The Magic at the All-Star Break

The Orlando Magic are currently in first place in the SE Division, with a record of 36-18, 20-5 at home and 16-13 on the road. Only two other NBA teams have a better record than the Magic (Cleveland, LA Lakers). They have a conference record of 25-11, and a divisional record of 6-4. The Magic are 1 1/2 games ahead of second place Atlanta. The Magic hold the second seed in the Eastern Conference, trailing number one seed Cleveland (43-11) by 7 games, but are 1 1/2 games ahead of the third seed Hawks (33-18) and 2 games ahead of fourth seed Boston (32-18). The three teams have 18 losses, but the Magic hold the tiebreaker over both teams.

The Magic are averaging 101.2 points per game (13th) and allowing an average of 95.9 (7th).

Here is the Magic schedule for the upcoming week:

Wednesday, Feb. 17th: Detroit (18-33, 6-18 road, 3-7 last 10 games)
Friday, Feb. 19th: Dallas (32-20, 17-11 road, 4-6 last 10 games)
Sunday, Feb. 21st: Cleveland (43-11, 19-8 road, 13 game winning streak)

Even though all three games are home games, it's definitely not an easy week for the Magic, but hopefully the All-Star Break will have allowed time for rest and for nagging injuries to heal.

The Pistons, no matter how bad they are struggling, always give the Magic a tough contest. Dallas completed a big 7 player trade with Washington that netted them Magic killer Caron Butler, former Magic guard DeShawn Stevenson, and center Brendan Haywood. Cleveland is the best team in the NBA record-wise, and rumors have them attempting to trade for Phoenix's Amar'e Stoudemire before the trade deadline later this week.

Despite all the Magic's ups and downs since the start of the new year, they still have the third best record in the NBA. Their chances of catching the Cavaliers are extremely slim in their remaining 28 games, but as long as the Magic can stay healthy and continue their recent improved team chemistry the last 13 games, the Magic will be a dangerous team in the playoffs.