven-game winning streak of their own and neck-and-neck with Orlando in the standings, so the victory created some needed separation. With the win, the Magic now lead both the Heat and Toronto Raptors by one game.
Once again, Paolo Banchero was at the center of it all for Orlando. The franchise cornerstone finished with 27 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in the win, continuing what has been his strongest month of the season. In eight games in March, Banchero is averaging 25.6 points on 54.3 percent shooting from the field, along with 1.3 three-pointers, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists. He has looked increasingly in control on offense, giving Orlando a dependable offensive engine especially down the stretch.
What makes this run of theirs even more impressive is that the Magic have done it without Franz Wagner, their second-leading scorer, who has missed the past month with an ankle sprain.
The underlying numbers suggest this is not a fluke. Since the All-Star break, Orlando ranks fourth in the league in net rating. Its defense remains the foundation, placing fifth in defensive rating over that span, but the offense has also held up well enough, ranking ninth. That balance has allowed the Magic to keep winning despite being short-handed.
Nonetheless, this is still a young team overall and there will likely be bumps along the way. The opportunity is clearly there for Orlando though. With Banchero playing at this level and Wagner expected back sooner rather than later, the Magic have a real chance to do more than just make the playoffs. For the first time in a long time, a breakthrough to the second round feels genuinely within reach.
