The Orlando Magic returned from the All-Star Break and beat the Atlanta Hawks to even up the series and jump up to the 7th seed in the NBA Eastern Conference. But what else must they accomplish to make the playoffs without a play-in game while improving on last season by winning a first-round series? These three biggest hurdles to that achievement.

Stack Wins at Home

Of the final 24 games of the season, 13 of them are at home (including the win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday). While Tuesday’s battle with the Cleveland Cavaliers isn’t a bankable win, the Magic can ill afford to miss more opportunities as they did in the 105-104 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. After facing the Cavs as the top team in the East, the next games they are hosting feature the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, Sunday, March 2nd and Tuesday, March 4th against the Toronto Raptors concluding with the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, March 6th before hitting the road for a five-game road trip.

That home stretch may afford them an opportunity to pass the East’s 6th-seeded Detroit Pistons

Stop Blowing Big Leads

In the aforementioned loss to the Grizz, the hype was around a timeout that the Magic didn’t get from the officials in the final 10 seconds of the game. It’s easy to get the fans’ frustration. Countless claims and video confirming several Magic players and head coach Jamahl Mosley calling for a timeout they didn’t get that impacted the flow of the end of the game is infuriating to any basketball fan.

However, all the hype and outrage hides the real issue. With around 4:30 left in the game, the Magic were up nine points. And NBA fans get it — Ja Morant is good at basketball and Memphis is a good Western Conference team. But a consistent theme for Orlando is to have a commanding lead against a good team and then the inability to slam the door shut creeps in. Good teams — and playoff winning teams — close those chances out.

Get Jalen Suggs Back

Quad issues are tricky for any athlete. There’s no miracle remedy for healing that part of the body. The only way you can rest it is by being essentially immobile, but the only way to know you are back is to test your mobility. If you push it too soon, you also risk a setback that could make things worse for recovery.

With that in mind, point guard Jalen Suggs missing as many games as he has is certainly a hampering factor.  In 22 of the past 23 games, Suggs has been out with no sign of him returning on Tuesday to face the Cavs as of now. The last time Suggs played was January 25th in a win over the Detroit Pistons (a game that could be big in seeding come season’s end).

While his fill-in, Cole Anothy, has put up seven double-digit scoring performances in his last 10 starts, it’s Suggs’ defensive presence that the squad misses. The argument could be made that single element may have pulled some blown leads back into the ‘W’ column.

While the Magic were never considered an NBA championship contender this season (even within their own building as evidenced by their silence at the trade deadline) the possibility to improve on last season is still there if these things happen.