EP. 402 – Buzzin’ – Orlando Magic Podcast

EP. 402 – Buzzin’ – Orlando Magic Podcast

This is the sixthman show an Orlando Magic podcast with your hosts Luke Sylvia and Jonathan Osborne covering all things Magic Basketball by fans for fans go Magic what’s going on Orlando Magic fans you guys are back with the six-man show today is March 21st 2024 Jonathan Osborne here as always joined by my co-host Luke Sylvia Luke the Orlando Magic have clinched the postseason how are we doing I I’m amazing now that we’ve

Officially we’re we know that we’re at least going to be in the playin now at this point we’ve got higher aspirations but it’s just nice to know that it’s cemented so for the first time since 2020 we will get a very meaningful basketball game that has implications

For the success the further success of the season so I’m excited for it you obviously just get done stomping out the Hornets and I man I I couldn’t feel better about that on that aspect I I just I’m ready for playoff basketball now I’m also playing the stretch of bad

Teams was it cool to win that many games absolutely but you just play so many bad teams that you’re just like I can’t wait to play a game where like we we have a measuring stick in this it’s awesome to know that we can beat the bad teams that

Is a sign of growth we’ve talked about that time and time again now you go into Thursday as you guys are listening to this probably you got the Pelicans tonight and now you’re you’re getting your tuneups for postseason basketball and that’s what I’m most excited for

Now yeah going and taking a look at the schedule see how many more games so we’re going to have at least one two three more games at home against teams that are below 500 the magic have not lost at home this season to a team that

Is below 500 at least at least Kia right like Atlanta the new the Mexico City game that we all talked about doesn’t count but at Amway and now Kia the magic have not lost to a team below 500 this year so at home against Bad teams magic

Are are very much taking care of business now they’re 41 and 28 and at home yeah oh yeah exactly just at home in general and you’ve only got five more Road games out of the remaining games on your schedule yeah you’re 24 and and nine at home you’re 24 and8 at Kia yeah

Everything tells us the magic are in for a strong end to the year and we’re just going to trust the stats and hope that happens yeah the magic are tracking right now 13 games remaining yes they’re going to be playing you know better quality opponents but it it looks

Like you’re tracking for like at least 46 47 48 wins somewhere in there 50 wins probably not likely but not totally out of the question either so you get to you 43 wins and now that becomes the most games the magic have won in a single

Season in 13 years Luke yeah so what this team is doing is not you know insignificant by any means and we’re going to talk about the the it game in a bit but one thing that we haven’t really done on the show this season up to this

Point now we’re in the the the point where we’re scoreboard watching like we’re we’re not recording this game until almost quarter to 10 Wednesday night and part of that was because we were watching to see what was going to happen in the final minutes in this Miami Cleveland game because either one

Of those results like Cleveland wins or Miami wins Miami ended up winning but either one of those results you know would have uh would have helped us either you gain on the Cavaliers like did or you put a little bit more space in between you and the Miami Heat which

Also would have been nice that’s kind of where I am yeah I’m happy where we’re at right we’re going to go through the state of the magic and and really talk about the standings in a second but where I am right now Luke is I’m not getting greedy like the teams ahead of

Us if they lose that’s great if we can close the gap there but in a game like Cleveland and Miami a team ahead of us and a team like right behind us I wanted Cleveland to pull it out to put a little bit more space between us in Miami

That’s where I’m at I want the teams that are right below us to to lose well exactly that’s where I’m at as well producer Kevin has a little bit different of a take he’s he said it on the postgame live show so I’m not outing his mindset by any means he’s feeling

Greedy and and he wants to gain and I get it like I being very competitive myself and you the same way I understand the perspective like let’s at this point we’ve come this far we didn’t come this far to come this far type of thinking

Let’s get up in the standings but as far as just like laying it out there the magic right now are just two and 1 half games at in front of the playin that is not a lot especially when you’ve got the games that the magic have coming up

Right all it takes is you to have a tough stretch of games and a team that’s in the playin spot right now like the Pacers having an easy stretch like an easy week and you have a hard week and all of a sudden you’re the

Play so for me I just want those playin teams to stay there y’all can stay playin teams would it be awesome to be able to handpick and like this is who I want in the playoffs sure but at this point I just want to make sure that we’re in the playoffs not

The play in I want to be in the playoff I want a seven game series guaranteed and that’s not going to be helping with the Cavs dropping games to the heat when you would hope that the Cavs would be able to do that they don’t have

Thought of a obviously it’s a big caveat but I I was definitely rooting for for Cleveland so that Miami would just step back a bit further but unfortunately not the case you and I are of the same mind but it is fun to see some discourse in our group chat with Kevin

Of you’re crazy for thinking that and then Kevin’s like you’re crazy you know I’m I just want to get higher in the standings I understand both viewpoints but I just I I don’t want to play winning winning your end type play basketball we’ll save that for March

Madness yeah and to your point I wouldn’t mind a shorter series than than seven games if the magic are on the correct end of it you know the magic beat the the Knicks or the heat in in five six games I I won’t I won’t be mad

Won’t be mad at that at all yeah okay couple of items to touch on before we get to the state of the magic so coming up our group night um which we’re now like N9 days way as you all are listening to this that’s going to be

March 30th when the magic take on the Memphis Grizzlies if you were part of the first round of tickets that went on sale a couple of weeks ago and uh part of that first 60 then you’re going to be able to join us on the floor earlier that day uh to play pickup

Basketball uh still waiting to see when details are going to go out around that um once we hear on that you know emails are probably going to be going out pretty shortly so just keep an eye on your email but we’ll be sure to you know share to social media when those emails

Are going out as well but uh just rule of thumb just keep your eye on your email so that you can um get all the details on you know what you can bring when to be there all that sort of stuff so but if you weren’t part of that first

60 if you still want to come to that game with us you can so uh Magic have uh given us some more uh tickets there which you can purchase at fivo enterprise.com event6 Man 6 which is s iix t h m an and then the number six so again that’s fivo

Enterprise.com event6 Man 6 discounted tickets about $100 a piece right now which for lower bow tickets is a heck of a deal and you get to hang out with us and you get to hang out and cheer with a ton of other magic fans and before the

