By Nick Adams | April 4, 2008
For the first time since the Shaq and Penny days over a decade ago, Orlando is buzzing with excitement heading into the months of April and May due to the success of their hometown Magic.
Orlando's "magic" number to clinch the third seed in the Eastern Conference is down to two, and they will accomplish the feat by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday afternoon. By doing so, the Magic will secure home court for the first round of the playoffs, something they haven't done since the strike shortened season of 1998-99.
With the third seed, the Magic would face the sixth seeded team in the Conference, and that position is still wide open.
The three teams most likely to fall in the sixth position are the Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors, and Philadelphia 76ers.
As of today, all three teams share the same 38-37 record, but because of head-to-head tie-breakers, the Toronto Raptors sit in the sixth spot.
Out of these three teams, who would the Magic rather face? Let's take a look...
Orlando Magic vs. Toronto Raptors
Season Series
The Magic faced the Raptors three times this season, and were victorious in two of those meetings splitting a pair of games in Toronto while winning the lone match-up at Orlando.
Toronto All-Star power forward Chris Bosh did not play in the two teams' last meeting (102-87 Magic victory in Orlando on March 4th) but has averaged 33 points and 7.5 rebounds in their first two match-ups.
Orlando averaged 105.7 points against the Raptors this season led by their dynamic front line of Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, and Dwight Howard.
Here are their respective averages against the Raptors this season:
Hedo Turkoglu: 21.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 7.7 assists
Rashard Lewis: 20.7 points
Dwight Howard: 24.3 points, 12.7 rebounds
The Magic as a team have shot lights out, converting on nearly 50 percent of their field-goal attempts against the Raptors.
Key Match-up
The key match-up for the Magic will be at the point guard position. Toronto has the luxury of having two solid point guards in Jose Calderon (11.7 ppg, 8.3 apg) and T.J. Ford (12.1 ppg, 6.0 apg). Luckily for the Magic, they also have depth at the point guard position with Jameer Nelson, Carlos Arroyo, and Keyon Dooling. The Magic will need consistent play out of those three as they have to limit their turnovers at offense end while keeping Toronto's point guards from penetrating and creating for the rest of their teammates.
Orlando Magic vs. Washington Wizards
Season Series
Orlando has faced their Southeast Division rivals three times so far this season and leads the series two games to one with the road team winning each contest. In their most recent meeting, the Wizards edged out the Magic 87-86 despite a career-high 39 point performance by Hedo Turkoglu.
The Magic's two wins against the Wizards were by a combined average margin of 21 points while tallying 108 points per game in those victories.
Washington has been plagued with injuries for most of the season losing All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler for substantial periods of time.
Arenas and Butler are now healthy, and the Magic will finally get to play a healthy Wizards team as the two teams' close out the regular season with their fourth and final meeting on April 16th at Amway Arena.
Key Match-up
Dwight Howard vs. Washington's front line. With the exception of Brendan Haywood, the Wizards do not have depth or talent in the post. With that being said, the Wizards held Howard to a season-low three points in their last meeting. Howard must come out strong and dominate at both ends of the floor.
Orlando Magic vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Season Series
The Magic faced the Sixers four times this season with each meeting coming within the last two months. Why is that important?
At the beginning of February, the Sixers were ten games below .500 and not in the playoff picture. Since then, Philadelphia has gone 20-9 and are tied for the fifth best record in the Eastern Conference at 38 wins and 37 losses.
Orlando went 3-1 versus Philadelphia during their impressive stretch averaging 106.3 points including two double digit victorious in that span.
Key Match-up
Hedo Turkoglu vs. Andre Iguodala. A big factor in the Magic wining three out of four match-ups against the Sixers this season has been the play of Hedo Turkoglu. Turkoglu has out-played small forward counterpart, and Sixers' main player Andre Iguodala, averaging 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 7.0 assists against the Sixers' star.
Overall, the Magic are 14-9 against the current top eight teams in the Conference including a 7-3 record against their probable first round opponents.
This success will undoubtedly give the Magic the confidence they need in order to make a serious push as they prepare to host their first round playoff series in a couple of weeks.
