What They're Saying: Magic vs. Bucks 4/13

-Last road game of the season and the Magic are an impressive 27-13 on the road, a win will top last year's mark 27-14 mark. Quite impressive to put back-to-back years like that on the road.

-The Magic are admittedly in a "funk" right now and know they have to break out of it to gain some momentum heading toward the playoffs, according to The Orlando Sentinel's Brian Schmitz. It is a precarious balance between getting healthy, which the team looks like it needs to do, and getting mentally ready for the postseason.

-Injury updates from Brian Schmitz in Milwaukee: JJ Redick and Rashard Lewis appear to be out for tonight's game. Rafer Alston is questionable after missing the morning shootaround with a migraine. And Hedo Turkoglu reported no swelling in his ankle after spraining it Saturday in New Jersey.

-Zach McCann of Orlando Magic Daily will now calm you down about the end of the season. He notes the struggles of recent title teams in their final games. How you finish the regular season is not necessarily how you finish the postseason.

-Bucks rookie Joe Alexander has had a difficult season living up to the expectations the do-everything small forward had on draft night, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel said. Look, losing to Rudy Fernandez to get into the dunk contest is not THAT big of a deal.

-Magic radio man Scott Anez blogs about which teams might be heading to Orlando this weekend for the playoffs. It will either be Philadelphia, Chicago or... gulp... Detroit.

-Guess it is time to be scoreboard watching. As I said, the 76ers and Bulls are now tied for the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference with the Pistons one game back. That will completely change tonight. Chicago is in Detroit tonight (at 7:30 ET on NBATV). At least Philly will be in the six spot at the end of the night.

-The Bulls are not a good road team, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune says. That will need to change.

-K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune also talks of the redemption of former Gator Joakim Noah. He is thrilled to be back in the postseason.

-Detroit is not guaranteed of even moving out of the eight seed if they beat Chicago, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports.. The Bulls have a better conference record and could win the tiebreaker. The Pistons have a long road to face the Magic in other words.

New Jersey Nets 103, Orlando Magic 93

The late-season malaise continued and this time it may actually have cost the Magic something. Through one half in New Jersey, it seemed like Orlando was content to continue its struggling play.

Vince Carter was playing like the old Carter as he led the Nets to a 10-point halftime lead. Orlando just did not seem to have the focus or energy to mount any serious comeback even with New Jersey's best player, Devin Harris, out for the game.

It was clear even before the game that coach Stan Van Gundy was willing to let this one, as well as Monday's game in Milwaukee, go. Van Gundy decided to let Rashard Lewis miss tonight's game as well as Monday's game to rest his knee. Lewis has had some tendinitis issues this season. Good move with the No. 2 seed now out of reach for the Magic.

Dwight Howard and most of the starters should also see limited minutes in the final three games (Orlando needs two of its next three to reach 60 wins).

The bad news? Hedo Turkoglu left the game in the second half with an ankle injury and needed to be carried off the court. No word if he will be back any time soon. But even in the best case, it is safe to say he will be shut down until the playoffs.

Orlando seems ready for the season to end. It is the sign of a young team that they are looking so far ahead. But the Magic will be ready. I would like to see a more concerted effort to win from the starters at the least -- think late-October preseason game effort -- in the last three games.

These guys need to mentally fresh for the postseason more than anything.

New York Knicks 105, Orlando Magic 95

The poor efforts late in the season continued. With the playoffs on the horizon, the Magic once again struggled against a non-playoff team.

This time the New York Knicks took advantage of a lackadaisical effort in the second half from the homestanding Magic to take a 105-95 win.

It was not a pretty effort from Orlando. But throughout the first half, it still seemed like the Magic were in control and just waiting to pull ahead. Then the defense, already dialed down, disappeared and the offense sputtered -- a disturbing trend in these late games.

New York has given Orlando problems all season, even though Orlando eventually pulled it out in the end. But the Knicks took advantage of the Magic's lack of effort. They clearly were playing for something bigger than themselves while the Magic were looking forward to the end of the season and the postseason beyond.

I have no doubt that Orlando will be ready in one week for the playoffs. But the way the team is playing heading into the postseason is very discouraging. It seemed after Dwight Howard called a players-only meeting after a home loss to the Raptors, things were righting.

But uninspired efforts in the last three games have me believing that the team is young and not ready to put in the focus to win a title. Title teams take every game seriously.

