The Magic Insider

How Orlando Magic Qualifies for In-Season Tournament Knockout Round

The Orlando Magic could qualify for the In-Season Tournament quarterfinals tonight.

Jeremy Brener

In this story:

ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic is 3-1 in In-Season Tournament play after its 113-96 victory against the Boston Celtics on Friday afternoon ... and the team will be eagerly awaiting the results from Tuesday night's games, the last in group play.

With the win, Orlando is the first Group C team with three wins, giving it the inside path towards winning the group. Now, the Magic will sit and wait on Tuesday to watch the results from the other two Group C games, which will ultimately determine who wins the group.

The Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors are already eliminated with two losses each, but they could play spoiler and help the Magic out.

Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac defending Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum
Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac defending Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum / Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports

Here's a look at the scenarios that could arise tonight ...

Celtics beat Bulls, Nets beat Raptors

In this case, the Celtics and Nets both win at home and improve to 3-1 with the Magic. This would create a three-way tie and trigger the point differential tiebreaker because the Celtics beat the Nets, who beat the Magic, who beat the Celtics.

Orlando is at +22, while Brooklyn is at +8 and Boston is at 0. As long as the Celtics win by 21 or fewer and if the Nets win by 13 points or fewer, the Magic will win Group C.

Cole Anthony, Magic Looking to 'Maintain The Standard'

Bulls beat Celtics, Nets beat Raptors

In this scenario, the Magic would finish in second place to the Nets because Orlando lost in Brooklyn.

By virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker, Brooklyn would win Group C while Orlando would have a chance to clinch the wild card spot.

Bulls beat Celtics, Raptors beat Nets

In this scenario, the Magic would finish in first place to the Celtics because Orlando beat Boston.

By virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker, Orlando would win Group C while Boston would have a chance to clinch the wild card spot.

Published
Jeremy Brener
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.

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