Game roughly from about 4:30 to to six o’clock we’re all going to head over to jam hot chicken and you can just hang out if you want you can get something to eat for yourself if you would like we’re going to head head over there and sort

Of hang out before the game and then 6:00 head over to to Kia and get to our seats and get ready to continue to cheer on our Orlando Magic the next episode of the six fan show is actually tonight as you’re listening to this March 21st Thursday

Magic take on the Pelicans tonight at the Kia Center starting at 7 o’clock after the game our buddy Ben will be outside of Kia with the lights and the camera you guys are bringing the action uh for the six fan show so on your way

Out of Kia be sure to stop by uh he’ll be you know right out front near the the blue uh chain link fences that are over there as the magic uh are sometime this year breaking ground on that uh entertainment complex so but Ben will be

Out there so be sure that you guys uh stop by and say what’s up and and show some love and and give your takes and just share how excited you guys are about this team and about the playoff run that’s coming up one last announcement here uh

Arguably the the biggest piece of the announcements for for today uh we have a new team member we are adding a lot of you that are on Magic Twitter might already be familiar with him with his work uh but our guy Brandon Jones who runs the Orlando analytics account his handle is or

_ analytics and it’s exactly what it sounds like he does like deep dives into U you know Advanced metrics and and data surrounding the Orlando Magic to uh just provide evidence for for different you know talking points around them magic and he creates visuals a lot of times uh

That go along with those he just does a fantastic job uh if you don’t follow him already go ahead and do so if you don’t have a Twitter account it’s probably worth it to create one to one follow us on there uh but also to to follow brand

And uh just does such a great job and we’re really excited he he’s going to help us just sort of uh enhance the content that we’re already bringing and my favorite part help us push magic agendas like hey Brandon we feel like Jaylen Suggs is one of the best

Perimeter defenders in in the league what do you have that helps support that and he’ll whip up some stuff and we’ll be say hey we think Jaylen sus is really good and here are some numbers that uh that uh you know some good old confirmation bias as they say Luke but

Yeah just really excited to have Brandon part of the team and just to give you guys examples too like he’s got a lot of he does a lot of like Twitter threads where he just gives like extensive information details and he’s really good about presenting fact um and not so much

Just like the the opinion right so he just lays it out there for you and lets you kind of form your opinion based off that he his top one is pen tweet right now just to give you guys an example um is like based off the quote of people

Always talking about how Orlando is better when Pao isn’t playing um he goes on to list a myriad of things but ultimately coming down to like opponent’s playing much stronger lineups when Pao is on to account for pao really and and match skill versus when he’s off

Um which is why like a lot of the bench unit and why these things do deserve context the bench unit has killer numbers and difference Point differential and things like that when you look at the stats but you know you take a closer look and you realize it’s

Because bench is just dominating other bench units and uh and Pao is having to play those stronger lineups so Brandon provides a lot of really good context um and and backs up everything there with with all the stats so he’s a great follow like Jonathan said happy to hav

And be part of the team the summary of that is the magic are not better uh without Pao for anybody that that was worried about that uh that is certainly not the case right okay let’s jump both feet into the state of the magic here this week the

Magic are 1 and0 so far just one game on Tuesday absolutely dismantled the Charlotte Hornets what we’ll talk about later the magic now sit fifth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 4128 13 and a half games back of Boston three and a half games back of Milwaukee

That’s probably going to change in the next few minutes here actually Milwaukee is playing Boston tonight and they’re only down six with 306 to go so by the time you all wake up tomorrow uh those numbers will probably be a little bit different Boston will either be 14 games

Up or Milwaukee will be four games up or three games up depending on how that result goes two games back of Cleveland after their loss to Miami tonight we’re a half game back of New York two and a half games up on Philadelphia three games up on Indiana three and a half

Games up on Miami seven games up on Chicago 10 and a half games up on Atlanta on the season the magic are 23rd in the NBA in offensive rating with a rating of 11 12.9 they are fourth in the NBA in defensive rating with a rating of

11.9 they are 12th in net rating with a net rating of two since the All-Star break the magic are 11 and three they’re 15th in offensive rating B first in defensive rating and fifth in net rating Luke we don’t know everything right but whenever there’s like a talking point

That we put an emphasis on and we see that kind of play out it always feels good as when you’re wrong doing what we do people are are so quick to let you know they almost never come back and be like hey remember that thing you said

Like three weeks ago you guys were right so when we have the opportunity to you know you might be able to hear that Pat ourselves on the back just a little bit we will do that Luke we talked coming out of the allar break how the magic

Could potentially be one of the best teams in the NBA you know in terms of Defense over the course of the last like you know 27 games I think it was coming out of the All-Star break and the magic since the All-Star break have been the

Number one team in the NBA in defensive rating now yes there’s a lot of context that goes along with that fact that they’ve been playing a lot of the worst teams in the league I have a cooworker of mine who seemingly every night text me and says how are you guys playing

Another g-league team tonight and look you just play the team that is in front of you you play the teams that are on your schedule but to the Magic’s credit they have been taking advantage of that and they have been playing Stellar defense and it’s been leading to win so

Uh good for the magic looking at the injury report it’s clean nobody’s on the injury report heading into tomorrow’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans we want to keep it that way and Luke now I want to talk a little bit about uh opponent schedules and their their

Strengths of schedule because again now we’re at the point of the Year where we are every night we’re going to be scoreboard watching and and standings watching and and see how things are shifting because it’s it seems like almost on a minute-by-minute basis the the standings in the Eastern

Conference are are changing right now so I want to go through and first talk about opponent’s you know strength of schedules and then we can take a look at the teams that they’re actually playing like Friday night for example if you’re a magic fan your eyes

Should be just glued to League Pass uh or to ESPN in the Gamecast keep up with what is going on CU this a lot going on Friday night um that’s relevant to the magic and their standings in the Eastern Conference so first of all let’s go

Through our uh not all the opponents but the the teams that are really um relevant to the magic I’m talking about Miami Indiana Cleveland Philadelphia New York and Milwaukee we’re not catching the Celtics sorry to to break it to anybody who clinched the playoffs tonight by the way for yeah that’s

