Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley on the sideline against the Atlanta Hawks. Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Magic cannot let season spiral any further

Originally posted on Orlando Magic on SI | By Marco Romo | Last updated Nov 5, 2025 4:01 PM ET

Sitting at 3-5 and uneven at every imaginable level, the Orlando Magic can't allow this season to spiral any further.

Coming into this season, Orlando was looking to take on the weight of expectations and desire to avenge an injury-filled 2024-25 season from hell. Now they find themselves encountering their first taste of adversity. This bitter taste has a different flavor than previous ones. This one comes packed with being under the microscope of expectations.

Not many players on the roster have had to encounter this hurdle before. Desmond Bane is the only one, truly. And right now he's struggling more than anyone else on the team. Last night's loss at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks proved it, in more ways than one.

Desmond Bane gets a flagrant one and tech which sees him ejected from the game pic.twitter.com/Tpz81uZiIp
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) November 5, 2025

Magic struggling mightily after loss vs. Hawks

As dire as things may be now, the Magic need to see this challenge and take it on headfirst. Coach Jamahl Mosley and his staff know it's better to deal with said adversity now than later down the road. It will all start with how they take on a November schedule that won't allow for letting up and letting go.

Starting with back-to-back home games against the Boston Celtics on the 7th, the only non-playoff contending teams they'll face until December will be the Portland Trail Blazers and Brooklyn Nets. This could be a cause for panic or seen as an opportunity. This is where teams show what they're made of if they're legitimate contenders. However, the rest of the month does presents more home games than road ones, to ease the pressure ever so slightly.

The team and staff have to find some sort of consistency in their play and overall demeanor. What they can't allow themselves to be is overwhelmed. They have to deny that weight from crushing them before the calendar even turns to 2026. Especially with a road heavy December looming thereafter.

They can't allow the outside noise to affect the play on the court. The snowball effect that could possibly follow might doom the goals and aspirations they set for themselves.

The Magic's cases are not uncommon and examples are scattered throughout the history of the league. Last season, the New Orleans Pelicans found themselves coming off a 49-win season featuring an abundance of young talent ready to take another step. What followed was the season from hell that saw them at 4-16 before December began, eventually turning into a lost season.

That's the type of fate Orlando is looking to avoid. Especially the "lost season" of it all. Nothing is quite as unsavory as being a young team on the rise that never even gets the opportunity to truly grow as a group.

What the city and fans can cling to right now is the fact that many of the pitfalls of the team are purely self-inflicted. Adjusting to a new offensive system, integrating a key piece into an established on-court hierarchy, and not living up to the defensive standards they set for themselves. The pieces are there for them. But it's a matter of picking them up and putting the puzzle together one by one, before it's too late.