AP Photo/John Bazemore

• Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “At some point Jamal Crawford has to cool off, right? The Atlanta Hawks shooting guard has torched the Orlando Magic in the first four games of this playoff series, averaging 24 points and shooting 56.5 percent from three-point range. In a series defined by ugly offense and hard-nosed defense, Crawford’s finesse and efficiency shooting the basketball have stood out. And the frustrating part for the Magic is they’re keeping a defender nearby and in his face — he’s just connecting on the jumpers, anyway. [...] Crawford’s remarkable consistency — he’s scored 25, 23, 25 and 23 points in the four games — has carried the Hawks. The Magic assumed the law of averages might help limit Crawford, but that hasn’t worked. His shooting percentage (47.1 in the playoffs compared to 42.1 in the regular season), three-point percentage (56.5 to 34.1) and points per game (24 to 14.2) are far above his usual performance. He’s not going to just start missing on his own, as the Magic may have hoped. So on Monday at practice, the Magic focused on stopping Crawford (and Joe Johnson, who’s averaging 20 points per game this series).”
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “The doors to Amway Center’s practice court opened around 3:45 Monday afternoon, and visitors looking to interview coach Stan Van Gundy witnessed something that’s been absent this postseason. Orlando Magic players made shots. Lots of them. Ryan Anderson, Chris Duhon, J.J. Redick and, later, Brandon Bass attempted shot after shot after shot — and made most of them. Staccato bursts of the sport’s prettiest sound filled the air. Basketballs fell through hoops and touched only the nets. Swish! Swish! Swish! The Magic need to duplicate that success when they host the Atlanta Hawks tonight in Game 5 of their playoff series. Trailing three games to one, Orlando must win to avoid elimination. [...] In Sunday’s Game 4 loss, the Magic went 2-for-23 from 3-point range. Van Gundy and his assistant coaches analyzed those attempts, and they found that if they excluded tries that came at the end of a quarter or just as the shotclock expired or were simply bad shots, the Magic went 2-for-15 from beyond the arc. Of those 15, eight were wide-open. The Magic made just one of those eight wide-open attempts.”
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “About seven months ago, the Magic were star tenants in the spectacularly giddy grand opening of Amway Center. They certainly don’t want their season to close at their hoops palace Tuesday night with a final, farewell performance. Trailing the Atlanta Hawks three games to one in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series, the Magic look to avoid curtain-closing elimination. This could either be the start of an historic run for the Magic or the stunning end to a disappointing season, with repercussions possibly resonating through the summer. The futures of coach Stan Van Gundy, General Manager Otis Smith and superstar Dwight Howard could be affected. An early ouster obviously wouldn’t sit well with Howard, a five-time all star who can leave the Magic after next season as a free agent. He has had to carry the club this postseason, desperate for help from his lackluster supporting cast. Smith’s reputation as a front-office executive who built a contender has taken a hit. His two blockbuster trades in mid-December dramatically changed the team, but not necessarily for the better, and improving the already expensive roster will be difficult. And Van Gundy will be under scrutiny if the Magic are dispatched in the opening round. They tumbled to a 52-30 record this season after back-to-back 59-win seasons under the fiery coach. He has seen his offense, which relies heavily on the 3-point shot, fizzle against the Hawks.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was his usual load and vocal self after Sunday night’s Game 4 to the Atlanta Hawks as he searched for positives to encourage his frustrated basketball team. The gist of message was this: Nothing about the Magic’s plight – other than being in a must-win situation – has changed despite being in a 3-1 hole. The Magic still hope to protect their homecourt against the Hawks in Tuesday’s Game 5 at Amway Center. If they can force a Game 6 on Thursday, they still have to find a way to win in Atlanta, something that has been a reality since losing Game 1 in Orlando last week. And to do both of those things they still must figure how to get some sort of offensive flow going in a series where points and made shots have been tough to come by. And, oh yeah, the fourth-seeded Magic have to do it right away come Tuesday night or a season filled with so much promise could be over at the hands of the fifth-seeded Hawks.”
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Now that his sizzling scoring has helped put the Hawks on the verge of advancing past the Magic into the Eastern Conference semifinals, the praise is flowing for Jamal Crawford. But Crawford remembers the tags critics not so long ago used to hang on him. He was a scorer but needed a lot of shots to get his points. He put up big numbers but he did so while playing for bad teams. His one-on-one style was good for highlights, bad for winning. [...] Most of those criticisms fell by the wayside last season, when Crawford joined the Hawks via trade and had the most efficient scoring season of his career. Atlanta won 53 games and Crawford was voted the NBA’s Sixth Man Award. He further bolstered his credentials last spring when he was Atlanta’s most consistent scorer in his first postseason appearance. That hardly gained notice, though, because the Hawks wheezed past Milwaukee in the first round before getting summarily swept by Orlando. Now Crawford is doing it again and more people are taking notice, especially Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.”

