The week ahead for the Magic

The Orlando Magic begin this week in first place in the SE with a record of 40-20 (23-6 home, 17-14 road), two games ahead of second place Atlanta (37-21). The Magic hold the second seed in the East, 6 games behind first seed Cleveland (46-14), two games ahead of third seed Atlanta (37-21), and 2 1/2 games ahead of fourth seed Boston (36-21). The Magic still maintain the third best record in the NBA, behind the Cavaliers and LA Lakers (45-15), but 1/2 game ahead of Denver (39-20).

The Magic are averaging 101.1 points per game (12th of 30) and are allowing an average of 95.5 points per game (6th of 30).

Last season, after 60 games, the Magic were 44-16.

Here is the Magic schedule for the upcoming week:

Monday Mar. 1st: at Philadelphia (22-36, 10-17 home) 5-5 last 10 games
Wednesday Mar. 3rd: Golden State (17-41, 4-23 road) 4-6 last 10 games
Friday March 5th: at New Jersey (6-53, 3-26 home) 2-8 last 10 games
Sunday March 7th: LA Lakers (45-15, 17-10 road) 7-3 last 10 games

The Magic will be solid favorites to win the first three games, then comes the rematch of last season's championship when the Lakers come into Orlando for a nationally televised Sunday afternoon game. If the Magic can pull that game out and take care of business against the three under .500 teams, the Magic will have a 5 game winning streak going into next week.