The Orlando Magic begin their quest at becoming the inaugural In-Season Tournament champion in their visit to Brooklyn, playing their first of four group games.
The team, who are coming off solid victories over the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks, is looking to continue their upward trend that they have had this season by playing spoiler in group play this week and sneak their way into a tournament.
While this is a task easier said than done, the Magic have a sneaky shot of being a team that is in the mix to take home the hardware in early December, giving the team their first true league championship.
Breaking Down the Group
The Magic were definitely given the golden egg in terms of group play.
Although, not a cakewalk, given a group that features the Nets, Raptors and Bulls, all of whom are .500 or worse, suits a team such as Orlando well.
For Orlando, the biggest test will come with the Boston Celtics.
A game that will be played on Black Friday, the Orlando Magic will be tested in their group stage finale with a top five scoring team in the league in Boston.
Not to mention having to deal with Jayson Tatum, who is off to an all-star season, averaging 27.7 points per game so far.
If the Magic can be consistent and beat up on the other three group members, it should give Orlando a shot to take home the group to play in the tournament playoffs, but getting past Boston will be a challenge.
If Orlando can play smart and be scrappy against the Celtics, it wouldn’t be the most unlogical idea for the Magic to steal a game from Boston and win the group, but things need to go their way first.
Can The Magic Win It All?
Orlando definitely is one of those sneaky teams that can win the NBA Cup, but, the right matchups in the playoffs would have to play out.
While the team is young and is playing hungry, there is a sense that it could be stopped by a team like Botson or Philadelphia who are on a different level at this point than the Magic.
The team is hard-pressing and has shown to hang with the big boys but the question is if they can do it when fighting for title.
Although this isn’t a NBA championship, it is still a chance at winning the trophy and will be something teams will be fighting for, especially if it’s a team that may be out of a NBA title opportunity or even playoff opportunity.
The Magic definitely have a shot to take home the crown but the dominoes will have to fall in their favor if they want to win the inaugural cup.