Fantastic I think it might be mathematically impossible for us or maybe like one more game it’ll be mathematically impossible for us to to catch the Boston Celtics and then you’re probably safe you know when we’re talking about Chicago and we’re talking about Atlanta so again Milwaukee Cleveland New York Philadelphia Indiana

Miami Miami’s remaining strength of schedule is 22nd so they have one of the easier uh remaining strength of schedules around the league Indiana is there at 20th Cleveland is there at 18th Philadelphia is 16 16th New York is 15th the magic are 12th so the Heat Pacers

Cavaliers 76ers and nicks all have on paper easier schedules than the magic the rest of the way here that may have changed uh tonight after some of these games have ended Miami now has the third easiest oh that’s that’s fantastic so they went from 22nd to what 27 28 28

Yeah yeah they played the Cav so whatever so Cleveland on the other hand uh their’s probably changed a little bit as well if I’m guessing so yeah so they went from 18th to 21st uh Philadelphia sitting there at 16th New York 15th Orlando 12th and then Milwaukee fourth

So Milwaukee is is pretty much the long shot like in terms of us being able to to catch someone but the fact that you play them twice in the final three games and they have one of the most difficult schedules uh in the league the rest of

The way here maybe they fall to Third and and maybe those last couple of games are are really important to to both teams maybe you can catch them I don’t I don’t really know Luke but um yeah we’re at the point of the Season where we’ve sort of played our easy stretch we

Played the most brutal stretch of the season and now with the conclusion of the game Tuesday night against Charlotte we’re basically through the easiest part of our schedule as well and now the magic just have to take care of business like yes we’re looking around the league we’re watching scoreboards it doesn’t

Seem like we get much help like every time we look at a result whatever way we we wanted to go or needed to go it ends up going the other way so what do you do with that you just win you you win the the the games of the rest of the way

Let’s go ahead and take a look at the Magic schedule over these last 14 games and then we’ll talk about or last 13 games now and then we’ll talk about uh some of these other team schedules so Luke we know tonight Thursday magic have the Pelicans right you’re still in the

Middle of this big home stand but the schedule doesn’t get any easier from here on out then you got sac you’ve got Golden State then you’ve got the Clippers all of those teams are are squarely in the the postseason hunt right now you get a a little bit of a

Break you have the me Memphis Grizzlies on the 30th but you play the Clippers the night before so that game against the Grizzlies is going to be the second night of a back toback then you have a day off you’ve got Portland at home and

Then you take the road for a quick two game Road Trip at New Orleans at Charlotte you come back home for one game you have the Bulls Sunday April 7th and then you have the last road trip of the year at Houston at Milwaukee at Philadelphia and then you return home

For the what’ll probably be Fan Appreciation Night the last home game of the season the last game of the regular season for the magic April 14th at one o00 you take on the Milwaukee Bucks now if we look at the schedule Memphis Portland Charlotte Chicago maybe Houston Houston’s going to

Be tough they’ve been you know playing relatively well this season it is a road game they’re going to want to get you back for opening night when the the magic completely destroyed them uh but at least probably like four of those games you should be able to Circle as

Wins which would put you at 45 wins at that point which again going back to October all of us would have taken that but over the course of the last 13 games here Luka if you can find a way to go seven- six or eight and five I think

That is wildly successful and would take that yeah I mean what seven 7 eight wins that’s you’re putting us at like 48 49 wins ultimately is what that would be it is rough looking at it and saying the toughest schedule like there’s more tough opponents and more games against

The tough opponents then the weaker when you’ve been having the stretch we’ve been having but those are the games I’m I’m living for coming down the stretch here are those games against the more notable teams the teams that are going to challenge you are you going to clean

Up your turnovers we’ve talked about it we don’t think that magically gets solved especially near the end of the season here but just some type of semblance of taking care of the basketball better than you have would be great and who better to do it against

And sharpen up a little bit than against these playoff teams it might get you to the point where like you’re more battle tested going into the playoffs and you’re not maybe going into it coming off of just a bunch of super easy games we’ll see how it pans out but yeah

You’re you’re coming to a point now where every game is going to count that much so we’ll we’ll take the easy games but those big games are going to be huge so let’s talk now about uh some of these opponents you know remaining schedules so Friday like I mentioned is

Going to be super interesting so that night the Heat play the Sixers play the Pacers play and the Cavs play the Knicks and Bucks do not the Heat play the Pelicans at home which is going to be the Pelicans second night of a backtack because they have us Thursday and then

The heat on Friday in Miami the Sixers will be in La playing the Lakers the Pacers will be in Golden State playing The Warriors and the Cavs will be in Minnesota taking on the Timberwolves now the Cavs for the next week at least are going to be without

Donan Mitchell he had like a nasal fracture and it’s going to be re-evaluated in a week they just lost to Miami tonight timber wolves are are better than the heat I would say significantly better than the heat um and and you know they’ve been you know putting it together recently even

Without Carl Anthony towns so when you look at at that Friday night slate like almost all of the teams that we need to lose that are playing could lose Pelicans are going to be a tough out for the heat even though it’s second night of a back to back you feel like

The Sixers should lose to the Lakers in La Pacers should lose to the the Warriors in Golden State and the Cavs should lose to the Timberwolves in Minnesota so that would be a big help but let’s look at the Heat schedule that so not just Friday night so their

Remaining opponents are the Pelicans the Cavs the Warriors the Blazers the Wizards you know they’ll probably get a couple of wins there the Knicks the 76ers at the rockets at the Pacers at the Hawks and then the Mavericks and they have two games against the Raptors at home to end the year

So sure the heat have a easier schedule than the magic but especially the way that the Heat have been playing as of late we go to the standings and I take a look they’re five and five in their last 10 games right so they’re they’re playing 500 500 basketball

Lately the the heat could drop a number of those games like I even though they have an easier schedule if they had let’s see how many is this 1 two 3 four five 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 so they have 13 as well they’re not necessarily going to

Have a better record than the magic over the course of the the last 13 games here and they’re going to need to have a better record by three games so that that you know they can tie and and have the the same record and now they they have the tiebreaker

Luke yeah I mean when it comes down to it it’s like do do you trust the magic more against those 50-50 teams than Miami when they’re playing those 50-50 matchups and by that I mean you’re playing against playoff teams where it’s like oh we’re we’re capable is it likely

