| 16 April 2010
How’d The Magic Get Here?
Once upon a time, the Orlando Magic made it to the NBA Finals when they were supposed to finish somewhere behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics. They ran through the Celtics, ran through the Cavs and then lost out to the Lakers in the Finals. So they decided to retool by bringing in Vince Carter, Jason Williams, Matt Barnes, Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson. Now, they’re arguably the deepest team in the league and still capable of playing with the versatility and firepower that made them an NBA Finalist last season. Now, they’re gunning for back-to-back appearances. Over the last two to three months of the season, Dwight Howard has transformed into an offensive monster. His presence inside has helped the Orlando Magic on the outside. This season, the Magic set the all-time record for threes in a season by one team. This team can pretty much do it all with the fourth best offense in the NBA and the third best defense.
How’d The Bobcats Get Here?
For the first time in years, this feels like a legit NBA franchise. There are two things that got the Bobs into their very first playoff series as a franchise – defense and taking care of their home court. The Charlotte Bobcats have the number one defensive rating in the entire league. They give up a paltry 102.8 points per 100 possessions. They also force the third most turnovers at a rate of 16.8% per game. At home, they turned in their best home season in franchise history to go along with their first overall winning season in franchise history. They finished the year 31-10 at home, which was good for the eighth best home record in the NBA. After starting the season 3-6, the Bobcats traded for Stephen Jackson and finished the year 41-32. They were led by Jackson and their first All-Star in franchise history, Gerald Wallace.
More After The Jump
Matchup History
07/08 – Orlando 3-1 in Regular Season (Charlotte Not Under Larry Brown)
08/09 – Orlando 4-0 in Regular Season
09/10 – Orlando 3-1 in Regular Season
Positional Matchups
Point Guard – Jameer Nelson vs. Raymond Felton
It’s remarkable to see the growth in these two point guard over the last couple of seasons. Jameer Nelson runs this Orlando team perfectly with his ability to manipulate the two-man game on the perimeter, drive the lane, and throw the lob to Dwight Howard as a last second resort. He’s also one of the deadliest mid-range shooters in the NBA. It’s hard to picture a point guard running the Orlando Magic better than what Nelson has done. Felton has flourished in his second season under Larry Brown. He’s having the most efficient season of his career with career-highs in PER, True Shooting Percentage and Efficient Field Goal Percentage. At the same time, he’s also posted a career-high in Assist Percentage and a career-low in Turnover Percentage. However, Nelson has a much more effective offense to run and will leave Felton running all over the court.
Advantage - Magic
Shooting Guard – Vince Carter vs. Stephen Jackson
This is definitely the matchup of the series. Vince Carter is often pretty good in playoff appearances even when his team has no realistic chance of winning. Vince is starting to look more and more comfortable in this system and has found a way to adapt his game to it after starting the season off with such a poor performance the first two months. Stephen Jackson on the other hand has been just what Larry Brown ordered. He’s a tough defender and a versatile offensive weapon who wants to take the big shots and guard the best scorer. Jackson has shown great playoff acumen before and will try to build upon that.
Advantage - Bobcats
Small Forward – Matt Barnes vs. Gerald Wallace
Gerald Wallace enjoyed his finest season as a pro and is beginning to reap the benefits of his hard work. He’s one of the best defenders in the NBA and was leading the league in rebounding for far longer than any 6’7” small forward ever should. Now, he’s settling in to just doing whatever the Bobcats need him to do on a nightly basis. Matt Barnes has been a welcomed addition to the Magic by bringing some feistiness and versatility on the floor. As nice as Barnes is for this Magic team, Wallace means everything to Charlotte and will do his damnedest to make his first playoff appearance in Queen City a good one.
Advantage – Bobcats
Power Forward – Rashard Lewis vs. Boris Diaw
Rashard Lewis is so hit and miss and Boris Diaw is so French that this matchup could be the most intriguing one of the series when it’s all said and done. Diaw has the strength and skill to take Lewis inside and could possibly stay with Lewis on the perimeter. But all Lewis has to do is knock down the open shots he’s given throughout the game and force Diaw to hesitate when thinking about doubling down on Howard. Still Lewis is too good offensively still to not win this matchup.
Advantage - Magic
Center – Dwight Howard vs. Theo Ratliff
I’m sure 12 years ago, Theo Ratliff would have been able to give Dwight Howard a run for his money in a playoff series. Of course, 12 years ago, Dwight Howard was 12 years old. Dwight will dominate whomever the Bobcats throw at him.
Advantage - Magic
Bench – Williams/Redick/Pietrus/Gortat vs. Augustin/Thomas/Chandler/Mohammed
This Magic team could be the deepest roster in the NBA. They could very easily have a 12-man rotation and play everybody without ever skipping a beat. Williams does a great job of keeping the ball moving when Nelson is out and Redick, Pietrus and Anderson can all provide aerial support for the big man triumvirate of Howard-Gortat-Bass. The Bobcats on the other hand don’t have that consistent flexibility. Tyrus Thomas is the energy guy who has to galvanize the team when he’s on the floor. Chandler and Mohammed will have to use their fouls wisely with Ratliff to slow down Howard. And DJ Augustin has to start justifying that lottery pick.
Advantage - Magic
Coaching – Stan Van Gundry vs. Larry Brown
This will probably be my favorite coaching matchup of the first round. Both SVG and Brown are extremely bright defensive minds that have found a way to get the most out of their point guards. They both have shown an ability to make adjustments throughout a playoff series. SVG has led his team to the Finals and Larry Brown has won an NBA Finals. Plus they’ll both give honest and hilarious post-game interviews after each game.
Advantage - Draw
X-Factor – Ryan Anderson vs. Larry Hughes
Ryan Anderson has two jobs in this series if he gets playing time against Tyrus Thomas – keep him off the offensive glass and make him honest by having to stay out on the shooter. The offensive glass part of the ordeal will be tricky because Ty can leap into the rafters. But the shooting part is something Thomas will have to be cognitive of. On the flip side, Larry Hughes will be asked to play some huge minutes off the bench. The Bobs don’t have backcourt depth and need Hughes to give them 10 to 12 quality minutes each game in the playoffs.
Advantage - Magic
Prediction – Magic in Five
I’m very happy the Charlotte Bobcats finally made it to a playoff series and did it in a way that revalidates Larry Brown as an NBA head coach. After the New York Knicks fiasco, LB’s image took a big hit. This should redeem all of that. But they do not matchup well with the Magic AT ALL. Orlando will push the tempo and force Stephen Jackson into bad, quick shots. It’s what they do. On the other side of the court, they’ll dump the ball into Howard and watch him dominate while the perimeter shooters get ready to rain threes when given the chance. The Bobcats just can’t muster up enough offense to stay with Orlando. I’ll give Charlotte one home win in the series and wish them better luck next year.
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