Orlando Magic B-Ball

Orlando Magic B-Ball

Magic's Playoff Picture in Focus

At what point does this stirring run that the Orlando Magic are in the midst of become classified as simply a stretch-run streak, or is it the start of something much grander?

Considering the way the Magic cast aside the fatigue of playing on consecutive nights and calmly swatted away the Atlanta Hawks on Monday the way a parent might a pestering child, Orlando has clearly reached a level of confidence now thought to be out of reach.

The Magic kept their improbable and impressive rally back into playoff contention alive Monday, crafting a 16-2 closing kick in the fourth quarter to dispatch the lowly Hawks 105-88 before 15,841 fans at TD Waterhouse Centre.

With the outcome all but decided late in the fourth quarter, a segment of fans began a chant that soon spread around the arena like wildfire. "We Want Playoffs! We Want Playoffs!" the group demanded of a team that once considered that notion a pipe dream.

But mentioning the Magic (33-44) and playoffs in the same sentence is no longer a stretch. With their fifth consecutive victory, their ninth win in 10 tries and 13th in the last 17, the Magic kept the Heat on Philadelphia and Chicago. The Magic pulled within 21/2 games of the ninth-seeded Bulls and remained three games back of the Sixers, who defeated Washington Monday.

"I'm not going to lie to you, we're thinking about possibly getting to the playoffs," admitted Magic shooting guard DeShawn Stevenson, who had 14 points, six rebounds and limited Atlanta star Joe Johnson to 12 points with his smothering defense. "Right now, we're not trying to put too much pressure on ourselves by thinking about the playoffs. We just have to keep winning."

The Magic have certainly done plenty of winning at home of late. Orlando won at home for a 10th consecutive time, its longest home streak since 2000. Remarkably, the Magic haven't lost at TD Waterhouse Centre since Feb. 26 to Houston. To put things in perspective, Orlando was 20-35 at the time of their last home loss.

Orlando also kept alive another jaw-dropping streak. It shot 53 percent from the floor _ the fifth game in a row it has bettered 50 percent from the floor and 17th time in the past 26 games. The Magic are third in the league in shooting and first in the NBA since the all-star break.

So is this merely a hot streak or are the Magic simply this good?

"I'd like to think that we're building an identity now," Magic coach Brian Hill said.

The Magic are off today -- no practice is another of Hill's perks for winning -- before embarking on their final back-to-back set of games of the season. Orlando gets lowly Toronto at home on Wednesday before traveling to powerful San Antonio on Thursday.

Orlando still has games remaining against Philadelphia, Chicago and Indiana -- the bottom three seeds in the East -- but with just five games remaining, every game is almost a must win.

"It would have meant nothing to beat Dallas, Detroit and Miami if we would have gone out here and lost to Atlanta," said Magic point guard Jameer Nelson, who had 17 points and six assists. "You've got to beat the teams that you're supposed to beat."

The night was also significant for the strides that Dwight Howard showed. He finished the game with 20 points, 16 rebounds and six assists. The 6-foot-11, 265-pound Atlanta native finished the season averaging 18 points and 15 rebounds against his hometown team.

Howard ended the third quarter with a thunderous follow-up dunk of a Keyon Dooling miss, sending the Magic into the fourth quarter with a 78-65 lead. But it was Howard's passing -- rather than his dunking -- that allowed the Magic to pick apart the Hawks defense.

After battering the Hawks in the previous three games, Atlanta coach Mike Woodson made the decision to double team Howard every time he got the ball in the post. And the second-year forward, who has had trouble with turnovers all season, made the Hawks pay with a career-high six assists through three quarters.

A first half that started off poorly ended well for the Magic. Orlando fell behind by as many as nine early on before snapping to and leading 52-47 at the break.

"We're not playing desperate," Howard said. "Like I've been preaching all season, hard work will eventually turn out and show up for our team."

 

posted by: orlablog at 17:12 | link | comments |