Magic Schedule Release: Top 5 Home Games
ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic released its schedule for the 2023-24 NBA season yesterday.
With 40 home games, picking a time to head to the Amway Center to see the Magic play can be difficult. Here are five home games that will make for an interesting night in downtown Orlando.
Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. vs. Houston Rockets:
The Magic open the season at home against the Houston Rockets. It will be the first game of the season so expect a packed house. Two of the top three picks from the 2022 NBA Draft will be facing off in Rockets sophomore Jabari Smith Jr. and the reigning Rookie of the Year, Magic star Paolo Banchero.
The opener will also feature multiple top-10 picks from the 2021 draft in the Rockets' Jalen Green and the Magic's Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs.
Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. vs. Denver Nuggets:
The NBA champion Denver Nuggets will be coming to town for the first time since raising the Larry O'Brien Trophy. That means that Aaron Gordon will also be returning to the place where he spent the first seven seasons of his career for the first time since winning the NBA Finals. Gordon was drafted fourth overall in the 2014 NBA Draft and remained with the Magic up until he was traded to Denver at the trade deadline of the 2020-21 season.
It will also be a chance to catch two-time NBA MVP and Finals MVP Nikola Jokic in action, which on its own is a spectacle to behold.
Nov. 24 at 2:30 p.m. vs Boston Celtics:
This NBA season will include the inaugural In-Season Tournament, which will begin in November. Orlando is in a group with the Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics. In order to advance out of Group Play, the Magic will need to have the best record in the group or be the best non-group winner in the Eastern Conference.
Whether they advance or not could very well come down to the final game of Group Play on Nov. 24 against the Celtics. At 2:30 p.m. on Black Friday, it could be the event of the weekend in Orlando. A packed Amway Center could go a long way in helping the Magic move on in the tournament.
Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. vs. Miami Heat:
The Magic and Miami Heat have had an up-and-down rivalry. For much of the 2010s, the Magic haven't been on the same level as the Heat. Now, with the Heat coming off of an NBA Finals appearance and Orlando being one of the best young teams in the league, this could be a rivalry renewed.
This sunshine state rivalry needs the fans to be in to it just as much, if not more than the players are. Fans make a rivalry, and a good place to start will be a cool Orlando night in December.
Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. vs San Antonio Spurs:
Generational prospects don't come around very often in the NBA. There have only been a handful of prospects that have drawn crowds in every city they went, just to be able to witness what everyone is talking about. San Antonio Spur Victor Wembanyama has a chance to be one of those prospects.
The Spurs' first overall pick in the 2023 draft out of France will be making his first appearance in Orlando on Feb. 8. The 19-year old stands 7-4 and should make for a must-see night at the Amway Center.
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