I don’t know it’s kind of a toss up right like these games against the Pelicans on Thursday are you more confident that the magic can can win those type of games versus Miami playing those type of games and the answer right now is that I believe that the magic can

Handle business more than I believe Miami I’m I’m I am burning the memories of the Knicks game in the Pacers game the last two meaningful games we played and I am moving forward that this team is going to be motivated and that they are going to be tuned up from

Playing all these bad teams that they’re going to be able to handle business and that we’re going to get the team that we’ve been seeing the past few you know since All-Star break defensively that’s what I’m going to choose to believe I believe that team is better than the

Miami team that’s on the floor right now so in these in these games against those those 50-50 games like I said I’m trusting that the magic will take care of business over Miami when we sat down when when we were coming out of the allar break and we were talking about

You know what the magic could do in the standings what the magic could do in the the Eastern Conference playoff picture and we talked about like the magic could be better than the heat and I I was pretty confident about that it didn’t have so much to do with like the

Head-to-head matchups because you know we we lost the season series this year this is what I was talking about is like the magic are are going to win games here and you know they had been better than the heat on you know the season up

To that point and this is this is the Miami Heat that you know we we we they are who we thought they were like I have never thought the heat were all that even though they made you know their run to the finals last year just didn’t buy

It glad that they pretty much brought back the same core and they continue to invest in that core and convince themselves that it’s going to win them a title because it’s not going to but yeah for me it’s like tuneup games you know you’re you’re famili were tuneup games

You know with with college football like you put a couple of cupcakes on your schedule at the beginning of the year you know beat the crap out of him get your confidence up so that like when you know conference play and all that kind of stuff starts you know you’re in a

Good Rhythm there could be a bit of that with the magic like over the course of the last several weeks they just been beating up on all these bad teams and they’re really really confident but then we saw them play the Knicks and the Pacers and they got the crap kicked out

Of them so is it like lulling them into like a false sense of confidence I’m going to just sort of air on the side of that Nicks game and Pacers game were like the best thing to happen to the magic to realize like hey even though we’re winning these games like we’re

We’re not all that like we’re not totally there yet um and hopefully they’ve taken you know this you know last week or so uh you know since we week and a half since those games and we’re going to see a different you know determined and focused magic team

Thursday night Thursday is is going to mean a lot to me I know it’s just one game you never want to get too high or too low after one game but if the magic just come out and get annihilated it’s going to be pretty deflating for me

Personally no one else is obligated to feel this way I’m just talking about what it’ll do to my psyche if the magic come out and lay an egg and just you know get blown out I’m going to be pretty deflated and I’ll probably come away from that game with you know the

The beginnings of the the feeling that we had uh after that Knicks game and Pacers game is like hey maybe this team just isn’t ready for like the big matchups and that that would just sort of be further evidence to me if they come out and they compete and they play

Really well even if they lose I’ll be much more confident like moving forward like okay those were outliers let’s just completely forget about those like you said Luke and if they have a really good showing against the Pelicans and the Kings and the Warriors and the Clippers

Coming up and if you’re able to like split those and even the losses are fairly competitive I’m going to be feeling really confident going into the last nine games of the year you they have got to to also prove it that they are ready for these big

Games because as of now where I stand is I don’t know that they’re ready for Meaningful big games um ciding those those two recent games but also siding the fact that you’re 15 and 22 against over 500 teams this year there’s stuff there’s plenty of stuff that suggests

That this team is just shocking shockingly they’re young right they’re inexperienced as time goes on they will improve against the teams that are that are the the the true playoff teams and Eastern Conference contenders but they’re inconsistent because they’re young and they’re still getting their footing it

Is okay for this team to not be ready for big games I didn’t even expect to have this conversation this year are the magic ready for the next step I just wanted them to make the playoffs I want I wanted them to make the play

In so I would think it’s unfair for me to be like oh they need to be ready for the big games they have to be cuz they don’t have to be they’ve taken the step that we asked them to take and the next year can be where we start saying okay

We need growth in big games would it be great to string together a lot of big wins over this final stretch 100% am I expecting it I don’t know that I’m expecting it I’m open to to being surprised maybe but but at the end of

The day this is a young team that is 15 and 22 against above 500 teams and they’re going to have some stinkers we’ve seen them but there’s going to be more whether it’s now and the playoffs or both we’re going to see it but ultimately they just need repetition

They need reps against these really good teams and they need to know what that playoff environment feels like that’s all I’m along for the ride for if you steal a game or two in the playoffs I’ll be ecstatic honestly truly but down the stretch here I would

Love nothing more than to be proven wrong about these big games and see you take care of business over your next few games that are tough this is going to be the part where like the greedy side of my brain comes out you and I fat like rewind go back to

October like we were just like just make the plan in make the play in the season will be a success we’re there we could lose every game the rest of the way we would still at least be in the 910 game all right now that we’re in the play now

That we’re there I want more I want more than that now because the way that they’ve played and and you know what their record suggests right now in the position that they put themselves in they would have to like they they would have to lose basically every game

The rest of the way to end up in that 910 game and right now you are three games with 13 you’re three games ahead of the playin with 13 games to go like Miami would have to put some crazy like you know 10 and three nine and four and the magic would

Have to go six and seven you know over the course of the last 13 games for for something like that to happen at this point so for me where I’m at is is like we’re almost to the house money like October I would have said we’re in the house

Money go seven and six like that’s I think that’s realistic that would I believe mathematically guarantee that you’re at least the the six seed or I’m sorry no okay no you have you would have to go eight and five because trying to do the math here we have to be at least

Six you’re two and a half games ahead of Philadelphia my Math’s off somewhere I’m I’m confident about this you got to be somewhere between seven and six eight and five to guarantee that you’re not going to be in the play Luke’s going to try to do the the math right now because

I’m I’m really not not my strong suit but get me to the six seed right like one once we clinch that like if there’s four or five games left and it’s like okay the the the lowest the magic can finish is sixth at that point I’ll be completely fine if there’s three games

Left of the regular season and you lose all three of those and you get in the playoffs I’ll be okay now to your point Luke like it’s okay if this team isn’t ready for big games you’re absolutely 100% correct and sort of framing in that way like oh this team isn’t ready for

