Magic not ready to disappear
ORLANDO (AP) – The walls at the Orlando Magic’s headquarters are mostly bare. There are no champagne-splashed championship photos. No NBA title trophies or rings.
All that keeps the practice court from being completely blank are a few division title banners and one for an Eastern Conference championship.
“Low-hanging fruit,” Magic general manager Otis Smith loves to call them.
Fresh off a Game 7 win over the defending champion Boston Celtics that propelled the Magic into the Eastern Conference finals, fans in Orlando are ready to party like it’s 1996, when the team last made it this far, but there’s nothing yet to celebrate.
A date with the playoff-perfect Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James in a best-of-seven series begins Wednesday, and the architect of this Magic team wants to make clear that it’s time the franchise take the next step.
“We have to stop talking about making it to the conference level, and start talking about winning a championship,” Smith said Monday, “and then we have to stop talking, and start doing.”
In its 20th year as a franchise, Orlando has had more disappointments than highlights.
Shaquille O’Neal bolting for Los Angeles after the ’96 season. Grant Hill’s constant injuries, and Tracy McGrady leading so many Magic teams to promising regular seasons that always ended in the first round.
Now they’re halfway to a title. They’ve won eight playoff games and are eight wins away from reaching the ultimate goal – yet so much remains a mystery.
The Magic are full of young players, most of whom have never played this deep in the playoffs, and a topsy-turvy two rounds have done little to answer the questions that consistently crop up on such a streaky team.
Can they play physical? Will they shoot such a high percentage when the pressure gets greater? Will Dwight Howard be the leader they need him to be? Will coach Stan Van Gundy crumble in the big moment?
Even the Magic aren’t really sure how far they can go.
“We want to see,” Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu said after the team’s 101-82 win over Boston Sunday night. “We have a chance. We never lose confidence of what we can do – not myself, not anybody.”
While the Magic have won eight of the last 11 meetings against Cleveland, all that means nothing when the ball is tossed and the flashbulbs pop at the start of Game 1. The Cavs have moved through the postseason with ease, sweeping Detroit and Atlanta.
These playoffs have been all about getting over the hump for Orlando.