AP Photo/John Raoux

BOX SCORE

The Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks by the score of 78-72, putting themselves in position to win their 50th game of the regular season when they play again on Wednesday. Also, the victory ensures that the Magic will be facing off against the Atlanta Hawks at the No. 4 seed, meaning they’ll have home-court advantage for the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs. Orlando was led by a balanced attack, as four players scored in double-figures. Dwight Howard had a quiet night for his standards, finishing with 18 points, 17 rebounds, and three steals while simultaneously shutting down Andrew Bogut to two points. Jameer Nelson had 17 points and five steals. Brandon Bass finished with 13 points. Hedo Turkoglu notched a double-double, putting up 12 points and 10 rebounds. Gilbert Arenas and Chris Duhon were able to make their respective returns to head coach Stan Van Gundy‘s rotation, though their collective impacts were minimal. For those that witnessed the championship game in the 2011 NCAA Tournament on Monday, this game was not much better when it came to two teams scoring points. The Bucks have the worst unit offensively in the NBA, thus it’s no surprise that they were held to 72 points.

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• George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Rich DeVos, 85, recently fell in his Grand Rapids, Mi. home. Despite breaking bones in his wrist and ankle, he is determined to get back on his feet so he can travel to Orlando and see his team start its playoff run later this month. Pat Williams, a few weeks short of his 71st birthday, is fighting an aggressive bone cancer called multiple myeloma. He is determined to fight this insidious thing. He calls his peril an ‘adventure.’ In other news, the Orlando Magic lost to the Toronto Raptors, one of the worst teams in the NBA, Sunday night. It’s easy enough to connect the dots. The two veterans in this organization — the man who owns the club and the guy who brought pro basketball to Central Florida — are hanging tough, swinging back with all the strength they can muster. The young guys in the organization made like puppies wanting to get their belly scratched against the Raptors. And here we thought dinosaurs were extinct and could do no harm. Leadership comes in many shapes, sizes and demographic groups. Perhaps the Magic should downplay this “fear the beard” deal and go old-school to find their playoff mojo. Dedicate your playoff run to the AARP guys. Win it for DeVos. Win it for Williams. You won’t find a better inspirational push than the tag-team of DeVos and Williams. They are beat up, but still determined to be there at crunch time. Can the younger generation say the same thing?”
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “As hard as it is for him to do, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy needs to treat the last five games like the preseason. The Magic have to gear up, mentally and physically, for the playoffs. I think his players, Dwight Howard included, have told him as much. The Magic are hurt and they need rest, and frankly, these games won’t make a difference, given they are stuck at No. 4 in the East.”
• Head coach Stan Van Gundy is frustrated.
• After the Orlando Magic lost to the Toronto Raptors last night, Van Gundy declared “we didn’t care.”
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “How the heck do the Toronto Raptors grab 15 offensive rebounds — they got a second chance on nearly 40 percent of their missed shots — against Dwight Howard? This was a terrible display by Orlando. Credit the Raptor trio of Jerryd Bayless, DeMar DeRozan, and Leandro Barbosa for shredding Orlando’s defense to the tune of 61 combined points.”
• The Magic are on a crash course towards playing the Atlanta Hawks in the 2011 NBA Playoffs.
• Nada Taha of SLAM ONLINE: “Standing on the sidelines, I was amazed. This guy just came home from a west coast road trip and put up 31 points and 22 rebounds the night before in Milwaukee. There he was, playing a round of “Knock Out” with a group of kids who he and adidas just outfitted in new sneaks and gear. He joked around with them, gave them high fives and then stayed an extra hour after the event to sign autographs. This, I thought, is what makes Dwight, Dwight.”
• Dwight Howard with another Van Gundy impersonation.
• Zach Lowe of The Point Forward: “Back to that simple explanation: Howard is an elite offensive player. Fine. So is every MVP candidate. But none of the realistic candidates do what he does on defense. Only James is in the same league, but even his blur of arms and speed and strength doesn’t approach Howard’s level of total dominance on that end. The Magic have built an elite defense with only one player universally regarded as an above-average defender. Stan Van Gundy’s system has a lot to do with Orlando’s excellence, but that system — stay at home, let Howard disrupt pick-and-rolls, don’t gamble, seal the defensive glass — is based on Howard. The fact that the defense remains successful with Howard on the bench is a tribute to the team’s commitment to it and the ease with which a cohesive bench unit can defend other bench units. And if we’re going to take points away from Howard for his lack of clutch shot attempts, we should add some for the fact that he leads the league in clutch rebounds per minute and is near the top in blocks. Defense matters at the end of games, too. Also: If Rose gets credit for lifting an injury-riddled roster for parts of this season, then Howard should get some for keeping Orlando afloat despite a mid-December overhaul that completely disrupted the team’s rotation and handicapped its defense.”

