By Nick Adams | April 23, 2008
The Orlando Magic have had a tremendous start to the 2008 NBA Playoffs, taking a 2-0 series lead in this best-of-seven series against the Toronto Raptors.
But it has been their start to each game that has been more impressive.
Orlando has come out in the first quarter with extreme focus and intensity, outscoring the Raptors by an average margin of 18.5 points.
After a record setting first quarter in Game One that saw the Magic score 43 points while netting nine three-pointers, Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell changed the starting lineup in Game Two, replacing small forward Jamario Moon with 7-footer Andrea Bargnani.
The move to the taller lineup did not pay dividends for the Raptors as the Magic jumped out to a commanding 17-point lead.
Mitchell then turned to his bench, and similar to Game One, inserted a smaller lineup which brought the Raptors back from a large deficit.
A visibly frustrated Mitchell commented in the Game Two postgame press conference that there will be another change in the starting lineup for Game Three on Thursday.
Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy is prepared for the Raptors lineup change.
“They can do a little bit of what we do," Van Gundy said. "They take one good big guy in Chris Bosh and spread you out with a lot of guys on the perimeter that can shoot the ball. And they’ve got (Jose) Calderon, (Carlos) Delfino and (Anthony) Parker who also are guys who can put guys on the floor so the floor’s spread out."
Bosh, who scored 23 of his game-high 29 points in the first half, stressed the importance of correcting Toronto's poor starts.
“We definitely need to have a better start," Bosh said. "We are too cross-matched and there are too many mismatches in the beginning of the game which triggers their break."
One of those mismatches has been the center matchup between Orlando's Dwight Howard and Toronto's Rasho Nesterovic.
Howard followed up a 25 point, 22 rebound and five block performance in Game One by tallying 29 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks in Game Two. With consecutive 20/20 games, Howard became the first NBA player since Kevin Garnett during the 2004 NBA Playoffs to record consecutive 20/20 games in the playoffs.
“Yeah, he’s that guy," said Keyon Dooling about Howard. "He’s on his way to being a guy who we talk about 30 years down the line. He’s awesome on both ends of the floor, and our backbone."
“He’s a dominant player," added Rashard Lewis. "I think he’s the one that really won the game for us tonight. A lot of offensive rebounds, a lot of put-backs, was able keep that lead. When the guy is giving us 20-20 a night, we’ve got to give him a little bit of help.”
One player who has stepped up in helping Howard has been point guard Jameer Nelson, who was widely criticized before the start of the series.
Many predicted the Magic would struggle against the Raptors because Toronto's point guard tandem of T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon would outplay Nelson.
However, the opposite has been the case as Nelson has averaged 21 points to go along with five assists, while Ford has been non-existent and Calderon inconsistent.
"Everyone has been saying how we are going to lose this series because their guards would outplay our guards," Nelson commented. "I think we have all played with a chip on our shoulder."
Orlando has used motivation to jump out to a 2-0 series lead, and the odds are in the Magic's favor as teams with a 2-0 series lead in a best of seven series have gone on to take the series 94 percent of the time.
Orlando hopes to increase the percentage as the series sifts to Toronto for Games Three and Four on Thursday and Saturday respectively.
