NBA Power Rankings: Where's Magic After Long Road Trip?

The Orlando Magic went 2-3 on its five-game road trip. Where does the team fall in this week's power rankings?

Jeremy Brener | Jan 17, 2023

NBA Power Rankings: Where's Magic After Long Road Trip? /

The Orlando Magic is returning home from its west coast road trip looking for much-needed rest.

And the team will get that, getting four off days in between Sunday's loss against the Denver Nuggets and their next game Friday against the New Orleans Pelicans.

After two games that went down to the wire in losses to the Utah Jazz and Nuggets, the Magic took a hit in this week's power rankings from Sports Illustrated, falling one spot from No. 25 to 26.

"The Magic were on the wrong end of a blowout to start the week in Sacramento and then played their opponents tough the rest of the way," Sports Illustrated writes. "Orlando beat Portland by three behind Franz Wagner’s 29 points and then dropped games to the Jazz by four and Nuggets by three to finish up their road trip, which they went 2–3 on. The Magic have a long layoff until their next game when they host the Pelicans on Friday."

The Magic returns to the floor Friday to face the Pelicans. The team will then get right back on the road to D.C. to face its Southeast division rival Washington Wizards on Saturday. Tipoff for both games is scheduled at 7 p.m.

You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Magic? Click Here.

Follow The Magic Insider on Facebook.

Follow The Magic Insider on Twitter.

Want even more Orlando Magic news? Check out the SI.com team page here.

Published Jan 17, 2023

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.