• Josh Robbins the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic waited several weeks for Hedo Turkoglu to regain an attacking mentality on offense. He found it on the Magic’s recently completed five-game road trip. Turkoglu averaged 16.2 points on 51.8 percent shooting — a significant improvement for a player who had been reluctant to look for his own shot. Turkoglu concluded the road swing on a high note, scoring eight of the Magic’s 14 overtime points in a 93-89 win Wednesday over the Milwaukee Bucks. He also hit the final go-ahead basket, a 20-footer from in front of the Bucks’ bench with a minute remaining in the extra period. ‘I’ve always been in this situation in my career, especially with the Magic,’ Turkoglu said. ‘They just have confidence in me. I just keep myself ready until that time and when the time comes, I just try to make a play.’ Coach Stan Van Gundy and center Dwight Howard want Turkoglu to continue to look for his own shot.”
• The chemistry is developing for the Orlando Magic.
• Dwight Howard warned his teammates of the Milwaukee Bucks.
• Turnovers are a problem for the Magic.
• Head coach Stan Van Gundy doesn’t seem to mind being labeled annoying during games.
• Howard’s game face.
• Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post: “Turnovers, and the fluidity of his team’s offense in general, have worried Van Gundy since training camp. The midseason acquisitions of Hedo Turkoglu and Gilbert Arenas were meant in part to boost the Magic’s passing and playmaking, which in theory would mean reduced turnovers. On a season-long level, it’s worked, as the Magic have trimmed their turnover rate by one percentage point since the deals. But in their last nine games, in which they own a 5-4 record, the Magic have committed 150 turnovers in just 824 possessions, which equals a turnover rate of 18.2, astronomical by NBA standards. For perspective, consider they could have two full games’ worth of possessions, commit no turnovers, and still be in rough shape as far as turnover rate is concerned.”
• Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie: “Seven of 27 three-point shooting did Orlando in, and Jameer Nelson‘s foul on Brandon Jennings late in regulation as he attempted to tie the game with a three-pointer allowed for the free five minutes tacked on in the end. Howard was too much, though. Very fluid to start, disappeared for a while (that’s on the Bucks, to me, more than Dwight), and was omnipresent at the end. Scored when the ball met him, made plays on the other end. Omnipresent.”
• St. Patrick Day shoes for Howard.
• Adam Figman of SLAM ONLINE recaps the Magic’s win succinctly: “Beyond Dwight Howard’s beastly 31 and 22 effort, the Magic did little right, but they pulled enough good fortune to grab the win in overtime (yeah, a 93-89 game that included an OT session) and earned Orlando an official spot in the Playoffs. Brandon Jennings scored 23 for Milwaukee, a team that’s simply not playing with the edge it needs to make a postseason push. Unfortunate. The Magic are back in Orlando tomorrow night to take on the Nuggets.”
• Howard doesn’t regret skipping college.
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “Put him second, put him third. I’m not going to argue over how one should define MVP with you. But if Dwight Howard is not on your list, then I wonder how much hoop you watch and how much you understand what you do see. Because he is flat out ballin’.”
• Orlando is lucky to win their game last night.

