As a team the Magic didn’t muster much offense by only scoring 89 points. Dwight Howard shot 85% from the floor, but the rest of the team was horrid and went 21 for 58, which is 36.2%. That’s just not going to cut it for a team that lives and dies by the inside out game. If Howard can’t hit free throws and the rest of the team can’t hit jumpers or get to the line, then the Magic aren’t a very good team. Another stat that jumps out is the Magic’s 15 turnovers vs their 16 assists. That ratio blows and it’s a sad when the starting point guard can dish out 3 dimes.

I don’t want to take too much away from the Bobcats though, because they are probably the 4th best team in the eastern conference. The Bobcats might not get the 4th seed, but they are clearly better than the Boston Celtics. It should also be noted that they beat the Magic without their best player; Gerald Wallace. Oddly the Bobcats out rebounded the Magic, had 20 assists vs 13 turnovers and hit 80.8% of their free throws.

It’s only a game, but it’s these errors and lapses in the mental game that kill the Magic. When the Magic don’t do these things, I think they are the best team in the eastern conference right now, but when they do make them all bets are off and I don’t think they can make a run for championship. I think it’s a blip on the radar and they will bounce back against the San Antonio Spurs this Wednesday.

Dwight Howard was 4 of 6 from the field and free throw line, but he is 2 for 2 against Derrick Rose. The last 2 games the Bulls have gone up against the Magic, Derrick Rose has challenged Dwight Howard by attacking the rim. Both times Dwight Howard has protected the rim, fouled Rose and Rose has hit the deck and left the game. If they meet again, will Rose learn from his prior attempts or will he go the bowlers route and be a turkey?

The Magic are hitting on all cylinders and have won 7 straight and 9 out of the last 10. My only concern is that they are peaking too early, but how can you complain if they are winning by 29 points though. Next up is the Washington Handguns, I mean Bullets, ahhhhhh the politically correct Wizards. One player to watch out for is Andray Blatche, since the Wizards made all their trades, he’s been blowing up, so hopefully Howard breaks a sweat.

But the last 4 playoff spots are an entirely different story. It’s a battle of mediocrity as 5 teams just above .500, at .500 and below .500 are battling it out for a spot and a first round exit*. As of today 5 games separate the Bucks, Raptors, Bobcats, Heat and Bulls and 1 of these teams will be the biggest loser and miss out on the big dance.

It’s not a matter of which team will rise up and take it, it’s more of which team will suck the worst and play themselves out of contention. Right now I have to say the Bulls, Raptor and Heat are playing themselves out of it. The Heat have Dwayne Wade though and he can take over and win ball game by himself, so I’ll say they make it. That leaves the final spot to the Raptors or the Bulls. If Hedo Turkoglu can stay healthy, then the Raptors will make it and Raptor fans can watch Chris Bosh play a few more games before he bolts for another team. If not, then a very bad Chicago Bulls team will make it and as a fan that’s not cool.

It sucks, because out west teams like the Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets that are playing above .500 ball won’t make the playoffs, because of too many quality teams in the conference. I’d love to the NBA take the top 16 teams and seed them according to record. There would be some awesome first round match ups and the race to get in the playoffs would go down to the final games of the season. If this format were in place, there would be 8 teams battling for the final 5 spots.

Instead we are going to get 4 teams that are going to get smoked in the first round of the eastern conference playoffs. I’m hitting the snooze bar, wake me up when the second round begins.

*The only exception may be the Charlotte Bobcats. I’ll run my mouth and say it again, the Cleveland Cavaliers do NOT want to play this team in the 1st round. It screams upset. Felton, Jackson and Wallace present match up problems for the Cavs, the 4 and 5 spots are a wash if the Cavs don’t have Shaq and can’t sign Big Z. If they meet in the 1st round and the Cavs get knocked out, Lebron will implode and won’t come out of hiding until he inks a deal with his next team.

Looking forward to the stretch run.

The Magic beat a much hyped Laker team over the weekend and tonight they crushed their ugly step sister the Clippers. The Magic are rolling right now and have won 6 in a row and 8 of the last 10. Only one team is hotter and that’s the Dallas Mavericks and they’ve ripped off 12 in a row.

Dwight Howard had a monster game with 22 points and 15 rebounds. As a team the Magic jumped out to a quick start and it was over before it even started. At some point Stan Van Gundy may have smiled and felt happiness, but I can’t confirm this. He was probably a bit giddy that the Magic were perfect from the free throw line by hitting 12 out of 12. The Magic also showed balanced scoring with all five starters getting double digits. It was such a lopsided win that everybody on the Magic team logged a few minutes.

April and playoffs are right around the corner and the Magic are starting to click at the right time. If you’d asked me last week, I’d say there was no chance to catch the Cavs for the top seed in the east, but with the Cav ailing there’s chance that the Magic may do it. Too bad the Magic can’t keep playing the Los Angeles teams, because that would help their chances.

