This past Sunday marked the beginning of the Orlando Magic’s Conference quarterfinal series in the NBA Playoffs. In their first post-season victory since the mid-90s—and their first playoff win with the colossal presence that is Dwight Howard—the Magic routed the Toronto Raptors 114-100. Of course, it’s hardly a monumental achievement, but at least the opening gambit has come off the way we all hoped it would.
What the 2007-2008 season has proved to many uncertain fans (as the increasing electricity in the air at Amway Arena will attest) is that the Magic is getting closer and closer to assembling the kind of team that’s capable of becoming a serious title-contender in the near future. We need to trim the fat (there will surely be casualties in the coming off-season) and work out the kinks, but there’s definitely a sense that this thing is moving forward in the direction we want it to. How big it will eventually turn out to be is, of course, completely speculative at this point.
At any rate, Game 2 goes down in Orlando tomorrow, and I’m extremely anxious to find out if there’s more to this initial strong showing than just dumb luck. In all honesty, it’s unlikely that we’ll go through to the NBA Finals this time around, but nothing’s impossible. It’s a young team, but it doesn’t lack experienced players (Hedo Turkgolu, Keyon Dooling, Maurice Evans). Anyways, I’m looking forward to a good, long playoff run this year—and yes, I’m extremely upset and disappointed that I won’t be able to see any of the games this year. Anyone want to buy me about a dozen international roundtrip flights?
P.S. I still can't get over this:
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