sit on ol\u2019 grandpappy\u2019s knee<\/a> and let me tell you what happened nearly a quarter-century ago. The Magic of 2003, also an eighth seed, stunned the basketball world by jumping out to a 3-1 lead over the then top-seeded Pistons.<\/p>\nMagic superstar Tracy McGrady was playing at an MVP level, and Orlando looked faster, freer and flat-out better. After Game 4, McGrady said what should have been an innocuous, even heartfelt comment: \u201cFor me, a guy who has never experienced playing in the second round, this is great.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was it. That was the quote.<\/p>\n
It came wrapped in context and surrounded by qualifiers, including the obvious; that the series wasn\u2019t over. But nuance doesn\u2019t travel well, especially in the playoffs. The national media twisted it, the narrative took off and suddenly McGrady had \u201cguaranteed\u201d a series victory.<\/p>\n
We all know what happened next. Detroit won three straight games \u2013\u00a0 Game 5 at home, Game 6 in Orlando and Game 7 back in Detroit \u2013 and the collapse became part of franchise lore.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why what this current Magic team is saying \u2013 and not saying \u2013 matters so much.<\/p>\n
After Monday night\u2019s Game 4 victory, there was no bravado, no declarations and no viral sound bites waiting to be misinterpreted. Instead, there were clich\u00e9s. \u201cOne game at a time.\u201d \u201cThis is only one game.\u201d \u201cIt ain\u2019t over until we get to four wins.\u201d For once, those lines didn\u2019t feel tired. They felt intentional. They felt like a team that understands exactly what can happen when you get ahead of yourself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis means nothing,\u201d Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. \u201cWe put ourselves in position to get to four wins, but right now it means nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
When I asked Mosley if he might give his team a history lesson on the Magic losing a 3-1 lead to the Pistons in 2003, the coach brought up Kobe Bryant\u2019s iconic \u201cThe job\u2019s not finished\u201d quote came after Game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals. When asked why he wasn\u2019t smiling despite a 2-0 lead over the Magic, a stone-faced Bryant replied, \u201cWhat\u2019s there to be happy about? Job\u2019s not finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was my message in the locker room,\u201d Mosley said. \u201cIt\u2019s like the Kobe quote: \u2018The job\u2019s not finished.\u2019 Well, the reality is, the job is not finished. All we\u2019ve done is put ourselves in the position with a 3-1 lead to go get a fourth win. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This team seems to grasp something that previous Magic teams learned the hard way: winning Game 4 isn\u2019t the finish line; it\u2019s the pressure point. And now that pressure shifts squarely onto Detroit.<\/p>\n
The Pistons are heading home for Game 5 with their season hanging in the balance, and they will be more desperate than a TikTok influencer without a ring light. Lose that game, and everything they built over an 82-game season disappears. Win it, and suddenly the series tightens, the doubt creeps in and the path gets a lot more complicated for Orlando. Game 6 would be back at Kia Center, and a potential Game 7 would return to Detroit, where anything can happen.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how fragile a 3-1 lead can feel, especially here.<\/p>\n
Still, what the Magic did in Game 4 cannot be dismissed. They didn\u2019t just win; they won when they weren\u2019t at their best. They won despite star Franz Wagner missing the entire fourth quarter with a calf injury. They won despite star Paolo Banchero hitting only 4-of-18 shots. They won despite point guard Jalen Suggs making only 1-of-13 shots. They won despite shooting just 32.6 percent from the floor and 25.7 percent from 3-point range.<\/p>\n
But mainly they won with a defense that had been their calling card for the previous two seasons, but wasn\u2019t nearly as intimidating or harassing during this regular season. That has suddenly changed in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
The Pistons were only able to make 6-of-30 threes in Game 4 and the Magic continued to frustrate Detroit star Cade Cunningham. Even though Cunningham continues to get his points (he scored 25 Monday night), he\u2019s not getting them efficiently or effortlessly. He made only 7-of-23 field goals in Game 4 and has committed 17 turnovers in the last two games.<\/p>\n
And, could it be, that the Magic are a team of destiny? Could it be that the basketball gods are finally smiling down on this franchise after disappointing, two injury-marred seasons. After all, in Game 3, Banchero made a game-clinching 3 in the final minute that bounded high off the back of the rim and miraculously fell through. And then in Game 4, Desmond Bane made another clutch 3\u00a0 in the final minute by banking it in from 28 feet away and folding his hands in prayer as he looked skyward.<\/p>\n
The Magic are looking once again like the team many believed they could be before the season began \u2013 not just a pesky underdog, but a legitimate problem.<\/p>\n
And yet, problems in the playoffs don\u2019t go away until you eliminate them. Detroit is still here. Cade Cunningham is still here.<\/p>\n
So yes, the Magic are up 3-1. Yes, the crowd inside Kia Center could feel something building. But if you\u2019re asking what this moment truly represents, the answer is simple: opportunity, not accomplishment.<\/p>\n
Because in Orlando, of all places, we know better than to celebrate too early. We\u2019ve seen 3-1 before, and we\u2019ve seen how quickly it can vanish.<\/p>\n
Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on social media @BianchiWrites and listen to my radio show \u201cGame On\u201d every weekday from 3 to 6 p.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and 969TheGame.com\/listen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The champagne isn\u2019t on ice. Not in this building. Not with this franchise. Not with this history. Because…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[38323,5834,139,141,1239,140,5799,109208],"class_list":["post-249225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-cade-cunningham","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-paolo-banchero","tag-tracy-mcgrady"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}