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Orlando Magic's 2016-17 Schedule Released

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

By John Denton
Aug. 11, 2016

ORLANDO – Alternately dominant at different times in the history of their franchises, the rivalry between the Orlando Magic and the Miami Heat has been mostly dormant for nearly three decades.

That could be about to change what with the Magic and the Heat both expected to compete for playoff slots in the Eastern Conference and set to open the 2016-17 NBA season against one another.

When the NBA unveiled its schedule for the upcoming season on Thursday, it showed that the Magic and the Heat will square off in the regular-season opener at Orlando’s Amway Center on Oct. 26. It will be just the third time that Orlando and Miami have opened the season against one another and the first time since Magic defeats of the Heat in 1992 (behind 42 points from Nick Anderson) and ‘93 (behind 42 points from Shaquille O’Neal).

The new-look Magic, one that is highly hopeful of being back in the playoffs for the first time since 2012, will feature new coach Frank Vogel and newcomers Serge Ibaka, Bismack Biyombo, Jeff Green, D.J. Augustin, Jodie Meeks, C.J. Wilcox and rookie Stephen Zimmerman. Vogel, who coached 5 ½ seasons previously with the Indiana Pacers, was hired in late May. The Magic traded for Ibaka on draft night and remained aggressive throughout the rest of the offseason in upgrading the roster.

Orlando’s first three regular-season opponents – vs. Miami (Oct. 26), at Detroit (Oct. 28) and at Cleveland (Oct. 29) – made the playoffs last season. The next six foes – at Philadelphia (Nov. 1), vs. Sacramento (Nov. 3), vs. Washington (Nov. 5), at Chicago (Nov. 7), vs. Minnesota (Nov. 9) and vs. Utah (Nov. 11) – are coming off seasons in which they failed to make the playoffs.

Orlando is tentatively scheduled to make four appearances on national television. They will play once on ESPN (March 3 vs. Miami) and three times on NBA TV (Feb. 7 at Houston; March 17 at Phoenix; and March 29 vs. Oklahoma City).

The Magic will play 15 back-to-backs – three fewer than last season. The NBA schedule-makers have worked to reduce the number of instances where teams have to play games on back-to-back nights in an effort to curb injuries and improve the quality of play. Of those 15 back-to-backs this season, eight of those instances will involve the Magic playing road games on consecutive nights. Only one time this season –
Dec. 6 in Washington and Dec. 7 in Orlando against Boston – will the Magic play a road/home back-to-back set of games.

The defending NBA champion Cavaliers and superstar forward LeBron James will play in Orlando on March 11, while the Magic will play twice in Cleveland (Oct. 29 and April 4). A Golden State team powered by former MVPs Steph Curry and Kevin Durant will play at the Amway Center on Sunday, Jan. 22 in a 12 p.m. start.

Orlando will once again be home for the holidays, sandwiching home games against Phoenix (Nov. 23) and Washington (Nov. 25) around Thanksgiving and home games against the Los Angeles Lakers (Dec. 23) and Memphis (Dec. 26) around Christmas.

January figures to be the Magic’s most difficult month of the season what with the team playing 11 of 16 games on the road. The start of January and 2017 opens with Orlando in Indiana (Jan. 1) and New York (Jan. 2) and it ends with the Magic facing Boston (Jan. 27), Toronto (Jan. 29) and Minnesota (Jan. 30) on the road. In between: Orlando will be challenged by a six-game, 11-day road trip that will see it play at the Lakers (Jan. 8), Clippers (Jan. 11), Portland (Jan. 13), Utah (Jan. 14), Denver (Jan. 16) and New Orleans (Jan. 18).

In February, Orlando will host the San Antonio Spurs (Feb. 15) in the final game before the break for the NBA All-Star Game. After the break, the Magic will be home another extended period of time when it hosts Portland (Feb. 23), Atlanta (Feb. 25), New York (March 1) and Miami (March 3).

Ibaka and Vogel will be making homecomings of sorts in November. Ibaka, who spent the first seven seasons of his NBA career in Oklahoma City, will face the Thunder in OKC on Nov. 13. The next night, Vogel returns to Indiana, the city where he guided the Pacers to the playoffs in five of the past six seasons.

Biyombo, who signed with the Magic as a free agent in July, helped the Toronto Raptors reach the Eastern Conference Finals this past spring. He will twice face his former Raptors teammates in Orlando (Dec. 18 and Feb. 3) and he will play in Toronto two other times (Jan. 29 and March 27).

Miami lost iconic star Dwyane Wade in free agency in the summer, but it will still likely be in contention with the Magic for a playoff slot in the East. The Heat are in Orlando twice (Oct. 26 and March 3) and the Magic play twice in South Florida (Dec. 20 and Feb. 13).

Former Magic standout Dwight Howard, who helped the franchise reach the 2009 NBA Finals and the 2010 East Finals, signed with Atlanta in the offseason. Howard’s hometown Hawks play in Orlando on Jan. 4 and Feb. 25.

Orlando and Detroit have been frequent trade partners in recent years with Tobias Harris going to the Pistons in February and Meeks coming to the Magic in late June. The two teams close the regular season against one another on April 12 at the Amway Center.

The Magic open training camp on Sept. 27 at the Amway Center. They begin preseason play at Memphis and Cleveland on Oct. 3 and 5. Orlando’s home debut at the Amway Center will come on Oct. 12 when it hosts the San Antonio Spurs. The Magic play three other home preseason games: against the Pacers (Oct. 14), Hawks (Oct. 16) and Pelicans (Oct. 20).

Orlando Magic season tickets, partial plans, group and single-game Amway Center suite rental opportunities are on sale now. Ticket highlights for the Magic’s 2016-17 season at the Amway Center, honored with TheStadiumBusiness Awards’ 2013 Customer Experience Award and named SportsBusiness Journal's 2012 Sports Facility of the Year, include: 2,500 seats priced $20 or less, 8,000 seats priced $40 or less and 9,000 seats priced $50 or less. For ticket information log on to OrlandoMagic.com or call 407-89-MAGIC.

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors.