Magic's disappointing season takes another hit in play-in loss to 76ers

Bane was sensational in the loss, but the fact that Orlando was even in this position is starting to come back to bite it.

Both teams entered Wednesday's meeting with matching 45-37 records. Philadelphia, however, earned the seven seed and home-court advantage after winning two of the three regular-season contests against the Magic.

It looked as if Orlando was in the driver's seat to secure the home-court advantage in its regular-season finale against the Boston Celtics. With the No. 2 seed in the East already locked up, Boston rested its top-seven scorers in that game.

Despite Orlando's resilient effort to try and overcome a 16-point deficit, it ultimately lost, 113-108, and squandered the opportunity that was in front of it as the 76ers took care of business, 126-106, against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Magic have been plagued by inconsistency all season

To their credit, the Magic are tied with the Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers for the most wins (18) when trailing by at least 10 points this season. With that said, they have frequently found themselves playing from behind and trying to overcome some slow starts.

With key injuries keeping Orlando from utilizing the same lineup throughout the season, consistency has been hard to come by. The Magic won seven in a row back in March before following that up with a six-game losing streak. Entering Sunday's missed opportunity against the Celtics, the Magic had won five straight.

That is not to take away from anything the 76ers have been able to do without All-Star Joel Embiid. Veteran Andre Drummond turned back the clock and helped Philadelphia overcome its size disadvantage on Wednesday, while Tyrese Maxey scored 11 of his team-high 31 points (11-of-25 FG) in the fourth quarter. Rookie VJ Edgecombe showed no fear in his postseason debut with 19 points (7-of-16 FG) and 11 rebounds.

If there is a silver lining for the Magic, they will host the nine-seed Hornets in Friday's clash for the eighth seed. Their season is by no means over, with another huge opportunity in front of them and a potential first-round meeting with a Pistons squad that only has the sixth-best odds to win the NBA title (+1800, per FanDuel).

Even with that in mind, they have not made it easy on themselves. Wednesday's loss certainly did nothing to lessen the stress, leaving the Magic with one more chance to salvage something from their disappointing season, or go home early after the preseason expectations that were placed on them.