Although the Magic have reached the playoffs the past two seasons and head to Las Vegas after earning their spot in the NBA Cup semifinals, Orlando‘s mindset entering the weekend remains the same.
Jamahl Mosley‘s squad views itself as an underdog in the league’s in-season tournament, which is in its third year.
That’s not to say the Magic aren’t confident in their chances against the Knicks on Saturday (they’ve already beaten New York twice this season) or against either the surging Spurs and the 1-loss Thunder in a potential Cup championship on Tuesday, but Orlando believes it still has plenty to play for on a national stage.
“We’re going to continue to stay a level of underdog that we always have to something to prove to ourselves,” Mosley said Thursday before the team traveled to Vegas. “Are we following what we need to do in order to be great? That’s always what this group has in that mentality.
“That’s why you see they fight from the beginning of the game to the end of the game,” he added. “You know you’re never going to be out of it.”
After beating the Heat in thrilling comeback fashion Tuesday on Amazon’s Prime Network, the Magic get another shot to play on Prime against the Knicks. They’d get a third consecutive national TV game should they advance to the Cup final, too.
Of the four teams playing in Vegas this weekend, the Magic’s schedule had the fewest national TV appearances on it when it was released in mid-August at just 14 (which ranked 16th league-wide). Although that number has increased over time, it’s much lower compared to the other three Cup semifinalists.
The reigning NBA champion Thunder (24-1) and rising Knicks were tied for the most at 34 national TV games (tied with the Warriors and Lakers). The Spurs (17-7) weren’t far behind with 22 (or the 11th most in the league).
But none of that bothers the Magic.
More than 40 million people in the U.S. watched this year’s Cup group stage games, up 90% from last year and the most-watched group stage in the event’s three-year history, according to the league, and it’s likely the Cup semifinals and championship will draw a large number of eyeballs coast-to-coast.
“You’d love for the acknowledgement and the appreciation for what you do, especially from people who are fans of the game, but for the most part we’re worried about the opinions of (those) in the locker room and in the building,” Suggs said about the lack of national attention toward the Magic. “That’ll come with time. You can’t really trip off that too much. It’s other people’s (decision) what they choose to watch. We haven’t had many (national) TV games, so you can’t really blame them.
“But we’re just going out to hoop and going out to prove to ourselves and accomplish the goals that we set as a group. I don’t think that other stuff plays a factor,” he added.
His coach shared a similar answer.
“Our guys are so focused in on getting better every day and our process of doing things that what others’ opinions are of us, they’re there, but we continue to try to focus on what we can control,” Mosley said. “And we can control is how we step on that court every single night. Some people will like it, some people won’t, but our ability to just focus on us and our process of getting better every day, that’s the one thing our guys are going to stay true to.”
Sticking to the process that helped Orlando turn a 1-4 start into a 15-10 record entering Saturday will be required against New York (17-7). Although the Magic have taken down the Knicks twice already, New York handed them a 6-point loss this past Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks entered Friday’s slate of games with the second-highest rated offense (121.8) while the Magic were fifth in defensive rating (111.5) league-wide, according to NBA.com. But Orlando’s offensive rating (115.7) wasn’t far behind at 11, and New York’s defensive rating (113.2) was 10th-best.
To add to those comparisons, New York’s two-time All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson has averaged 31.3 points, 8.7 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game in three contests against the Magic this season.
Orlando, which will be without star forward Franz Wagner (left high ankle sprain), knows it’ll have its hands full Saturday, and vice versa.
“He’s a great player in the league,” Suggs said about Brunson. “So, (we’re) trying to do our part to make it hard on him, make sure they don’t get (any) free looks, no easy baskets, don’t send them to the line too much — all of the normal things that every team in the league is talking about in terms of scouting report.
“It takes an intentionality to come out and guard and be elite on that end, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com
Up next …
Magic vs. Knicks, NBA Cup semifinals
When: 5:30 p.m., Saturday, T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas)
TV: Prime Video