AP Photo/Morry Gash

BOX SCORE

Concluding their five-game road trip that started on the West Coast and finished in the Midwest, the Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks by the score of 93-89 in overtime. The game could have ended in regulation, as the Magic were up by three points with 6.1 seconds left. Typically, this is a gray area when it comes to figuring out if it’s a good idea to foul up three, with the sole purpose of preventing a chance for the opposing team to tie with a three-pointer. In this case, Orlando played out that scenario. The Bucks inbounded the basketball and Jameer Nelson frantically tried to foul Brandon Jennings before he could shoot. Jennings realized this and eluded Nelson, giving himself enough space and time to put up a shot behind the three-point line. As Jennings attempted the three, Nelson finally drew contact and was whistled for a foul. Poor execution by Nelson. Jennings did his job, made all three free-throws, and sent the game into an extra period before the Magic were able to walk away with a victory. Orlando was led by a balanced attack, as four players scored in double-figures. Dwight Howard finished with 31 points, 22 rebounds, two steals, and three blocks — his fifth 20-20 game of the regular season. Hedo Turkoglu contributed with 19 points, while Jason Richardson had 13 points and Nelson had 10 points.

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• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “[Dwight] Howard was in a good mood, joining Jameer Nelson in heckling Brandon Bass about his pants size even after Monday night’s loss in L.A., which seemingly should have hurt a little more. Howard summoned rookie Daniel Orton to carry his jacket, headphones and tote bag to the bus as is his right as a veteran. The Magic didn’t look or sound like a team with a care in the world, much less in the East postseason race. If they’re concerned, they don’t show it. They’ll let the worry lines occupy coach Stan Van Gundy‘s face. One thing that’s clear to me about the Magic: They aren’t taking much stock in these regular-season results. They are veterans, some who have been to the ’09 Finals, and this 82-game stuff to them is a formality, practically a nuisance. I think players realize the season hasn’t gone as planned, that Otis Smith’s trades don’t figure to run down the Celtics, Bulls and Heat. They’ve fallen short of expectations, so their focus already has shifted to the playoffs and the repairs they can make there to stun their doubters. The Magic know they probably are stuck with the No. 4 seed and simply need to catch fire. Their maddening inconsistency? The turnovers and defensive lapses? The rebounding woes? Run along, naysayers. We’ll get that all straightened out in the playoffs. Hard to buy what the Magic are selling, isn’t it?”
• George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “[Otis] Smith has handicapped the Magic for years because he believed in [Gilbert] Arenas when no one else did. It’s an admirable thing to do as a compassionate human being. It’s a horrible thing to do from a business standpoint. The Magic and Arenas appear to be stuck with each other. It will be this city’s burden to have to watch and wince.”
• Tracy McGrady didn’t always try hard in practice. Is that necessarily bad?
• Head coach Stan Van Gundy warns the Orlando Magic about the Milwaukee Bucks.
• J.J. Redick will not play in tonight’s game against the Bucks.
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “All jokes aside, Howard has been attempting to look into the future quite a bit these days what with the playoffs beginning in almost a month. At 42-26 with 14 regular-season games left before the postseason free-for-all begins, Howard is attempting to project positives where some only see darkness. His Magic are most likely locked into the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, and unlike some Howard doesn’t see that as being the end of the world. [...] If the playoffs started today, the Magic would open in the first round against an Atlanta team that it has dominated much of the past three seasons and swept last spring in the most lopsided postseason series in history. Win that, and the Magic could be in position to face Chicago, a blossoming team that has yet to prove itself in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the East’s other two top teams, Boston and Miami, could be forced to beat up on one another in the other side of the playoff bracket.”
• I think it’s foolish to underestimate the Chicago Bulls “lack of playoff experience.”
• Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie has more on McGrady’s practice habits: “Here’s the part where we tell you that McGrady really is a sweet, intelligent, and thoughtful guy. And here’s the part where we remind you that, holy crap, he averaged 32 points, a combined 12 rebounds/assists, and just 2.6 turnovers in 2002-03 with the Orlando Magic. And here’s where we remind that though McGrady never made it out of the first round as an active player, there wasn’t one time in that first-round losing streak where I thought McGrady’s squad lost to an inferior opponent.
• Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “The middle of the East looks pretty set. Look for another Orlando vs. Atlanta playoff series, although this time in the first round as the four and five seeds (the Magic swept that series last year).”
• Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports: “Van Gundy tried to make sense of 593 foul calls without so much as a flagrant foul on Dwight Howard. And after speaking the truest words of the season – saying that Stern doesn’t allow dissenting opinions in the NBA, that free speech is a scarce commodity on league issues – the commissioner reacted in a most predictable, childish way on state-run NBA radio. After refusing to confront Van Gundy directly and promising to take the matter to Magic ownership, Stern sounded like a power-drunk small-town mayor saying ‘… We won’t be hearing from him for the rest of the season.’ ”

• Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “NBA players voted the Orlando Magic’s Stan Van Gundy as the most annoying coach in the league — and it’s not even close. Of 138 NBA players polled by Sports Illustrated, 65 percent said Van Gundy is the most annoying coach during games. Phil Jackson of the Los Angeles Lakers and Scott Skiles of the Milwaukee Bucks each received seven percent of the vote, tying for second place. Van Gundy is loud and animated during games, constantly barking instructions to his players and complaints to the referees. Even on television, you can often hear Van Gundy’s raspy voice through the tiny microphones at each rim. And when you combine his animated coaching style with his strong emotions and high attention to detail — even in the final seconds of blowout victories — you start to see why Van Gundy dominated the players’ vote.”
• More from McCann: “Magic GM Otis Smith says to give [Gilbert] Arenas one summer to get his game back, but the Magic don’t have time for that — they need Arenas to play well now. But they don’t need the Washington Wizards version of Arenas; he doesn’t have to score 28.4 points per game and shoot at a high volume like he did in his last full season with the Wizards back in 2007. He’s clearly in no physical condition for that, lacking the lift and explosiveness that defined his game earlier in the decade. Instead, the Magic just need Arenas to be steady — take the shots that are there, probe the opposing defense in transition and avoid being a liability on defense.”
• Head coach Stan Van Gundy may be annoying, but his players appreciate him.
• Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated: “The Magic have become a wild-card team: It wouldn’t be a tremendous shock to see them make it to the Finals or get eliminated in the first round. That’s because their margin of error is so thin. Dwight Howard is the NBA’s most reliable defensive presence — but the drop-off is steep if he gets in foul trouble. Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu are both cool, experienced floor generals familiar with the offense — but can they maximize those talents without impinging on each other? Jason Richardson and Ryan Anderson can be lights-out three-point shooters — but they also can have difficulty establishing a rhythm or getting enough touches on the perimeter. Then there are coach Stan Van Gundy’s emotional reactions, Howard’s foul shooting, Gilbert Arenas.”
• Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie: “Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, as you probably already know, is quite the animated character. Not cartoonish, just a wee bit anxious, and pretty audible from the sidelines even if you’re sitting at home taking in games from your living room. The man likes to warn his team about the plays they’re about to see as defenders, and he really, really wants his team to execute the play he’s just called out from the sidelines. If you don’t believe me, ask Ryan Anderson’s inconsistent minutes.”