That is asking a lot. This is a point of the season where guys want to rest up for the war ahead. But honestly, the Magic needed to wrest the second seed from the Celtics. I do not see them winning that series without it against an experienced, title-defending team.

Orlando had something to play for and did not play like it. It is somewhat encouraging to see that the team can turn the switch on and off -- nearly coming back in tonight's game before ultimately falling short because of poor defense. But it is not a good habit to have with three games left in the regular season and postseason battles up ahead.

Magic Wands: April 10, 2009

-The Cleveland Cavaliers launched a Web site for LeBron James' MVP candidacy. Check it out at http://www.lebronisreallyreallyreallyreallyreallyreallygood.com/. Yes that is the real URL. Someone make DwightHowardisafreakinbeast.com soon.

-The Magic play the prank of all pranks on April Fool's Day. They lost to the Raptors. Oh, and this.

-Ric Bucher of ESPN (Insider, sorry) chronicles the debate about who has the better supporting cast Dwight Howard or LeBron James. The answer: a draw. Clearly they are very different players so the debate might be a little moot. But this was before the Magic rolled all over the Cavs. Whoops.

-Plenty more to be said about the future of Hedo Turkoglu with the Magic. But as the playoffs draw near his contract situation is becoming more of an issue. Erivera7 of Third Quarter Collapse begins the breakdown of the Turkoglu contract situation. The discussion was based off of an article written by John Denton of Florida Today.

-After the Magic's two big weekend wins, Kevin Arnovitz of TrueHoop breaks down why the rest of the league should fear the Magic. I say, finally some national exposure. Also more reasons why Howard is the Defensive Player of the Year.

-Apparently Orlando has a better chance of winning the title than Boston. Hmm...

-Congratulations to Michael Jordan, David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan and C. Vivian Stringer for being elected members of the 2009 Class of Basketball Hall of Famers. All are well-deserved.

-Marcus Jordan, son of Michael Jordan, committed to UCF, the Orlando Sentinel reported Monday. Do not let Michael anywhere near the Magic. He does not do so well organizing teams.

-Kyle Hightower of The Orlando Sentinel updates us on the upcoming collective bargaining agreement discussions. It seems like things are going well and a lockout will be avoided. Some interesting things -- like a shorter schedule -- seem to be on the table too.

-Dwight Howard was pretty happy Monday night. Or at least he would have been if he went to North Carolina instead of jumping straight to the NBA. "I made the right decision, don’t you think???" Howard said on his blog.

-Rob Peterson, writing for NBA.com's Race to the MVP Daily, writes that the center is not an MVP darkhorse. Really, the center is the MVP favorite. So quit crying Howard fans, he just is not up to the level of LeBron and Kobe this year. Oh, and Wade... him too.

-Dwight Howard claims another victim in practice. This time it forced Anthony Johnson to miss Tuesday's game in Houston.

-The Hammer is now a baseball fan, thanks to his trip to Minute Maid Park in Houston. Hopefully Marcin Gortat's newfound love for the Chicago Cubs does not rub off on the rest of the team.

-Worth posting again: eight things you need to know about Adonal Foyle.

What They're Saying: Grizzlies vs. Magic 4/8

-Henry Abbot of TrueHoop tells you eight things you need to know about everyone's favorite Magic player. I am talking about Adonal Foyle of course. He was traded to Memphis in the Alston deal and then landed back with the Magic.

-After a few days off, the Magic laid an egg in Houston, the last playoff-bound team they will face this season. Brian Schmitz recaps the team's struggle from Houston. Ben Q Rock of 3rd Quarter Collapse goes more into detail about the team's struggles against the Rockets. And I even have a quick recap of what happened at the Toyota Center.

-Also from Houston, Dwight Howard injures Anthony Johnson during practice. And it was nice to see Tyronn Lue step in and support with Johnson out.

-I should have more on this later, but don't you just miss Tracy McGrady. Don't worry, Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel does not either.

-Ben Q Rock of Third Quarter Collapse asks in the preview for tonight's game: can the Grizzlies be playing their best basketball of the season right now? The answer is a surprising yes. So far, Detroit and Houston are the only teams to sweep Orlando. Memphis can join that list with a win tonight.

-Scott Anez of OrlandoMagic.com believes the No. 2 seed is there to be taken for the Magic. But they have to go undefeated.

