A tight 109-105 victory Wednesday over the Motor City Cruise clinched a second-straight NBA G League playoff berth for the Osceola Magic at the Silver Spurs Arena.
The win put the Magic (20-12) in a tight four-way tie with the Capital City Go-Go, Westchester Knicks (all 20-12) and Maine Celtics (21-13, regular season complete) for first in the Eastern Conference. The top six in the East make the playoffs, which start Tuesday, April 1.
The mission now for Osceola is to finish in the top two and earn a first-round playoff bye (like last year, when the Magic were first in the East) and a spot in the semifinals on April 3 or 4. Osceola's final two games are Friday and Saturday at home against the Birmingham Squadron, who at 12-20 are eliminated from the playoffs.
Playoff tickets are on sale now at osceola.gleague.nba.com/playoffs; tickets for any games not played will be refunded.
“For us, seeding is really important, and we want to play (at home)," Coach Dylan Murphy said. "These two games against Birmingham, we’re going in super focused but today was a huge win. Motor City is a tough team. They fought like hell, we knew they would, and we were able to pull it out.”
Sporting special Military Appreciation Night jerseys (fatigues?), the Magic (20-12) seemed to have the game in hand, taking a 97-87 lead with 7:37 left in the fourth quarter. But the Cruise (18-15) put together an 11-0 run to take a 98-97 lead with 3:19 left. From there the team traded buckets, and Osceola went 7-for-7 from the free throw line in the final two minutes.
Despite a night when the team didn't shoot great or take care of the ball (18 turnovers), Mac McClung willed the Magic to victory with 26 points and five assists. Patrick Gardner provided a spark off the bench with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
