MIAMI – For the Orlando Magic, the 2024-25 NBA regular season opens right away against a fierce rival.

The Magic visits its Floridian neighbor on Wednesday night, making the short trip down to Miami to battle the Heat in a Southeast division showdown.

One game separated the Magic and Heat in the 2023-24 East standings, enough to be the difference in a guaranteed playoff spot and having to earn a first round appearance through the Play-In Tournament. But Wednesday’s contest wipes the slate clean, being the first step in Orlando’s 82-game run to defend the franchise’s seventh-ever division crown. The Magic are striving for new heights this year, and with preseason in the rearview mirror for good, Orlando is eager for the games to start counting for real.

Not just because its against one of the team’s deepest rivals. But simply because Miami wears a different color jersey than their own.

“How exciting to get to go down to Miami game one, right down the road, with a team that we know is going to give us a challenge both mentally and physically,” guard Jalen Suggs said, fresh off his contract extension with the team a day earlier. “Really excited to… start playing real, meaningful games, Not that the preseason ones weren’t, but it’s different. These ones count. You can’t get them back.”

“Everybody’s excited to get the season underway,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said at Tuesday’s practice, the final one before his team hit the tarmac. “It’s about time.”

Orlando’s group hitting the floor Wednesday night will look similar to years past. The reason? The Magic’s continuity has bred more success the longer they’ve been together, and calculated external additions have come together on a basis of need.

That’s why this group feels it’s afforded the ability to dream bigger and aim higher in the grand scheme of the Eastern Conference. As a collective, the same core has carried the Magic from nobody to somebody in the league’s big picture in quick succession. But Orlando doesn’t want just a cup of coffee with the league’s elites – they feel they’ve earned a seat at the table.

“I think we’re prepared,” forward Franz Wagner said. “I think obviously with more years of playing together, I think we’re further ahead than the last couple of years.”

The Magic left it to the end before securing a spot in the playoffs last year, defeating Milwaukee to earn the fifth seed on the regular season’s final day. Upon reflection, that’s a spot Suggs said Tuesday that Orlando felt it “really didn’t have to be in.”

Given how they’re approaching this year and considering the additional seasoning the Magic have together, sustaining the string of success or, better yet, improving upon it is a real possibility Orlando can foresee playing out.

At least, that’s what indications throughout training camp told Mosley.

“I keep going back to how well they’re communicating with each other,” Mosley said. “Knowing the ups and downs and what’s going to happen throughout the season, they’ve communicated a lot of that already.

“I think that’s been the biggest point for these guys. Knowing exactly what we’re facing and how we have to go about it and how we’ll approach it with a mindset of believing what we’re capable of doing, and then stepping on the floor every night and proving it.”

Orlando’s road start is a taste of what’s to come early in the year. The Magic, among the NBA’s strongest groups at home while experiencing their fair share of struggles away from Orlando last year, play the role of visitor in 16 of its first 26 games this season. To make those aspirations come true of exceeding last year’s high marks, they’ll have to overcome the latter at a higher success rate.

“Getting off to the right start is something that we’ve spoke about, something that we believe in,” Suggs said. “Everybody’s mind is fully focused on the game and getting this thing rolling.”

Orlando Magic

No injuries to report.

Miami Heat

Josh Richardson: OUT (illness/left heel)

Who: Orlando Magic vs. Miami Heat
When: Wednesday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida
Latest Line: Miami minus-2, o/u 208.5

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