-Joel Glass of OrlandoMagic.com has an interesting stat for you. Lewis has a +/- rating of +603 this season. That is fifth in the entire league.

-Chip Crain of Grizzlies blog 3 Shades of Blue is still reeling from last night's game against Portland. The Blazers were called for three total fouls in the second half as they topped the Grizzlies 96-93, erasing a 12-point halftime deficit. The Grizzlies are not playing like a 22-win team right now.

Houston Rockets 93, Orlando Magic 83

It is always a good sign when you tune into a game in the middle of the fourth quarter, your team trails by almost 10 points and you think to yourself: "OK, we are fine. This game is still within reach."

Recent history has shown the Magic are certainly capable of coming back from pretty medium-sized deficits against good teams on the road. Their trip to Houston had its bumps, but the game was certainly within reach.

That extra gear never came Tuesday.

Houston took advantage of a struggling Orlando offense and were never really threatened in the final seven minutes of the game on its way to a 93-83 win. The loss puts the Magic one game behind the Celtics for the second spot in the playoffs with five games remaining for both teams.

When you live by the three, you will also die by the three. And sometimes the Magic simply do not have enough muscle inside to make up for a poor shooting effort from beyond the arc. Simply nothing was clicking tonight for Orlando.

The Magic were 10 of 28 from beyond the arc, and Yao Ming effectively held Dwight Howard to 13 points and 10 rebounds. Howard shot just five of 11 from the floor, continuing his struggles against his all star counterpart from the Western Conference.

It simply was not the Magic's night.

Measuring up the race for the 2 seed

So we have hit the final two weeks of the season. And as far as the No. 2 seed goes, virtually little has been decided between the Magic and the Celtics.

The two teams split the season series -- although it can be argued Boston looked much better in the four games, blowing Orlando out of the first two and charging furious rallies to nearly steal the other two. And each has proven it can win on the other's home court.

For a team like the defending champion Celtics, home court may not matter. For a team like the young and relatively inexperience Magic, home court is a must for this impending second-round series.

The standings read this morning: Boston 58-19, Orlando 57-19.

The race will come down to the wire. With the season series tiebreaker tied, conference record will break the tie. The Celtics are 37-10, the Magic 36-12. It appears for Orlando to get the second seed in the playoffs, the team will have to finish ahead of Boston.

Is this possible?

Orlando has six games remaining -- three home, three away. The toughest game on the schedule is Tuesday night's date at Houston. After that, the Magic will not play another team who is going to be in the playoffs. More importantly, four of the final six are against teams in the Eastern Conference. After Wednesday's home date with Memphis, Orlando will play Eastern Conference foes the rest of the way.

That puts a pretty heavy importance on the final four games -- more than what has already put on them.

Assuming the Magic can beat New York and Charlotte at home and top New Jersey and Milwaukee on the road, is that enough to gain three games on the Celtics?

Boston has five games left, but a much trickier schedule (and some injuries players are nursing). They will play Miami, Cleveland and Philadelphia during the weekend and early part of next week. The Celtics could lose two of those three, but it is tough seeing them lose all three. Cleveland and Philadelphia are road games too.

So let's assume the Magic go 5-1 in their final six -- and it is hard to tell if they can with the way they are playing right now. They would need Boston to go 4-2. It is possible for Orlando to get the No. 2 seed.

But that is why they play the games.

What They're Saying: Cavaliers vs. Magic 4/3

-Rob Peterson of NBA.com reports that Jameer Nelson is still very much a part of the team despite sitting out the last few months with that torn labrum. Nelson can be seen lightening the mood in the locker room and taking leadership behind closed doors. All I can say, the Magic have to be considered a favorite to win the East next year with his return.

-Mike Bianchi of The Orlando Sentinel is still a little miffed about a USA Today article that overlooked Dwight Howard as an MVP candidate. He makes his case that Howard is the most overlooked player in the NBA. In all fairness, though, it is LeBron James' trophy to lose. Be happy Howard is going to get the Defensive Player of the Year award.

-Looks like Orlando will not have a draft pick this year, as The Orlando Sentinel's Brian Schmitz reports. Which will make all my draft coverage completely useless... or is it?

