When the Orlando Magic turned for home from the midpoint of the season, everything already seemed a bit pro forma. The team had already sunk to the bottom of the standings and the Playoffs were a longer than a long shot. The dreams born 20 games ago had quickly faded.
The future it seemed was all that mattered. And even that looked murky. With all the injuries Orlando faced, the season quickly devolved. There were not many players Orlando could count on consistently.
The MVP of the first two quarters of the season was the same tantalizing player — Aaron Gordon.