Orlando Magic Blog

Group Blog talking about the NBA 2009 Eastern Conference Champions. Due to the amazing success of the 2009 playoff run comments are now frequently deleted to kill offensive comments, incoherence, or asininity. Comments can no longer be anonymous and require either a Blogger or OpenID account.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

"Magic Number" down to 4 for clinching playoff berth

With PHI beating IND TUE night, the Magic are now 2 games ahead of IND for the 8th seed. With NJ beating WAS, the Magic trail NJ by 1 game and WAS by 3 games.

The Magic (36-41, 13-25 road) take on DET (50-27, 24-14 home) WED night, in a game that has been added to the ESPN schedule. DET needs one win to clinch the best record in the East. DET is coming off a 91-83 win over NY on MON. G Chauncey Billups led the Pistons with 22 pts. DET has won 7 of their last 10 games.

DET is led in scoring by G Rip Hamilton, averaging 20 ppg; Billups 17.2 ppg, 7.2 asts; F Tayshaun Prince 14.6 ppg, 5.4 rebs; F Rasheed Wallace 12.9 ppg, 7.5 rebs; and F/C Chris Webber 12 ppg, 7 rebs. DET averages 96.1 ppg, while allowing 91.8 ppg. ORL averages 94.7 ppg, while allowing 94.5 ppg.

DET is 3-0 against the Magic this season, with the Magic scoring an average of just 86.7 ppg in those losses. DET has beaten the Magic 5 games in a row at DET. This game is a possible playoff preview if the Magic finish in the 8th seed.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 4:30 AM  

5 Comments:

  • At 9:40 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    The following is my response on Mike Bianchi's article addressing the issue raised by a Dr. Blob:

    "Once again incompetent politicians who have to make decisions on behalf of their constituents are confusing our system of democracy with that of Switzerland. People, we live in a REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY not in Switzerland where every thing is decided by referendum. The public is mostly uninformed thus wrong a lot. It is the Representatives' responsibility to cut through clutter and reach a decision. All that without even getting into the merits of the main issue which is beyond the patience of this forum.

    Despite all aforementioned, I don't think that Magic's not making to the play-offs is such a disaster. For one, I think if that causes the dismissal of Brian Hill, all is not lost. Hill has been incompetent, pig-headed and lacks any communication skill to motivate the players, night in and night out. It is unconscionable that Sentinel's writers don't get into the details of Hill's incompetency with only one exception when Tim Povtak mentioned something to the effect that if the team doesn't make to the play-offs the return of the "coaching staff" should be re-evaluated. Even then he did not mention the head coach but rather the coaching staff, which could mean Hill will stay, but his assistants could change. Come on guys, you as reporters have an ethical responsibility to report fairly and honestly. For god's sake, do you job honorably."

    As for Magic's chances for making to the play-offs, it doesn't make any difference to me. I am too busy to watch the games getting ready for a long trip to China, which leaves very little to do much else. From a statistical standpoint, it makes more sense trying to catch up the team right in front rather than looking to a far distant possibility, unless one is ambitious enough to shoot for the 6th spot, and a potential show-down with TOR which is within our reach to beat, in my view. By doing that we would avoid a second round rendezvous with DET, if we make it there, playing possibly with MIA, rather.

     

  • At 9:42 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    Forgive me for a mistake. The second round match-up would be with either CHI or CLE.

     

  • At 11:02 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Indiana is playing better,i'm not so sure the magic get in.

     

  • At 1:54 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    The Pacers just lost to Philly last night. This is just my opinion, they are done. They've been done for a long time, and in the summer, they need to blow up their roster.

    The Knicks got destroyed by Chicago last night, and Philly actually has a better record than them. They are BOTH done. The Knicks need to pull off some "magic" in the summer, go for KG, and get Curry on a great diet/work out routine. If he wasn't such a lazy fat ass, he'd be an all-star. Philly on the other hand should expect to be rebuilding for a LONG time.

    The Nets; they are also a roster that needs to be blown up. It's obvious they're not going to win any titles. However, they could give a young team like Raptors or the Bulls a run for their money, maybe 6 games. They're the type of team that would have upset a top seed in a 5 game series a few years back. They have a great chance in catching the Wizards, as they are a sinking ship.

    And finally the Magic... Thinking as positively as possible, the Magic need to bust some serious ass to win out. If they really want to make the playoffs, and have anything positive come from it, they need to get out of the 8th spot. Otherwise the best they can hope for is a "moral victory" by pushing Detroit 6 games at best. Again, I see no reason the Magic can't win out. Especially as Miami proved my theory with their team last night as they got pounded by Charlotte!? That should work out in our favor tonight, as the team will have to try a little harder tonight in Washington, which should mean another loss for Washington. As for NJ, I think they have at least 2 losses left in them against Cleveland and Chicago. They might land a 3rd loss in NY, as they play them twice in the next week. I expect them to beat Indiana. If they finish 3-2, they'd finish 40-42. For the Magic to have a decent chance at the 7th spot, they need to beat Detroit tonight, and they need to win out. If we win out, we'll be 41-41.

    To conclude, tonight's game is huge. If the Magic win tonight, they should be able to ride the momentum out for the rest of the season, and get out of the 8th spot. If they lose, odds are we'll be right back in Detroit when the playoffs start, and that's not going to be pretty. Tonight's game is in Detroit, on ESPN, as a potential 1st round playoff match up. The good news is, Brian Hill shouldn't have to do anything to have our guys prepared. They know how big this game is. Let's see what happens. I'll end on a positive for once; GO MAGIC!!!!!!

     

  • At 4:27 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    I agree with OVERWADED. The Magic will be highly motivated to play this game against the Pistons, as they know how big a win would be. The Magic's confidence, with the two resounding wins in a row, is probably the highest it has been since early JAN, when they were 22-14, before going on that horrible 7-22 losing run.

    I think the Magic will give DET a really good game tonight. DET isn't as good at home as one would think a top-seeded team would be, at just 24-14. That's only 2 fewer home losses than the Magic.

    DET is favored by 5 pts, but I'm hopeful the Magic will play well and do what they need to do to pull off the upset.

     

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