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Hey, who else to give out medical advice but Grant Hill? Hill, who told the Sentinel he plans on playing until he is 40, warned Magic SG J.J. Redick to be wary of his lower abdominal injury. Hill sustained a sports hernia or athletic sports pubalgia, when he played in Orlando. He tore abdominal muscles off his pubic bone. Battling a strained lower abdomen, Redick missed his second consecutive game Sunday, sitting out against Hill’s Phoenix Suns. Redick said he was feeling better. [...] Redick will not play tonight against the Lakers in Los Angeles. He said he had not undergone an MRI, and was non-committal when asked if he would get one. Hills’ teammate, star PG Steve Nash, missed the game, also experiencing similar lower abdomen pain. Coach Stan Van Gundy said he hoped that Redick might be back to face the Bucks in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, the conclusion of the trip. Redick initially injured himself last Friday during the team’s shootaround in San Francisco.”
• Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times: “Kobe Bryant didn’t practice Sunday and he didn’t talk to the media, declining even to give an update on his injured left ankle or his playing status for Monday night’s game. So it was left up to Lakers Coach Phil Jackson to clarify matters, saying only that Bryant would be a game-time decision for the contest against the Orlando Magic at Staples Center. ‘We hope he’ll be able to play,’ Jackson said. After a light practice Sunday, Jackson said he hadn’t seen or talked to Bryant about his injury, but he expected his guard to get treatment. Minutes after Jackson left his media session, Bryant was heard talking with Lakers trainer Gary Vitti. If Bryant doesn’t play Monday night, he would have five days to rest his ankle, because the Lakers don’t play again until Friday night, when they play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves.”
• T.J. Simers of the Los Angeles Times: “Dinner with Phil Jackson here, a huge mistake for the big guy because I know now he’s capable of giving more than one-word answers. It’s Friday night at a highly recommended Mexican restaurant, 16 regular-season games remaining in the career of the greatest all-time NBA coach, and we’re talking Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. It begins with a question that has nothing to do with either superstar: Is there a chance he might regret retiring while the Lakers remain capable of winning again? ‘I hope I have no regrets about coming back this year. When I saw how Kobe was struggling physically last year, Fish [Derek Fisher] was getting older,” and then he stops himself and brings the conversation back to Bryant. ‘Kobe was really hurt; people don’t give him enough credit. He’s a remarkable person, remarkable.’ ‘Do you like him?’ I ask. ‘It’s not about liking him,’ he says. ‘It’s about admiring his courage. There’s only one individual I know that’s like that, and that’s Michael Jordan. Kobe has patterned himself after Michael, and there are a lot of identical things there, but it’s one thing to hope to be like him, it’s another thing to be like him.’ ”
• Brian Kamenetzky of ESPN Los Angeles: “The Los Angeles Lakers received a scare Saturday night in Dallas, when Kobe Bryant landed awkwardly on his left ankle with 1:52 remaining in the third quarter, re-aggravating an injury suffered two games prior in Atlanta and sending him limping to the locker room for evaluation. He returned in the fourth quarter, but the injury, which he called a sprain, put his availability for Monday’s game against the Orlando Magic at Staples Center in question. Sunday’s practice provided no answers, as Bryant didn’t speak with reporters after arriving at the team’s training facility for treatment. He will be re-evaluated Monday. In the meantime, his status remains the same. [...] Bryant, averaging a team-high 25 points along with 4.8 assists and 5.2 rebounds, has played in all 67 of his team’s games this year. The Lakers have three days off following their date with the Magic before facing Minnesota at home Friday night. Jackson indicated the break wouldn’t influence any decision about Bryant’s availability Monday night.”

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Dwight Howard has said repeatedly that the Orlando Magic need to hit their stride in the home stretch of the regular season, just as the playoffs approach. Now would be a good time for that to happen. The Magic flew from Orlando to California on Tuesday to begin their longest trip of the season — a five-game, nine-night sojourn to Sacramento, Oakland, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Milwaukee. [...] They entered Tuesday in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings, just 2½ games ahead of the Atlanta Hawks. If the Magic end the regular season fifth in the East, they would begin the playoffs on the road and likely would not have homecourt advantage at any time during the postseason. A West Coast road trip — even one that ends, strangely enough, with a stop in Milwaukee — can bring out the best or the worst in a team. It can either bring a team together or cleave it apart. The Magic understand that all too well.”
• Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “With 11 seconds left and the Orlando Magic trailing by four points Monday night, Hedo Turkoglu received a pass on the wing for a wide open three-pointer. If Turkoglu sinks the shot, the Magic are down by one point and threatening to steal a game from the Portland Trail Blazers. Instead of shooting, though, Turkoglu swung the ball to Earl Clark, a player who’s made two three-pointers in his NBA career. Clark then drove and passed to Jason Richardson, who missed a contested three-pointer that would’ve been too late, anyway. Turkoglu said he passed up the shot because he couldn’t get a handle on the ball. But the passive play symbolizes a problem that has plagued the 31-year-old forward since rejoining the Magic: He’s just not shooting enough.”
• Karl Malone has words of wisdom for Dwight Howard.
• The NBA is a fascinating league right now.
• A venn diagram involving head coach Stan Van Gundy.
• Believe it or not, Howard used to cry a lot when he was a rookie in the league.
• Van Gundy is due for a fine from the NBA league office anytime now. The media doesn’t mind it though.
• Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated: “MVP contender Dwight Howard was suspended for Monday’s loss to Portland for having 16 technical fouls this season. But any allusions to uncontrollable hotheads like Rasheed Wallace are misguided — the Orlando center absorbs far more punishment than ‘Sheed ever received, and is justified, if not right or smart, in his response. Meanwhile, out on the perimeter, 10-year pro Gilbert Arenas continues to play like a rookie, alternately too tentative and too impulsive in his shot selection, ball movement and defensive rotations. Given Hedo Turkoglu’s struggles, Orlando can’t afford to wait for a resurgence from Arenas that may never come. Coach Stan Van Gundy should cut Arenas’ 21 minutes in half in favor of either Chris Duhon or J.J. Redick as the situation warrants.”
• Van Gundy is a quote machine.
• Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie: “Howard had to serve out a one-game suspension on Monday because he’s amassed 16 technical fouls on the season. While number 16 was pretty lame, the bulk of them have been wholly earned. Howard complains about call after call, incessantly, and has shown little regard for his growing technical count since the season started. He knows better, and yet he won’t stop chirping. And he earned his suspension. I don’t care that he feels resentful because Omer Asik or Glen Davis haven’t been called for a flagrant foul on him this season. The center only picked up two technicals in the month of February, but this has been a prominent story since last fall. The focus and pressure were on Howard, and yet he didn’t stop complaining.

Photo by Fernando Medina

Fast break points.

Any team in the NBA, during games, would like to score in transition as many times as possible. But not all teams in the league are created equal, and some of them are better at scoring on fast breaks than others. And it can’t be underestimated the power of capitalizing on transition opportunities.

For example, there are many reasons that the San Antonio Spurs are 37-7 and have the best record in the NBA, but one of them is their improved ability to score on a fast break. In 2009, the Spurs scored 12.7 fast break points per game. In 2010? That number has skyrocketed to 17.3 fast break points per game. It is worth noting that San Antonio has increased their pace from last season to this season, which means they have more chances to score due to a higher amount of possessions, but it’s still a noteworthy jump.

The Orlando Magic, on the other hand, are at the other end of the spectrum.

The Magic have never really pushed the pace since head coach Stan Van Gundy has been roaming the sidelines, usually ranking in the lower half of the category year after year. As a result, fast break points weren’t going to be high for Orlando but they were competent at executing in transition. However, before the blockbuster trades, the Magic were less than competent on fast breaks. In fact, Orlando was dreadful — ranking last in the league with 7.6 fast break points per game.

To put that number in perspective, the next worst team — the Milwaukee Bucks — averaged 9.9 fast break points per game. What makes it worse is that the Bucks play at one of the slowest tempos in the NBA, ranking 25th in pace. Slower than the Magic, yet they were able to muster more fast break opportunities. Thus, it’s no surprise that general manager Otis Smith acquired Gilbert Arenas, Jason Richardson, and Hedo Turkoglu to breathe life into Orlando’s offense, particularly in transition.

It’s worked.

Now, the Magic are averaging 10.1 fast break points per game.

Granted, that places Orlando 29th out of 30 teams in the league but it’s something.

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