Regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal matchup between the Magic and Heat, the schedule starts to ease up over the course of the next month for Orlando.

Although Jamahl Mosley‘s squad will play nine of its next 14 games on the road once Cup play is complete, a stretch that includes the team’s first West Coast trip of the season, the quality of opponent drops, compared to the first quarter of the year.

It’s a stretch that comes at a crucial time for the Magic, who are operating for the next two-to-four weeks without Franz Wagner (high left ankle sprain) and still reintegrating Paolo Banchero back into the starting lineup after he missed 10 games with a left groin strain.

Of the 14 upcoming games (including two against the six-win Pacers), the Magic only face five teams who entered Tuesday’s slate with a record above .500.

Before  Tuesday, Orlando had gone 8-9 against teams with a .500-or-better record. To put more plainly, the Magic played 17 of their first 24 games against some of the league’s stronger competition and hardly got a break.

Of course, this is still the NBA and the games have to be won on the court.

The Magic learned that the hard way when they lost to a then-5-6 Boston squad by 4 points Nov. 9 at home. That loss, however, is Orlando’s only against a team with a below-.500 record.

The Magic are 6-1 against teams .500-or-worse so far this season, a record that’s helped them rise in the East standings. It’s an area of the game that helped reach the playoffs last year when both Wagner and Banchero missed significant time due to injury.

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A year ago, the Magic finished 29-16 against below-.500 teams, meaning majority of their 41 wins that helped them earn the No. 7 seed in the East came against lower opponents.

While that trend has continued this season, the Magic haven’t gotten nearly as many opportunities against poor competition compared to the rest of the top six teams in the East.

Prior to Tuesday, Orlando had only faced seven sub-.500 squads — the fewest in the top six. The next closest was No. 3 Boston, who had played eight below-.500 teams. The Heat had faced 11, the Knicks 12, and both the No. 4 Raptors and No. 1 Pistons 13.

With nine of their next 14 games coming against teams below .500 in the standings, the Magic have an opportunity to string wins together at a time when they’ll be without one of their top players in Wagner.

As the sports cliche goes, they’ll take it one game at a time.

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com