The Magic Insider

NBA Standings: Magic Loss vs. Kings Could Prove Costly

The Orlando Magic fell to fifth place in the Eastern Conference after losing to the Sacramento Kings.

Jeremy Brener

Sacramento Kings v Orlando Magic
Sacramento Kings v Orlando Magic / Rich Storry/GettyImages
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ORLANDO - The Orlando Magic is falling in the standings after a 109-107 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night inside the Kia Center.

The Magic had won five games in a row prior to Saturday's loss, placing the team with the No. 4 seed and homecourt advantage for the first round of the playoffs. However, one game can change everything in an extremely tight playoff race, and that turned into the case for Saturday's outcome.

Chris Duarte, Moritz Wagner
Sacramento Kings v Orlando Magic / Rich Storry/GettyImages

The Magic now sits 0.5 game behind the New York Knicks and 1.5 games back of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who hold the No. 3 seed in the East.

The Magic should hope for a top-three seed in order to avoid a more difficult matchup for the first round. Placing in third would also ensure that the Magic would avoid the first-place Boston Celtics until the Eastern Conference Finals.

It's a tight race between the Knicks, Magic and Cavs ... and one team will end up starting a series on the road against the other. Orlando doesn't want to travel north to start the playoffs if it doesn't have to, but that means ensuring the team loses minimally in the final 11 games of the season.

The Magic returns to the floor on Wednesday night against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

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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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