Why the Magic's Game Against the Bucks is so Significant

The Orlando Magic were able to find some momentum on their recent trip out west, and they will return home with a pair of consecutive wins in tow after defeating the Sacramento Kings and the Utah Jazz in a back-to-back slate on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Now, it is on the Magic to do something they have not yet achieved this season: get a win in their building.

On Friday, they will have the opportunity to do so when they host the Milwaukee Bucks. It will also be a group stage game for the Emirates NBA Cup, which Orlando is already 1-0 in.

The Bucks will be the third straight team the Magic will face that only has one win this season. It has been difficult for Milwaukee in the post-Giannis Antetokounmpo era, and Orlando will have a chance to seize a win against another weakened opponent.

On the latest episode of the Full Court Magic Podcast, I discussed the significance of this game. Here is what I had to say:

"All right, so the Magic will have a third straight game against an opponent that has only won one game this season, and that's the Milwaukee Bucks. On Friday, the Magic will return home to host Milwaukee for an Emirates NBA Cup Group A stage game, and the Magic are already 1-0. 

They beat the Toronto Raptors. They have proven to be a dominant force in NBA Cup games, going 12-4 all-time since the inception of the tournament, and now they get another team that is just crawling through the early days of this NBA season. The Bucks are really struggling in the post-Giannis era. Things are just not going well for them whatsoever.

And the Magic are going to be looking to get another monkey off their back when they host the Bucks because the Magic have not won a game at home yet. They are still winless inside the Kia Center: 0-4. And so, this is a really good opportunity for the Magic to kill two birds with one stone: defeat the Bucks to get their first game at home, and move to 2-0 in group stage play.

And that's a good spot to be in, especially with the returns of Jalen Suggs and hopefully Paolo Banchero on the horizon. So the Magic have a nice opportunity here. This is a part of the schedule where, you know, three games in four days is not easy, especially when you are coming back from a trip out west, but the level of opponents that they are facing in these last three games makes it very winnable and very attainable. 

But like I said, this is the NBA, and the Bucks clearly don't want to be losing. I'm sure that they would like to have more than one win, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them come in hungry and ready to go at the Magic's throat."