Big games that has such a negative connotation that goes along with it but it’s like if if you just look at it for what it is they’re one of the youngest teams in the league they had almost zero National expectations coming into this season they’ve outperformed everybody’s expectations even like the loftiest

Magic fans expectations the magic are going to exceed those uh at least by a little bit so you get to the playoffs like you guarantee that you’re going to get a playoff series The Experience for this team that they’re going to go through over the next you know 13 plus

Games you know whatever the playoff series is however long that is these games are so invaluable at this point for these guys I’m not going to complain as long as I I’ll complain if like when we get to the play if we’re in the play

Like I can’t believe we’re in the plan I can’t believe you know it’s a winner go home blah blah blah blah blah but like if you’re in the plan and you win that 78 game at home I’m like okay fine whatever at least we’re in the playoffs

And then I’ll be fine but if you were to like end up in the plan and lose I would be super disappointed but like the the stakes of these next 13 games and what they’re going to mean to like the majority of the teams that you’re going

To play down the stretch here I just think that is so valuable for this team and I was talking to Carmen about this today this season has been so much fun like coming off of that big win against Charlotte last night and had a tweet about like hey live in the moment

Appreciate this moment while we’re in it right but next season there were going to be actual legitimate expectations next year is not going to be all Vibes and happy and oh my gosh we’re so happy to be here next year is going to be actual expectations and I’m

Guessing for you and myself and Kevin and like the other die hards a lot of stress is going to come along with next season so I just want to enjoy the last 13 games the playoffs all that kind of stuff just stay out of the plan and I’m

Going to be really really happy with this team to Circle back to what you were saying earlier about what please don’t tell me it’s more than eight eight and five so here’s the the simple part of this is that the Pacers have 12 games left and they’re in the seventh spot

Right now technically speaking if they were to win out by the the grace of God they would have 51 wins at that point the magic have 41 right now so the magic would have to go like 10 and three to tie the record of the Pacers so really what what is maybe

More more beneficial is to look at like the Hawks who are 10th right now they have 14 games remaining if they win all 14 they have 44 wins on the season the magic are just three wins away from 44 so the 10 spot I we can pretty much like

You said earlier you feel like the Hawks and the Bulls are far enough behind I think that’s a fair assumption realistically it feels like worst case you could be looking at the eighth spot going and and and obviously then that would indicate you’re in you’re doing

The play and stuff but um but yeah so that that’s what you’re looking at because you know you’ve got to look at if these teams went out all the way and what you have to do and if it’s even possible but yeah right now the Pacers yeah they they technically still have a

Chance to overtake you obviously even if you go seven wins right that’s 48 they technically could win out not likely but yeah you you feel pretty good at this point that you’re going to be the six seater better and I think everything backs that up okay I know we started

This conversation to go through like some opponent schedule so I’m going to do that pretty quickly I think we’ve done a good job of of laying out you know the magic circumstances here looking at the Sixers they’re at the Lakers at the Clippers at the Kings home

For the Clippers at the Cavs and then it starts to lighten up a little bit at the Raptors then home for the Thunder at the heat at the Grizzlies at the Spurs home for the Pistons home for the magic and then home for the Nets the the Sixers

Pretty quickly here over the course of their next five or six games might find themselves like in the playin like that that’s a real possibility for them the Pacers who again are right now two and a half games back of of the magic they’re at the Warriors starting Friday at the

Lakers at the Clippers home for the Bulls home for the Lakers home for the Nets at the Nets home for the Thunder home for the heat at the Raptors at the Cavs home for the Hawks Pacers again another team that I well I guess right now they’re in the plan but they could

Find themselves you know probably in the the eighth spot I don’t think the Bulls will make up enough ground for the Pacers to fall to nine but these teams have quote unquote easier schedules than us but nothing about these schedules seems easy like sure there are some games in there that

You would probably favor them to win in but by no means are some of these guarantees except maybe if we’re talking about the Grizzlies the Spurs and the Pistons for the 76ers the Knicks are home for the Nets home for the Pistons at the Raptors at the Spurs home for the

Thunder at the Heat home for the Kings at the Bulls that’s a backtack there at the bucks at the Bulls at the Celtics home for the Nets home for the Bulls the Bucks Luke are home for the Thunder home for the Lakers at the Pelicans at the Hawks at the Wizards

Home for the Grizzlies that’s in a way home back to back home for the Raptors home for the Knicks home for the Celtics home for the magic that’s a back toback for the bucks so two of those last three games for the magic are going to come

Against the Bucks the first matchup of that is going to come off of a back-to-back against the Celtics which you know bodess well for us then they’re at the Thunder and then at the magic to end the year and last but not least the Cavs they’re at the Timberwolves at the

Heat home for the Hornets at the Hornets home for the Sixers at the nuggets at the Jazz at the Suns at the Lakers at the Clippers what a stretch home for the Grizzlies home for the Pacers home for the Hornets going through and reading all of those like I don’t feel like

Anybody really has an advantage sure like the strength of schedule you know uh statistically might be a little bit easier but each team’s got some tough games in there yeah I yeah at the end of the day when you’ve got this small amount of games left you’re all going to have some

Easy games and you’re all going to have some really tough games and at that point you’re really splitting hairs so win your games the magic control their Destiny just win give yourselves a good chance to win put yourself in the right spots and you’re going to find yourself

Soon talking about how we’re going to be the six-seater better and it’s a lock we’re close if if you had to bet if somebody was like you here’s $100 and you have to put this $100 on where where you think the magic are most likely to end up in the Eastern Conference

Standings where would you say today I it is tough not to say five that means I’m not saying bring on the Nicks baby and and listen C Cleveland being this is what I’m talking about too as far as how tight this race is really when you just think about

Having a bad stretch of games versus a team in your area having a good stretch of games and things going well for them the C without Donovan Mitchell for at least a week they said re a re-evaluation in a week that does not mean he’s coming back in a week and as a

Result it could me it could it could but who knows right ultimately they’re going to be focused on getting him healthy for the playoffs that’s goal number one they’re not going to rush him back if there was ever a time for a team not to rush a player back it is right before

