Magic need to reveal their real selves.
The Magic have so many personalities that maybe only Dr. Phil can get a read on them.
They don’t need a scouting report; they need an ink-blot test.
They don’t need another tall guy; they need a shrink.
Just who are the Magic anyway? Beats me. Is this the team that started 19-13 or the team that slumped to lose 15 of 17 games?
And then who in the world was that other Magic team we just watched?
You know, the one that posted improbable back-to-back, crunch-time wins against the Atlanta Hawks — a veteran club a season removed from 60 wins. We all saw that coming, right? If they defeat the San Antonio Spurs tonight, the Magic should spend the All-Star break being studied by scientists, behavioral specialists and Charles Barkley.
Well, you have to say this much for this team of extremes: The Magic haven’t been boring.
They’ve been fascinating and frustrating. One minute they can hit a game-winning shot just like Scott Skiles drew it up and the next minute, they can’t figure out how to take the ball out of bounds. They can blow a
19-point fourth-quarter lead to Charlotte to lose in OT and come back from an 18-point third-quarter deficit to beat Atlanta in OT.
The Magic have been a basketball symphony and an off-key lounge act.
Get this: A bunch of guys who lost to the league-worst Philadelphia 76ers are still talking about making a playoff run.
Should we be surprised by the mood swings?
Not really. Skiles and the coaching staff are not.
This is exactly what you get with a team made up entirely of NBA role players.
The Magic need four or five of them to play well every night to have a chance to win — and getting that majority is unlikely.
The difference between the hopefulness of 19-13 and the hopelessness of 2-15 is the club sticking to Skiles’ defensive principles and moving the ball. Or not.
With little margin for error, given they have no star to rescue them, the Magic must work in unison like synchronized swimmers or those family trapeze acts.
When they do that, “There’s a good team inside of us,” forward Jason Smith said.
Naturally, the team that doesn’t know if it’s coming or going feels it can more than salvage the season.
From a veteran like Smith to a young buck like Aaron Gordon, the 23-28 Magic still believe they can turn that proverbial corner.
Smith says that the twin wins over the Hawks show “we have guys that want to compete and go out every night and prove that we’re changing. We’re ready to get in that playoff mode and that playoff picture.
“I think we still can. There’s still a lot of season left.”
Smith also knows they will be caught in the cross- hairs of a wicked schedule.
There’s 30 games left after the San Antonio game, and they might have to win 18 to 20 of them to complete a playoff Hail Mary.
The likely losses (5): San Antonio, Golden State (twice), Cleveland, Toronto.
Toss-ups (11): Miami (four games), Detroit (twice), Indiana (twice), Dallas (twice), Memphis.
Winnable (14): Philadelphia (twice), Charlotte (twice), Milwaukee (twice), Boston, L.A. Lakers, New York, Sacramento, Phoenix, Portland, Denver, Brooklyn.
Three games out of the No. 8 spot as of Tuesday, Orlando will probably have to finish around .500 — maybe a few games above it – to play its way into the postseason.
The Magic need the normally forgiving Eastern Conference to come back to them. Who’d have ever guessed that?
Ironically, for a shot at reaching the postseason, the team must play the kind of basketball it did to start the season. Whomever that team was.