After years in the NBA doldrums, the Orlando Magic have spent much of the last decade as a secondary team in the league’s landscape.
The Magic decided to change that by building a new young core that has since found success while building continuity among themselves. That has translated into wins on the court and excitement off it as the Central Florida community has fully re-embraced their fun and promising team.
The situation came to a head in the 2024 NBA playoffs, where the new Magic core made its NBA playoff debut as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. Hosting three games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Magic took care of business and protected their home court at the Kia Center.
For the first time in a long time, there was a palpable energy and buzz around what the Magic had built. They weren’t the only ones noticing.
“You don’t really think of Orlando as a big fan base, but you go there and you’re like, ‘These people are passionate about the Magic,’” said Kevin Spies, co-host of “The Bench Seat” podcast with Cavaliers forward Georges Niang.
He was present during the third game of the series, the first that Orlando hosted at home. The Magic won the game 121-83.
“The game was a spectacle,” Spies continued. “Just the spectacle of the game. The lights, the timeouts, the mascot. They put on a complete show and the crowd was just crazy. It was really, really cool to see. I was surprised.”
Then Niang himself intervened.
“It honestly looked like Orlando was super ready for the playoffs,” the Cavs forward said. “When we got there for Game 3, since I’ve been in the NBA, Orlando — it was make or break, right?
“It was like, ‘This place is really loud.’
It’s been 1,852 days since the last playoff game. A low rumble echoed from the front of the stadium, and after a slow start, the Magic whipped their home fans into a frenzy that lasted throughout the night.
It was a new experience for many of the Magic’s young players, who had never experienced such an environment before in their careers. It was certainly a new experience for Franz, who was in his third year in the NBA.
“The first year, I felt like it was almost always an away game when we played at home, especially when we played against big teams,” Franz said. “Then the second year, with Paolo (Banchero) coming in, we got a few more wins and we realized it.
“But this third year, we felt the love from the city. People were so excited to see us and go to games, and I thought it was a really cool experience for everyone on the team. We had been through some tough times, and that wasn’t always how people talked about us.”
You have to know that the team has to be able to understand the importance of a given moment, given its foreign nature. The Magic’s winning streak created an event worthy of celebration, and then they knew how to capitalize on it.
According to ESPN’s annual attendance report, Orlando ranks 24th in home game attendance, averaging 16,127 per game in 2021-22. They’ve moved up to 17th in the rankings in 2022-23, with an increase to 17,888 fans per night. Last season, the Magic ranked 12th in the league in home attendance, with 18,491 fans per night, just shy of the NBA’s capacity at Kia Center of 18,846.
Magic fans believed in the future of the franchise. This is further proof of the correctness of Orlando’s goals.
“I remember being in the locker room and we were talking about it, like, ‘This is what we’ve been working for. It’s great that we can hear the fans screaming outside,’” Franz said. “We weren’t used to that yet.”
The most important lesson Moritz took away from the experience, which was also his first NBA playoff appearance, was the importance of playing at home in the playoffs. Mo stressed his strong belief that if Orlando had hosted Game 7 instead of Cleveland, the outcome of the game could have been very different.
Cleveland was down by 18 points before coming back to beat Orlando by 12, ending the Magic’s breakthrough season. Had Orlando won one or two more games throughout the regular season (the Cavaliers (48-34) and Magic (47-35) were only one game apart in the East standings, giving Cleveland the best seed and home court), a series that would have gone the distance would have been played four times at Kia Center instead of three.
The visiting team did not win a single game in the series.
“Home advantage is important,” Moritz said. “The January games are important.”
READ MORE: Why the Magic’s road-packed first half of the season is of critical importance
Moritz went on to say that the urgency is still there, but because of the grueling nature of a long NBA season, it’s not as present in the middle of the year as it is in the tense moments the postseason brings. Some things can only be learned through experience, Wagner said, and the increased importance a game takes on as the months go by is one of them.
As training camp approaches and the experience leaves them hungry for more, the mindset changes. Orlando must now learn how to best prepare not only for the 82-game regular season, but also the playoffs that follow.
By setting a new bar last year, the Magic have a different barometer for future success.
“We want to have a good playoff run and that’s what we’re working for,” Moritz said. “Now we’re at this level and I think that’s a lot for a young team like that.”
To watch the full interview between Niang, Spies and the Wagner brothers, click below.
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