The playoffs start you don’t want him to reag gravate anything so if they’re at a spot where they’re like you know what we’re completely safe of any playin Shenanigans and Donovan Mitchell could benefit from some games off I would not be shocked if he is off most of the

Season if you’re Cleveland and you’re sitting there and you’re looking at do we want the 36 matchup if Joel embiid comes back if it’s Philadelphia or do we want the 4 five match up with the Orlando Magic yeah I I would understand the thinking there cuz if Joel embiid is

Healthy 76ers are probably a top two or three seed in the Eastern Conference that being said I like us matching up against Cleveland better than I like us matching up against the Knicks both with Mitchell Robinson uh probably returning pretty shortly for the Knicks yeah as soon as like their

Next couple games will be back it looks like so yeah I would rather play the Cavs still not super favorable for me just because they do protect the paint well um but it if back to your question the five seed is where I would put all

100 if I even had the chance to distribute it in terms of confidence on where we’ve I feel pretty confident that we will be the fifth seat with the way looking yep that’s where I’m at now let’s take a quick break to give a very special shout out to our patrons

Uh you know we love you guys you guys are literally the folks that help support the show and allow us to do everything that we do so um your support does not go unnoticed or unappreciated if you’re not one of our patrons and you’d like to see what it’s all about

You want to get some more information you can find us at patreon.com the6 man show where we have different levels of tiers like we have a $2 tier where hey if you just want to help support the show give us a few dollars a month you can do that we have additional tiers

With additional benefits that you can check out again patreon.com the6 man show whenever we have brand new patrons we make sure to give them a very special shout out and thank you you for joining the community and thanking them for their support and then we shout out our

Hall of Fame and Elite tier patrons each and every episode so I am going to go ahead and start by saying a big thank you to our friends over at the court cousins podcast if you haven’t checked them out already you can check them out on all podcast platforms and on YouTube

Uh Drew Gooden who again you can also check out on YouTube that guy’s pretty big over there as a matter of fact our guy Armen Carson tulo Ellis Jonathan borgas normal magic player history Gabe Gaines wiffle Michael Martin Jamal Miller Michael salop pong Donkey Punch Dave Palo and front’s warmth who went

With the annual tier this time around really really appreciate you uh pal and Fran’s warmth personally wish you would change your name I know that’s going to be counterproductive now you’re gonna want to change it even less but uh but yeah there’s that Pier a Dylan Holden Mr

Mikey Eduardo Sanchez danal doto 15 Bobby Skinner goie 93 Teddy Sylvia shout out to Luke’s Mama Eric Lopez fuchsia Bill Fon em and lagone josea sand cannibal I’m sorry Caleb Pete cannibalism time Mr TV ESPN really sucks gear 95 shred Junior Bruce halfrey kinahan 177 Bobby the dawn himo B hro

RMR 221 rap Arron Magic Kid 714 mysterious Mosley Victor cologne Irish Magic Mike Austin lampy random hustle only France Maria Keith walls Fritz currency Kev bral Case green Santi Leon Kane Eckler the distract Amad timsa chantu Tom Gadson dead air Richard Tuttle Jeremiah Cano magic wir Debo 1980

Magic Matt Michael Thompson Mama Richman next snappa and J.R Pon a big thank you to all of our patrons again you can find us at patreon.com theix man show Luke talk to me about some Nashville and La inspired Hot Chicken there you go Jonathan’s already started off the uh the first

Part there of the read for you guys Jam Hot Chicken is one of our proud Partners uh we do our Jam Hot Chicken Jam of the week as you guys if you guys have listened to any of our Monday episodes very well know by now that we have that

Segment every Sun every Monday for those Jam Hot Chicken Jam of the weeks had some fun ones lately but Jam Hot Chicken is located at 400 West New England Avenue sweet 13 in Hannibal Square there in beautiful Winter Park you guys can go follow them on all social media

Platforms at jamot chick you go to their website jamhot chicken.com look at their menu Order ahead all sorts of good stuff on that website um man go check them out let them know we sent you and uh Jam Hot Chicken the best the best chicken

Sandwich round I want to give a a quick shout out because they are getting ready to do an event with Lazy Moon Pizza coming up on March 29th uh so that will be located at Lazy Moon off of Mills uh 1011 East Colonial Drive in Orlando

That’s going to be March from 5:00 p.m. until they’re sold out Lazy Moon is open late and they’re going to have uh it’s called the if you know you know slice which is it’s $14 but I would pay $28 for this It’s the Jam HOT chickens

The box which is what I almost always get when I go to jam hot chicken on a Lazy Moon Pizza slice are you freaking kidding me guys hot dip infused whipped ricotta fries mild Heat chicken Vinnie sloth pickles and comeback sauce on a piece of freaking Pizza you might hear

Me having to swallow a couple of times that’s my saliva I’m literally almost drooling reading that right now and I am so jealous that we will not be able to make that folks but uh yeah make sure that if you’re in the area like that is appointment culinary experience right

There Andrew Andrew the owner of jam hot chicken posted it when I think that they were like making their doing their trial runs of that pizza I messaged him so fast and was like please tell me this is a new menu item and he was like man it’s a one time

Thing you know for this one event doesn’t mean they won’t partner again but he said this is for right now it’s a it’s a one night event we’re doing it um to we sold out and I was like I am devastated because the next day we will

Be in Orlando already for the Memphis game and that you know whole on court experience thing if it wasn’t the day before and would require me going to Orlando twice in a row I would heavily consider it you guys need to go what time you said it

Start at like five at 5 I if you are in are I would be there at 3:30 I would be there early because it says till as long basically as long as supplies last and it’s going to go so fast it doesn’t matter how late Lazy Moon is open people

Are going to be lining up at the doors because they know how good Jam Hot Chicken is and if you could put any of their products on a slice of pizza dud I don’t even know need to know anything about Lazy Moon Pizza to know that it’s going to be incredible so go

Check it out and uh let them know we sent you if you guys end up going to that event because good call by Jonathan promoting that because I saw it earlier and totally forgot but I would be there in a heartbeat in in the future I may

Have to call Andrew and be like bro what if I stop at Lazy Moon Pizza on my way to you can you do a little do a little cuz that’s like one of those things have to experience you know it’s like it’s like Shack’s Jersey retirement night I

