Dwight Howard wins NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award

Howard becomes the youngest player in the history of the NBA to win the award.

Well done, Dwight.

Magic beats Boston, Series ends 2-2

Paul Pierce: Touché, Superman, touché.

Perspective:
ESPN Daily Dime "D12"

Two-time Southeast Division champs, baby.

Dwight Howard: defensive player of the year?

I think so.

Magic Grind Out Knicks

Admiral Pornstache's rabble of miscreants utilized considerably balanced scoring and a weird early offensive presence from Chris Wilcox to keep the Magic at bay for over three periods. Lil' Kryptonate opened up late for, like, 19 points, but the would-be giant killer's efforts were hampered by an atrocious 6 for 23 field goals. Elsewise, David Lee had a double-double and Chris "The Gonz" Duhon made 3 of his 5 three-pointers to significantly unsettle me for most of the game.

Still, the Magic came through when it counted, led by Dwight Howard, who rampaged for 29 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocks and a steal. Second in command was Anesthetic Hymns ultimate fave/man-crush Courtney Lee, who was perfect from the stripe and went 6-8 from the field. He had 22 points and 3 steals.

I'm still upset about the Cavs loss, but this may well be Cleveland's year to start shining. Prasad, I'm looking forward to some shit-talk on Wednesday. How's the 'stache coming?

Great Job Chris, but it's O-VAH!

Why Can't We Be Friends? Team USA in 2006. Bosh (2nd from Left) and Howard (Middle)

Props to Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors for his tenacity. He played his heart out during this last series, with an average of 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. Tough luck Chris, maybe next year your team will play the Cavs or something.

Magic win in Round 1

I saw the above photo on ESPN.COM, and I had to add to my previous post. I can't sleep yet anyway. Let me just make clear, I've not been a dedicated Magic fan for long. I began to take interest in the team when my family hauled me along to a few games in the '06-'07 season. I followed casually from that point, and I completely missed the slaughter that occurred at the hands of the Pistons in last year's Playoffs (probably for the best). Halfway through this year something clicked, however, and now I can't get enough of this team.

In Orlando, right by our main highway, I4, there used to be a Magic store called the Fan-Attic. For the last ten years or so, it's been closed down. As far as I know, no one's bought the place and it just kind of stands there, sullenly sulking like the ghost of failure.

Well, now there could be a reason to reopen the place. What Howard, Turkoglu (who won this year's Most Improved Player Award), and Co. have achieved tonight is a true cause for celebration for Orlando fans. The curse clamped down on us in '96 has officially lifted. We go with our heads held high into round two. It'll be incredibly tough, especially if it does end up being against the Detroit Pistons, but we now have forward motion and a reason to be confident in ourselves. Even if we don't win in our second series, the '07-'08 Season will have been a success. Team building has to continue, but we've got one successful playoff experience under our belts, a solid coach with a great attitude, and a generous helping of phenomenal talent on our side.

Player of the night tonight is tough to judge, but I think it's gotta be Howard. With his third 20-20 stat sheet in the series, he's asserted and re-asserted his role as leader of this team. He's an All-Star with a great future ahead of him and he'll be our point-man on the rocky road to Championship contention in the coming years.

Congrats guys.

Orlando Magic vs. Toronto Raptors Game 5

Here's the stat sheet:

Howard: 21 pts, 21 rbs, 3 bs
Turkoglu: 12 pts, 8 rbs, 9 ast
Lewis: 18 pts, 13 rbs
Nelson:19 pts
Evans: 12 pts
Bogans: 11 pts
Dooling: 9 pts

WE WIN. 102-92. Ownership.

Lookout Round 2.

Orlando Magic vs. Toronto Raptors Game 3 (Part 1)

Maybe it was inevitable, but that doesn't make it any less painful to see the Magic down 40-61 to the Raps at the half. Dwight's playing well, with 15 points and 7 boards, but overall we're not making plays. The Magic seem to have picked up the dangerous habit of relying too heavily on outside shooting. Three's and outside jumpers are only worthwhile if they go in, and if they're not and there's no back up plan, you're screwed. I was really hoping we wouldn't have to deal with a situation like this.

A 21-point deficit is no laughing matter, but I've seen the Magic come back from bleak scoring droughts before. In fact, in the early part of the season, it seemed to be a recurrent trend. In the second half we've got to step up our intensity, make smarter passes and stay out of foul trouble. Jameer in particular has to lock in to his game and both Hedo and Rashard need to start causing problems for T.J. Ford and Jamario Moon defensively.

If Turkoglu, especially, can find his stride and once again prove that he's worthy of being called "Mr. Fourth Quarter" (he hasn't shown nearly as much late-period flair recently), there's a strong chance that we can chalk this one up as a victory.

Fingers crossed.

Orlando Magic vs. Toronto Raptors, Game 2

Above: Magic point guard Jameer Nelson. In Game 2 he played just over 30 minutes, with 12 of his 18 points coming from downtown.

It was a nail-biter by the end but the Magic came out on top Tuesday night. 104-103. Dwight with another awesome game (29 points, 20 rebounds, 3 blocks) and the team still keeping up a high standard of play. Having 2 games up on the Raptors is a big advantage that shouldn't be downplayed (in NBA Playoff history teams that lead a series 2-0 are 191-13).

Game 3 will take place in Toronto tonight, and it'll be tough, but with the Magic's great road record this season (2nd best in the Conference behind the Boston Celtics) they've got a very good opportunity to nab that third straight victory. Continuing success in this series will surely be based on maintaining a vigorous defense (especially in guarding All-Star Chris Bosh), mercilessly snatching rebounds, and keeping cool, level heads.

As for my own personal doubts, I'm a little anxious about the team's self-confidence and endurance, being that Dwight Howard's Magic hasn't yet won an NBA playoff series. D12 has had two fantastic games, but I'd like to see even more contribution from the rest of the squad. On Tuesday, Rashard Lewis came away with 18 points, 6 boards, and 5 assists. Hedo Turkoglu's stat sheet read 12-9-5. These aren't bad numbers, at all, and they don't even tell the whole story. It's difficult for me to appraise the situation, not being able to watch the games, but it seems as though everyone's making a strong effort. Obviously, it'll take more than that to win this series and even more still if we're going to have a good shot against our opponent in round 2 (probably playoff vets Detroit). We're lucky in that we've got a good number of long-range shooters (Hedo and Rashard, "Mogans") who, when allowed to find openings, can wreak serious havoc from three-point land, but it's not something we can rely upon to win games.

Sleepless night. Not really sure how much more of this living situation I can handle. Guess I'm just going to have to deal with it. Here's hoping that the Magic will keep this up and running so I'll have something to distract myself from this ultramodern dung heap.

"Waiting for a Superman" - Orlando Magic / NBA Playoffs '08

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: