NBA Play-Off preview – Orlando Magic v Charlotte Bobcats
It had looked like we would get this match-up for a while and after the NBA regular season concluded on Wednesday the Orlando Magic – Charlotte Bobcats first-round series was confirmed.
What better way to start the play-offs than by having the best offence take on the best defence in the east - if that doesn’t excite you, then you are a tough person to please.
The match-ups are interesting and the current season series stands at 3-1 to Orlando, although the latest meeting between the two was taken by the Bobcats 96-89 with Stephen Jackson pouring in 28 points.
Jackson will be key for the Bobcats if they are going to compete against the Magic. Before they traded for Jackson in November, the Bobcats were leading the league in defence but desperately needed someone to score 20+ points a game and Jackson has provided just that by averaging 21.2 points per game in 70 games.
Putting that much pressure on one player might be slightly harsh, but for Charlotte it is the truth. Yes, they have Gerald Wallace who gives you 18 and 10 every game, but in the play-offs you’re going to need everyone to chip in and take the game to the opposition.
That rule even applies to LeBron James and Kobe Bryant; even Michael Jordan had Dennis Rodman and Scottie Pippen to help him win his titles.
The Magic will be feeling good about their chances in this year’s play-offs after making the finals last year, but some would say they are a worse team than last season after letting Hedo Türkoğlu go and replacing him with Vince Carter instead.
Carter hasn’t provided that spark the Magic were hoping for, and while he is still effective one-on-one his team play leaves something to be desired and his field goal percentage is at its lowest for five years. Yes, he can still score 40+ on any given night but in Orlando’s system that’s just not going to happen very often.
There is an old saying in basketball “you don’t live by jump shots, you die by them” and that is something Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy is willing to do by allowing his team to shoot a league high 2184 three-pointers, converting for a .375%.
It won’t be the jump shots that will lead the Magic to an NBA Championship - it will be the play of big man Dwight Howard. He is undoubtedly the best centre in the NBA and his 18.5 points and 13.2 rebounds a game show as much, but he has struggled with foul trouble, fouling out of games four times this season.
Howard struggles even more when matched-up with a big strong centre like Tim Duncan or Ben Wallace and against Detroit this season he fouled out twice. The strong nature of the Bobcats' defence should be a worrying sign for Van Gundy as Howard has scored 20+ points against Charlotte only once this season and that was last month when they lost.
Though there are weaknesses in Orlando’s play they should still have enough to see off the Bobcats but this is not going to be a clean sweep and if the Magic aren’t careful they could easily be taken to seven games by the tough Bobcats.
Prediction: Magic in six
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