-Kyle Hightower of The Orlando Sentinel describes Courtney Lee's struggles defending the top talent as a rookie. Interesting little argument about the star-leaning calls of the referees. But, rest assured, Lee is doing a fantastic job and is not afraid of guarding anyone at this stage of the season.

-Magic radio producer Scott Anez comments on the return of Rashard Lewis' stroke as we enter the stretch. Sure, he missed that wide open three to tie Wednesday's game. But Lewis has been a lot better recently and is the key to any success the Magic might have in the postseason.

-Cavs should be focused tonight after their 13-game winning streak was snapped by the Washington Wizards last night.

Magic Wands: April 3, 2009

-The NBA has unveiled its latest movie partnership. After highly successful partnerships with Fantastic Four and various other movies (they were so bad, I cannot remember them anymore), the NBA is doing heavy advertising for the best film of the year: Keanu Reeves' The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Look I know sponsorships are tough to come by in this economy, but the partnerships the NBA has made with bad movies for their playoff promos has been downright awful. At least it was not a TNT original series... yet.

-Congratulations to Dwight Howard for winning the Rich & Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award at the Black Tie & Tennies Gala last weekend.

-Curious which NBA players on Twitter. Here is the complete list from Hooped Up. Now if we could only figure out what Twitter is.

-The Magic have officially entered their nominees for postseason awards. Figure Dwight Howard is a front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year and an All-NBA First Team slot. Not so sure about Rashard Lewis making an All-NBA team though or Stan Van Gundy winning Coach of the Year. Courtney Lee DOES deserve a spot on the All-Rookie Team (if not the Rookie team at the All-Star Game).

Plus an interesting stat from Joel Glass (scroll all the way to the bottom at the Coach of the Year segment). The Magic communications department man says they are 48-1 this season when leading with less than five minutes to play.

-Dwight Howard is on Twitter. Is JJ Redick now tweeting?

-Dwight Howard answered questions from fans, ranging on his views of dominating to the effectiveness of Stan Van Gundy's screaming.

-If doing well in the NBA were measured by wins and how much you spend for them, than the Magic are the No. 1 seed according to a formula discovered by Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus. Interesting stuff about how teams did compared to how much they spent. As Pelton said: who would have thought Orlando would be sitting pretty at the top of the list after signing Rashard Lewis to that mega contract?

Getting into that Playoff mindset

Last night Orlando got its wake-up call.

A mediocre, underachieving Raptors team snuck up and out-efforted the Magic for a 99-95 win. Orlando was good enough to rally in the fourth quarter and make the game interesting. And on most nights, it has been enough -- especially during this most recent six-game winning streak.

Good sign the Magic think they can win any game as long as they have a chance in the fourth quarter. Bad sign they think they only need to keep it close entering the fourth quarter to win.

Best part is, the usually cantankerous Stan Van Gundy was in a surprisingly good mood after the game. Lesson learned?

If there is one thing that I believe Van Gundy can do it is managing an 82-game season and getting his players ready for the postseason. He was fantastic at that in his two and a half years in Miami (despite the slow starts).

Orlando is an elite team now. The Magic know they are not going to have their best stuff on every night. 82-game seasons are loooooong.

But now comes a question to this young, relatively postseason untested team. Can they turn the intensity switch on for 48 minutes? Orlando has proven it is good enough to top mediocre teams with 20 real minutes of effort.

This weekend will be a test of the Magic's playoff mettle. Cleveland rolls into town Friday and Orlando travels to Atlanta on Saturday. Those are two playoff-tested teams in the top four of the Eastern Conference.

It is clear to me that this Magic team knows how to get up for the big games. In this six-game winning streak, the only win against a winning team came against the Celtics. And in that game, Orlando played some of its best offense and was able to hold on for the win.

To be sure, coasting efforts like the ones they put on recently against Milwaukee, New York (twice) and Toronto last night, will not cut it once the Playoffs arrive.

But I think the Magic know that. It is hard mentally to expend large amounts of energy in virtually meaningless games. Especially when you know you have the physical test of the Playoffs ahead of you. Is anyone surprised the team took a late season slump?

Yes, Orlando is fighting for the second seed in the playoffs. And I do believe that is important to this team because of its deep postseason (2nd round and later) inexperience.

But the Magic know which teams they can beat and which teams they need to really focus in on to top. Toronto was not one of those teams and Orlando took the fall for its sloppy, uninspired play.

Better to learn that lesson now than to have to teach it in the playoffs.