The 2012–13 Orlando Magic season was the 24th season of the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Magic were eliminated from playoff contention with their 115–109 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on March 17, 2013. This marked the first time since the 2005–06 season that the Magic failed to qualify for the playoffs. Ending the season with a 20–62 record, the Magic finished with the worst record in the NBA. This was also the worst record posted by the Magic since their inaugural season in 1989–90. This was also the first season since 2003-04 that All-Star center Dwight Howard was not on the roster, as he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers (his first stint) on August 10, 2012.
Key dates
June 28: The 2012 NBA draft took place at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Draft picks
Roster
Pre-season
|- style="background:#fcc;" | 1 | October 7 | @ New Orleans | | E'Twaun Moore (16) | Nikola Vučević (9) | E'Twaun Moore (7) | Mexico City Arena18,133 | 0–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 2 | October 11 | Philadelphia | | Glen Davis (16) | Glen Davis (12) | Gustavo Ayón, JJ Redick (5) | Amway Center18,106 | 0–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 3 | October 15 | @ Cleveland | | Glen Davis (27) | DeQuan Jones,Andrew Nicholson (9) | JJ Redick (8) | Quicken Loans Arena5,219 | 0–3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 | October 16 | @ Detroit | | DeQuan Jones (22) | Gustavo Ayón (10) | E'Twaun Moore (6) | The Palace of Auburn Hills9,229 | 0–4 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 5 | October 19 | Indiana | | Glen Davis (21) | Hedo Türkoğlu,Nikola Vučević (7) | JJ Redick (8) | Amway Center17,204 | 1–4 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 6 | October 21 | San Antonio | | Andrew Nicholson (18) | Nikola Vučević (9) | E'Twaun Moore (8) | Amway Arena17,012 | 2–4 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 7 | October 24 | @ Memphis | | JJ Redick (23) | Nikola Vučević (9) | Jameer Nelson (7) | FedExForum10,263 | 2–5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 8 | October 26 | Houston | | E'Twaun Moore (18) | Nikola Vučević (14) | Kyle O'Quinn (5) | Amway Center17,109 | 2–6
Regular season
Standings
Game log
|- style="background:#cfc;" | 1 | November 2 | Denver | | Glen Davis (29) | Glen Davis (10) | Jameer Nelson (7) | Amway Center18,846 | 1–0 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 2 | November 4 | Phoenix | | JJ Redick (24) | Nikola Vučević (13) | Moore & Redick (6) | Amway Center17,022 | 2–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 3 | November 6 | @ Chicago | | Arron Afflalo (28) | Davis & Vučević (10) | JJ Redick (7) | United Center21,216 | 2–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 | November 7 | @ Minnesota | | JJ Redick (16) | Glen Davis (6) | Davis, Moore, & Smith (4) | Target Center17,121 | 2–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 5 | November 9 | Brooklyn | | E'Twaun Moore (18) | Afflalo & Vučević (5) | Davis & Moore (5) | Amway Center17,532 | 2–3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 6 | November 11 | @ Brooklyn | | Afflalo & Davis (19) | Nikola Vučević (12) | JJ Redick (9) | Barclays Center16,523 | 2–4 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 7 | November 13 | New York | | JJ Redick (18) | Nikola Vučević (10) | E'Twaun Moore (8) | Amway Center18,846 | 2–5 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 8 | November 16 | @ Detroit | | JJ Redick (23) | Davis & Vučević (13) | Jameer Nelson (10) | The Palace of Auburn Hills11,594 | 3–5 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 9 | November 18 | @ Toronto | | Davis & Moore (16) | Glen Davis (12) | Jameer Nelson (9) | Air Canada Centre18,702 | 3–6 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 10 | November 19 | @ Atlanta | | Glen Davis (11) | Nikola Vučević (13) | E'Twaun Moore (4) | Philips Arena15,006 | 3–7 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 11 | November 21 | Detroit | | Andrew Nicholson (15) | Glen Davis (14) | Nelson & Redick (7) | Amway Center17,199 | 4–7 |- style="background:#cfc;" | 12 | November 23 | Cleveland | | Jameer Nelson (22) | Davis & Vučević (8) | Nelson & Redick (6) | Amway Center17,334 | 5–7 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 13 | November 25 | Boston | | Jameer Nelson (20) | Josh McRoberts (14) | Arron Afflalo (6) | Amway Center17,307 | 5–8 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 14 | November 28 | San Antonio | | Arron Afflalo (16) | DeQuan Jones (6) | JJ Redick (4) | Amway Center17,271 | 5–9 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 15 | November 30 | Brooklyn | | Glen Davis (16) | Maurice Harkless (7) | Moore & Redick (4) | Amway Center17,103 | 5–10