Will the Orlando Magic be Better Than the Miami Heat This Season?

The Orlando Magic are about to conclude their preseason by hosting their in-state rival, the Miami Heat, on Friday. 

Last season, the Magic dominated the Heat, sweeping them 5-0 in the regular season and taking two games from them in the preseason. As good as Orlando was against them, the Heat are vastly different heading into 2026-27 after making a blockbuster trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis Jr. over the summer. 

They have also added other veteran pieces, such as Klay Thompson and Tim Hardaway Jr. Conversely, the Magic did not make any roster changes that were incredibly notable, but they did hire Sean Sweeney to be their new head coach. 

It is going to be interesting to see how the Heat and the Magic fare against one another this season, and Friday will be the only look that fans get at the two teams squaring off against one another until February, when they will meet for the first of four times until the end of the season. 

There is a long way to go until Orlando and Miami conclude their seasons against one another, but it is still worth speculating how the rivalry will play out this season. On the latest episode of the Full Court Magic Podcast, I broached this topic with Heat Roundtable beat writer Anthony Aguirre.

Aguirre believes Miami will win the season series, 3-1. Below is what I had to say in response:

"Yeah, I mean, I can see why you would think that, given the offseason and, you know, the star power on the team. And in a way, I agree with you. I think that if the Heat stay healthy, this is going to be a lot more difficult for the Magic. 

I think because it's so contingent on so many different things, I'm going to go right down the middle. I'm going to go two-and-two split. I think that if the Magic are, you know, in the midst of a heater, or if they happen to be healthy while the Heat are banged up a little bit and they catch a night where there's no Giannis, they're probably going to win that game. 

But conversely, if the Heat catch a night where there's no Paolo and Franz, they're probably going to win that game. I mean, I've seen Desmond Bane take over, but can he take over against the size Miami has? I do think that having Desmond Bane is a good safety valve for this Magic team that is going up against anyone, not just the Heat.

But I really do think that the story of this is going to come down to health. But also, I think what makes this matchup this season interesting is that, you know, Spo got used to Jamahl Mosley — he got to face him for five years.

He knew his coaching tendencies. He knew how to play chess against him. Or at least you thought he did until Miami went 0-7 last year.  So, I think that given all the hypotheticals, given all the different things that can happen, the best-case scenario for this is going to be a two-and-two split."