After facing the Lakers late Tuesday night inside Crypto.com Arena, an important opportunity awaits the Magic as they make their way home from a four-game trip out west.
Starting Thursday against the Rockets on Prime Video and ending next Thursday against the Mavericks, Orlando returns to Kia Center for a four-game homestand.
The upcoming stretch is crucial because it serves as the longest remaining homestand on the Magic’s regular season schedule. Following the four consecutive contests at home, the team will alternate between pairs of road and home games with a few one-offs sprinkled in their schedule.
Even without Franz Wagner — who won’t be re-evaluated for another two weeks from Wednesday while continuing to manage a left high ankle sprain — Jamahl Mosley‘s squad can work to capture some key victories before heading back on the road next week.
Entering Tuesday’s slate of games, Orlando was one of just four teams in the East and one of seven teams across the league still with only a single-digit amount of losses at home, thanks to a 17-9 record inside Kia Center.
And the Magic have gone 7-5 at home without Wagner this season.
But the first pair of home games won’t come as easy compared to the next two.
Orlando hosts a Rockets squad that defeated the Magic in overtime in mid-November. Then it faces the top team in the East in the Pistons, who split their first two games with the Magic this season.
Detroit took down Orlando by 19 points at home in late-October, but the Magic responded with a three-point win in the group stage of the NBA Cup on the road in late-November.
After hosting Houston and Detroit, the Magic then face the Wizards and Mavericks — two teams that sit outside the postseason picture in their respective conferences.
But similar to the Pistons, the Magic have split their first pair of games with Washington. Orlando beat the Wizards by 31 points on Nov. 1, but then fell by eight points on Jan. 8.
Orlando’s matchup with Dallas is first of two in the regular season. The Magic then travel to the Mavericks on April 3.
Regardless of the quality of opponent, however, Orlando doesn’t have much wiggle room when it comes to getting out of the Play-In Tournament in the East.
Entering Tuesday, the Magic were half-a-game back of No. 6 Philadelphia and just slightly ahead of No. 8 Miami. Seeds 7-10 in each conference compete in the Play-In for the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds in the playoffs, but the top six earn an outright playoff bid.
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic vs. Rockets
When: 7:30, Thursday, Kia Center
TV: Prime Video