I already told you should have been worried about Jabba the Shaq. He’s old, fat and slow and now he’s injured.  He came up with a case of Favrism, which happens to old guys that play longer than they should play their respective games. Sooner or later the laws of probability catch up to you and as your age increases, so do chances of getting an injury or the body doesn’t perform like it should. The worst part is it takes longer to heal after those injuries occur. Jabba will make it back for the playoffs and he’ll suit up, but that’s it. If the refs call it correctly, he should live in foul trouble, because the only thing he’ll be able to do is use his sheer volume to move people out of the way on offense. On defense, he won’t be able to move his feet and he’ll be relegated to grabbing, holding and clutching. He’ll be useless and won’t be able to what he was brought in to do and that’s stop Dwight Howard. He won’t even slow him down.

Last night against the Spurs, Antwan Jamison came up lame. Jamison didn’t play in the 4th quarter, because of a sore knee. He’ll under go an MRI today to find out the extend of his injury. I hated this trade and I told you that too.  It’s not that Antwan isn’t a good player, but he’s not what the Cavaliers needed. Not to mention his huge cap number, his age, the fact he doesn’t play good defense, you gave up Big Z and a future 1st round pick. Danny Ferry, in my opinion, hit the panic button. The Chicago Bears have done the same thing by trading and giving up the future for Jay Cutler and singing Julius Peppers to a ridiculous contract that he’ll never live up to.  When the Cavs get bounced early from the playoffs, Lebron James is going to step back look the wreckage all around him and come to the conclusion that if ever wants to win a championship he’s going to have to leave town. It’s either that or he’ll the next Charles Barkley or the greatest regular season baller like Peyton Manning.

Lebron James sat out his second consecutive game. I’m sure he could have laced it up and played, but the Cavs need to make sure he’s 100% healthy come playoff, so I get the extra precautionary measures, but it’s not a good sign. The Cavs had to rally against a Spurs team that didn’t have star point guard Tony Parker. It’s a team that has an old Timmy Duncan and a bunch of players past their prime, so don’t be proud that you squeaked by them.

Should Cavs fan be worried? Hell yes. You should be worried about your current team and your future team that probably won’t include Lebron James.

The win meant much more to the Orlando Magic than the loss did to the Los Angeles Lakers. Even though it was the third loss in a row for the Lakers and they are probably looking at the mirror and each other trying to figure out what’s wrong; the Lakers will be just fine. Once the playoffs get started and Kobe starts going to work this 3 game skid won’t mean a thing, but for the Magic to win the game was a big deal.

Not only did the the Magic win the game on the scoreboard, but they also won the mental game too. It was a physical game that included 4 technical fouls and 1 flagrant foul by Pau Gasol. The flagrant foul by Gasol was cheap to say the least. Gasol and Howard had been mixing it up in the paint quite a bit and Howard pulled on Gasol’s jersey and the foul wasn’t called, Gasol was late getting back on defense, which led to an open Howard in the paint. Howard went to jam it home and a frustrated Gasol didn’t try and play the ball he TRIED to do a hatchet job on Howard. Howard not only finished the play, but just flexed, gave Gasol a glare and went to the line. It was a hard foul and most other players would not have had the strength to finish the play or keep their composure after it, but Howard did both and brushed off Gasol like the little bitch he is.

The play was a microcosm of the entire game. All the trash talk the Lakers brought, all the rough play they tried to impose and even Ron “Rodman” Artest’s crazy colored afro didn’t faze the Magic. Even when Kobe was unconscious at the end of the game and almost won for the Lakers, the Magic simply weathered all the storms and won the game.

Nothing would make me happier to than to see the Magic meet the Lakers again in the Finals, but this time the outcome would be different.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The 8 games that present a challenge are below.

Lakers – March 7th

Let’s face it, it’s a psychological measuring stick. The Magic were handled by the Lakers in last year’s finals and it’s a chance for the Magic to beat the champs and give them the mental they will severely need if they meet the Lakers in the finals.  I give the edge to the Magic, only because the Lakers are in the midst of a road trip.

Bobcats – March 14th

The Bobcats are battling the Heat for the final spot in the eastern conference, so they will or at least should be playing every game going forward with playoff intensity. The Magic win this game and make a statement.

@ Heat – March 18th

The Heat are battling the Bobcats for the 8th spot, but the Heat are inconsistent at best. Their future and playoffs will all hedge on Dwayne Wade and quite frankly that’s not that very reliable. Wade has been known to single-handedly dominate the Magic, so if he’s playing I expect no less. Scoreboard doesn’t lie, so I give this one to the Heat.