Would probably more likely want to be at this oh yeah then because like I never mind I’m not going to say what I was going to say um I’m just gonna say it there’s nothing at the Jersey retirement that I could put in my mouth okay I’ll

Just I’ll just say that okay yeah this is this is different than that okay wow what an ad read for Jam Hot Chicken huh yeah yeah okay let’s talk about this Hornets game at the same at the same exact time there’s a lot to talk about and then

There’s nothing to talk about yeah cuz the magic just came out and obliterated the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night I’m going to go to the the play byplay here Luke so at the end of the first quarter magic up 27 to 17 it’s like okay sort of business as usual nothing crazy

But like pretty expeditiously Luke the magiker up by 24 with 7 minutes to go go in that second quarter and then a few minutes later here they’re up 61- 26 and this is the play of the game if you’ve been on social media you’ve already seen

It a hundred times before this is where the game ended for me at this point it’s like get these guys out of here they don’t have a chance tonight this game is over going to the thre minute one three minute 1 second Mark left in the second

Quarter the magic are up 20 I’m sorry they’re up 26 to 61 or 61 to 26 whatever way you want to format that you’d be my guest miles Bridges drives to his right hand Jaylen Suggs is just all over him like a pitbull steals the ball going the other

Way they’ve got alexe povi and Brandon Miller and then it’s a poo Ben Carol fron Varner Jaylen sugs three on two jaylen’s running down the left side of the lane passes it back to poo banero poku and Brandon Miller both step up to stop poo banero at the free throw line

You see Jaylen sugs retreating to the corner poo banero throws it behind his back Jaylen sugs catches it in stride hits the the the step back pulls up for three as soon as he lets it Go turns around to the crowd turns his back as it’s going through the net now the magic

Are up 64 to 26 they’re up 28 with 253 to go in the first half Jaylen sugs is walking down the sidelines he’s dapping up magic fans Luke and I did something something at halime of this game that I never in a million years thought I would

Have the audacity to do the magicw up 67- 32 only because meit hits a three as the the clock expires at the first half or the Hornets wouldn’t have even scored 30 points in the first half at all but at that time I said I’m going to go

Ahead and record the postgame video I came in here to my office and I said I don’t know the particulars the rest of the way here but I know the magicin a lot to a little this game is completely over the magic are on fire and the magic

Were on fire they end up winning this game 112 to 92 second half the magic just really couldn’t care less they knew the game was over credit to Charlotte they fought back a little bit you know got it to 20 but this was just like complete and utter domination from the

Magic and not even really by Palo Bank Caro and fron vogner those guys were great but Jaylen Suggs with 16 points six rebounds four I’m sorry four rebounds six assists three steals two blocks Cole Anthony in 21 minutes has 21 points nine of 12 from the floor added

Six rebounds three assists a steal a block this was the Cole Anthony game for me this is the best Cole Anthony that we have seen in months like probably since November when he was doing it pretty consistently he might have had like one or two games statistically better than

This since that point but for me this is like if we get this Cole Anthony you’re not going to he’s not going to shoot 75% from the floor every game but if we’re getting the Cole Anthony who is capable of knocking down the shots that he was

Tuesday night that is what could flip a series for the magic against almost anybody so this was just such a fun game crazy crazy butt kicking no other way to put it one of the most fun games of the year like Jaylen hits that three and usually I’m pretty good about trying to

Be quiet cuz the kids are sleeping I’m jumping up around my living room screaming it’s over it’s over just like yeah this game was awesome the magic just dominated the Hornets and yeah you feel good coming off of this one but now the schedule gets tough

Again if you told us before the game the magic there’s a half where the magic get outscored 60 to 45 I’d say wow either that game was really close or or we lost but it didn’t matter because the magic were just putting the shellacking on them in the first half and as you

Said that second half they could not care less which selfishly I was hoping that they would just keep the defense on them the entire second half the Hornets couldn’t get anything to fall just so the uh the magic could hold them to the hot the lowest total that anyone’s been

Held to this season which at this point would be 73 I believe which was the Knicks shout out to the Knicks and and um that’s what I was hoping for so unfortunate that they scored 92 even but you hold them under under 100 you don’t really do much in the second half guys

Like Palo and France play basically 25 minutes that starting group all plays roughly that amount Gary Harris gets 17 minutes and everybody else gets some run right you even got some some Caleb Houston run some chuma run Admiral scoffield hits a I believe a corner

Three in this one so you got a little bit of everything in this game and Cole Anthony needs these games like a fish needs water like he just needs to see the three ball go in he I think it was um post shoot around uh maybe it was

Yesterday morning before the game or the day before that where Cole Anthony was like I just need my shot to once my three Ball’s going in then we’re back he was like but right now is not and they they feel good it’s just a matter of

Time Cole over the last few games this game and then the first game against Toronto did pretty well as far as shooting the basketball from Beyond The Arc so I I’m hoping that this is him just getting back into Rhythm and you put this out there on Twitter but you

Said if we get this Cole Anthony we can advance past the first round and it’s I mean it’s true it’s if you can get him him to just hold his own defensively which he has been doing for the most part this year just putting pure effort and hustle into that side of

The ball despite being the smaller Defender and teams hunting for the switch against him if he can give you that production offensively unfortunately you’re not playing Charlotte every night but if your three ball can just be on and you can give us games if it’s even a

Possibility for you you to give us a a four for six from three game in a in a pivotal game whether that’s the playoffs or coming down the stretch here for seaing that’s huge that’s that’s one of the X factors and one of the determining factors for

This team going to the postseason and perhaps the biggest question mark yeah like basically anybody but Boston I think like if Cole Anthony is going to give you you know 46 47% from the field and 37 38% from the three-point line like I would I would

Bet that to flip a series against pretty much anybody like Milwaukee Cleveland conversely to what he was shooting specifically exactly yeah and him in that type of role drawing the amount of attention that that he would with those type of splits would open up everything else for that bench lineup like it would

Take a lot of like right now Joe Engles is having to do everything like in terms of like creating offense for that second unit whether it’s you know knocking down threes uh or running like the pick and roll with Mo Vagner and Cole Anthony like Hur in teams that way and them just

