While Jamahl Mosley was driving to Kia Center on Friday, hours before his Magic hosted the Hornets in a critical game, the fifth-year coach reminded himself to appreciate the moment.
No one would have blamed him for being tense or anxious. The game against Charlotte was a win-or-go-home scenario for both teams trying to advance to the NBA Playoffs out of the play-in tournament. Mosley has found himself on the hot seat more than at any other time during his Orlando tenure.
Instead, gratitude filled his thoughts.
“I’m sitting there thinking how grateful I am for this opportunity,” Mosley said before the elimination game.
The Magic were in such a precarious position because they lost to Philadelphia in the Nos. 7-8 play-in game roughly 48 hours earlier.
“It’d be so easy to say what we could have, should have done,” Mosley said. “Those things didn’t happen and you’re in this situation, so you have the opportunity. I just think gratitude that you actually get this opportunity versus focusing on what didn’t happen.”
Magic power past Hornets
The No. 8 Magic will have more NBA playoff opportunities starting at 6:30 p.m. Sunday when they play at No. 1 Detroit in Game 1 of a best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series. Orlando clinched its place in the playoffs Friday night in dominant fashion against Charlotte 121-90.
Orlando jumped out in front of the Hornets 38-16 after the first quarter, scored 26 points off 20 takeaways and racked up 64 points in the paint en route to a 31-point victory at home, ending Charlotte’s season.
Following a regular season that was consistently inconsistent for Orlando, the Magic looked much more like the club from the past two seasons, playing tight defense and being aggressive offensively. And for the third year in a row, the Magic are headed back to the playoffs.
“That’s what a playoff team is supposed to look like,” Magic guard Jalen Suggs said in a jubilant locker room. “That’s a team that has high expectations to play in the playoffs and make a run.
“And now it has to travel. For as amazing as it was (Friday night) — our attention to detail, the energy, the pace we played at a high level — it means nothing if it doesn’t travel.”
Orlando has to become a road act
The Magic is still trying to find postseason road success under Mosley. They improved to 6-1 at home in the postseason across two first-round series against Cleveland and Boston the last two seasons, plus play-in games versus Atlanta last year and Charlotte on Friday night.
But they’re 0-8 on the road in the postseason under Mosley after Wednesday’s play-in loss at Philadelphia. The Magic haven’t gotten out of the first round since it last reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2010.
“If we want to get over the hump, it’s going to take winning on the road,” Magic forward Paolo Banchero said. “We’ve got to be extra focused and together to get that done.”
Detroit won 60 games in the regular season and was 31-9 at home. The Pistons had the most home victories in the East and the third-most in the league. The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder went 34-7 at home while the San Antonio Spurs went 32-8.
The Magic (45-37 in the regular season) handed Detroit one of its rare home losses when Orlando won 112-109 in late November to secure its NBA Cup group title during the league’s in-season tournament.
Magic vs. Pistons a split decision
Orlando and Detroit split four games in the regular season, each team winning at home and on the road. Detroit won at home in late October by 19 points and at Kia Center by 14 on March 1. The Magic won the final meeting April 6 while the Pistons were still without NBA MVP candidate Cade Cunningham, who missed 11 games due to a collapsed lung.
Cunningham, who ended his high school playing career at Montverde Academy, is back and ready to lead Detroit beyond the first round after the team fell in six games to the Knicks last season. Cunningham, a 6-foot-6 guard, averaged 23.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 9.9 assists and 1.4 steals during 33.9 minutes per night across 64 games this season.
“The No. 1 priority, in a lot of ways, is Cade Cunningham,” Mosley said. “They’re a very tightly knit together team. They defend at a high clip, they turn you over and they make it tough to score.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re doing all of the little things, just like in this (play-in) game but against them.”
If the Pistons’ style sounds familiar, that’s because they’re coached by someone Mosley and the Magic know well: J.B. Bickerstaff.
Now in his second season in Detroit, it was Bickerstaff’s Cleveland team that eliminated the Magic in a 2024 first-round series that went seven games. Mosley and Bickerstaff are close friends when they’re not competing against each other; their families have vacationed together.
Another chance to battle
But nothing about Sunday and this series will be friendly. When they’re at their best, both the Magic and Pistons rely on their physicality to impose their will on both ends of the floor.
“That’s their calling card,” Banchero said about the Pistons. “They’re probably one of the most physical teams in the league. … So, you’ve got to come in and just be ready for a 48-minute fight.”
AP Photo/John Raoux
Orlando Magic guard Anthony Black, right, attempts a steal against Detroit Pistons guard Daniss Jenkins on April 6 at the Kia Center. The Magic won that game and face the Pistons in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. (AP file/John Raoux)
Added Suggs: “It’s going to be a war, so I hope everybody’s ready for that.”
After Game 1 on Sunday, the Pistons will host Game 2 on Wednesday (7 p.m., ESPN) before the series shifts to Orlando.
The Magic will host Game 3 next Saturday (1 p.m., Peacock/NBC Sports Network) and Game 4 the following Monday.
Tipoff time for Game 4 is still to be determined. If necessary, Game 5 at Detroit would be April 29, Game 6 in Orlando would be May 1 and Game 7 would be back in Detroit on May 3.
Tickets for first-round series games in Orlando can be purchased at OrlandoMagic.com/postseason and went on sale Friday night, the team said.
Mosley is thankful for the opportunity to help the Magic battle Detroit in the playoffs.
“There’s nothing but gratitude for being able to coach this game and be around a group of special men,” he said. “They stayed together and figured out a way to get the win.
”So I’m just super grateful we get to do it some more and that we know what we’re capable of doing.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic at Pistons, Game 1
When: 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Little Caesars Arena
TV: NBC/Peacock