Shading a little bit more in his Direction I think would just open up everything again for that second unit and as great as they’ve been playing all year long like it would be that like much better with Cole like really cooking because he he’s a he’s like a

Microwave guy he knocks down a couple of shots and now you know when he he’s touching the ball um that he’s he’s either pulling up or trying to get to the rim so yeah Cole Anthony needs these games badly the magic need Cole to have these games badly and you know what else

Is lethal is when if we know that we can trust johon and Isaac to hit those you talk about Joe Engles and mo Vagner on the court together running the pick and roll and then Cole Anthony basically just waiting for the defense to collapse make the wrong you know rotation and him

To be open for a three then but then let’s say you’ve got Jonathan Isaac on the court as well that’s and that’s something I do want to look at too is like how many possessions those guys have played together between Cole uh ji and then G not Gary Joe Eng Les and mo

Vagner which I’m almost there but um I’m guessing that that fourman I know that the Magic’s best Twan lineup which shout out to the uh athletic NBA show which I was on last week those guys there was a trivia question of what is the Magic’s best Twan lineup this year and it’s Cole

Anthony and Jonathan Isaac so that fourman lineup’s got to be pretty good I would I would uh assume yeah so this year that those four on together have played 550 possessions they are a plus 13.4 net rating yeah so that is at that point you you think about it if Cole’s

Got it going consistently ji now legitimately out of nowhere can is reliable from the that corner three spot which it’s hilarious a lot of his what are you going to say is it out of nowhere cuz he’s been doing it like for the majority of the season now well I

Feel like we’ve F maybe not out of nowhere but now we’re finally saying okay we can buy it because listen I’ve seen that man airball and Clank it since December 1st 33 games 46% from behind the arc that’s pretty crazy that’s pretty crazy actually he’s just the only the only magic player

Shooting better in that time jet Howard right small sample size unfortunately well yeah and that’s what it comes down to his volume too like if if ji is giving you close to two two and a half two two and a half attempts a game that fourman lineup is is legitimately deadly

Listen listen to to to some of these guys over the since uh December 1st ji 46% Joe Eng Les 45% Anthony black 43% jayen SS 41% Wendell 40.9% Wendell shooting the lights out yeah and it’s it needs to happen and at some point whether that’s next season or

Whatever they they have got to just increase volume and say okay we are finally in a Groove shooting the three ball let’s trust it and increase volume continue to create opportunities now that you are shooting respectable amounts volume should naturally go up because there are Defenders that are you

Know respecting you um but also like you have the confidence to take those shots so if that fourman lineup can just continue to get run and these guys are just knocking down shots that’s a problem and that’s the reason this bench unit was got the reputation they got so

Early on which was like you know that magic bench they kill dudes like they they are just mix Film School Andrew claudo always brings it up like your bench just blitzes other people of their team’s benches so and that’s the reputation this team got so if you can just

Continue to knock down shots if you’re Co Anthony hit the open one if you’re open Jonathan Isaac or if you’re feeling crazy those contesta ones we saw I I mean that that bench unit is going to be Uber important coming postseason okay Luke last uh thing that

I want to say again is like just Thursday night is super important for the magic I know it’s just one game but for me who I I admittedly have a little bit of a tendency to overreact from time to time off of one game I usually am

Pretty good about reigning it back in and taking a look at the big picture but in the moment if if the magic come out and they they don’t play well and they’re not competitive in this game in the moment to me it’s going to feel like

The sky is falling and then I’ll quickly be like okay it’s it’s just one game it’s not that bad but when you look at the schedule and three of the last you three of the last three teams that well three of the last three the last three

Teams that you’ve played that are above 500 if you just get waxed by all three of those teams it’s not a good sign you know we’ve talked about how this season is about you know learning and and how you valuable all this experiences and that’s great but I still want them to

Play well you know like losing four in the in the in the the playoffs fine as long as you’re not getting blown out in you at least two or three of those those games like you have one blowout and you get swept fine the other three are competitive I guess that’s okay would

Hate to see them get blown out in four consecutive games that would really suck but Thursday is just really really important I know these guys time and time again four big games this year they have acknowledged hey this is a big game this means a lot to us and in quite a

Few of those they have not delivered I know they understand the stakes going into this game and and what it means and yeah if I’m not mistaken this game’s on NBA TV so it’s a air quotes national televised game but you’re going to have a few more eyes on you than than you

Normally would so it’s important to come out and get a w and that’s really all that I have to say it’s crazy that we’re already heading into the last you know week and a half here in March and 13 games to go until the postseason I I really really cannot wait yeah yeah

Let’s get string together some more some more wins here we’ll see and hey if the magic pick up their next two wins you know what home versus New Orleans and in Sacramento you all are going to you know see what you want to see tarps off on

The next episode so we’ll see what happens with that but that is going to do it for this episode for Luke Sylvia this has been Jonathan Osborne you all have been listening to the six-man show and we will catch you guys next time see you thanks for listening to the Sixth

Man Show be sure to subscribe on iTunes and Spotify to get new episodes downloaded directly to your phone if you enjoyed the show please take a minute to give us a five-star rating and a review it helps out the show a lot follow us on Twitter Instagram and Facebook at 6man

Show we’ll catch you guys next time go magic go go [Applause] go

The Magic have clinched postseason basketball, but there’s still more work to be done over the last 13 games. We look at the road ahead for the Magic & their Eastern Conference peers, and recap the blowout win over Charlotte.

Join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thesixthmanshow

JAM Hot Chicken: https://www.jamhotchickenfl.com/

Follow Us: https://www.thesixthmanshow.com/

IG: https://www.instagram.com/sixthmanshow

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SixthManShow

YouTube: https://twitter.com/SixthManShow

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSixthManShow

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/sixthmanshow

Hosts: @j_osborne21 & @lukesylvia96

Producer: @kevin_tucker_

Music: Prod. by Tantu Beats

0:00 – Intro
12:14 – State of the Magic
14:48 – Magic Playoff Picture
42:17 – Patron Shoutout
44:43 – JAM Hot Chicken
48:53 – Magic vs Hornets
1:01:20 – Outro

If you enjoyed the show please LIKE & SUBSCRIBE!

#OrlandoMagic #OrlandoMagicPodcast #PaoloBanchero #BlueWireVideo