@ Hawks – March 24th

The Hawks are a fringe team. Unfortunately, they play against the Magic and Cavs.  Both teams are better, if they can pick up Big Z, I like their chances much more. Once again this is a team the Magic have owned as of late, so put this one down as a W. I like this team though and I hope they meet the Cavs in the playoffs and just kick their ass.

Nuggets – March 28th

The Nuggets are the bridesmaid of the western conference. Awesome team, but in this game west coast dominates east coast.

@ Mavericks – April 1st

Quietly, the Mavs made some major moves on and before the trade deadline. The Mavs picked up Caron Butler and he’s proved a great addition, but I think the real steal was picking up Brendan Haywood. Haywood has stepped up nicely in place of Dampier and he not only gives the Mavs depth, but he allows Dirk and the rest of the Mavs to play offense. The Mavs are the sleeper of the western conference and don’t be surprised if they are challenging the Lakers in the western conference finals. They will beat the Magic.

Grizzlies – April 4th

If the Grizzlies were in the eastern conference, they easily make the playoffs. But they play don’t, so they probably won’t get in, but the Magic shouldn’t under estimate them, but they probably will. The Grizzlies slap the Magic in the face win the game and give Van Gundy a rallying call for the rest of the season.

@ Cavaliers – April 11th

This game will get all the hype and the Cavs will win it. The Cavs are the Indianapolis Colts of the NBA. They will beat everyone in the regular season and when it comes clutch time the Cavs will fold like a bad hand. I’ll say it now, it doesn’t matter if the Magic finish 2nd and the Cavs finish 1st, because the Cavs will be knocked in the second round and the Magic won’t have to face them in the playoffs. Kobe puppet can tell Lebron puppet what’s it’s like to be a champ.

Jabba will 38 years old this Saturday, he probably hovers around 400 pounds give or take 50 and he’s going to have to get into playoff shape instantly when he comes back. That’s a tall order for anyone and Magic fan has first hand knowledge of what Jameer Nelson did when he came back in last year’s finals after his injury. It’s unfortunate, but there comes a time when your body can’t take the rigors of a full season and asking Jabba to have an impact in the playoffs is not very fair.

With that said, it’s time for the Cavs to start kissing Zydrunas Ilgauskas ass, because right now the Cavs only have Anderson Varejao to play center. HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!! Varejao is one of the worst defenders in the NBA and Dwight Howard has and will make him his bitch come playoff off time. Big Z isn’t really a good answer, but it’s about the only one that makes sense. The only thing that would be sweeter is if the Magic, Lakers or Nuggets could sign him and give him a chance to win a ring without the Cavs. If I was Ilgauskas, I’d give the Cavs the finger and say good luck with that thumb after how they gave him curb service. If you don’t grovel, beg and get Big Z back, you will have J.J. Hickson as your back up center. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry, can’t help it.

Let me explain how your playoffs are going to go.  The first round is looking like the Heat or the Bobcats. The Heat are probably the easier of the two team. Wade is the man, but the Bobcats have more talent across the board, plus Tyrus Thomas, Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson all present some match up issues for the Cavs. If the Cavs have to play the Bobcats in the first round, it has the potential to be a HUGE upset. IF and say IF, the Cavs get past their first round opponent, there is a very good chance they will play a veteran Boston Celtics squad. Talk about a worse case scenario for the Cavs, the Magic would never have to play the Cavs in the playoffs, because they’d already be knocked out.

I never want to see anybody get hurt for a variety of reasons. First off, Jabba was brought in for one reason and that was to limit Dwight Howard in the playoffs. I wanted to see the Cavs put their best chance on the floor and that won’t happen now. That’s how it goes, but I just hope Cavs fan doesn’t start sounding like a Boston fan and whine about how things would have been different if Jabba the Shaq was playing. I’ll put it right there with Brady’s knee, Lowell’s labrum and Buckner’s ground ball that went 5 hole. The fact is I told you Cav fan that you should be worried about Shaq’s health in a previous blog and one Cav’s fan even wrote the below comment.

“Don’t worry about the Shaqtus . . . his health is just fine. Ask Dwight Howard how he likes being moved around line an easy chair during spring cleaning. Shaq completely changes the Cavs/Magic equation. Once Shaq neutralizes Howard, the only question becomes: Who on the Magic can stop LeBron?

And the answer is: nobody.”

Well his health isn’t fine now and like the Cavs fan stated they needed Shaq to neutralize Howard. We can’t stop Lebron, but Lebron will take his whole team out of the game all by himself, so I’m cool with that.

The question now becomes: Who can stop stop Howard?

I love the trade from the Magic’s perspective, but from the Cavs’ perspective it’s a bad deal all the way around. It’s a bad short-term solution, it’s a real bad deal long-term for the Cavs and it’s a also a huge gamble for the Cleveland Cavaliers organization.

From a short-term perspective Antwan Jamison is a solid scorer and he’ll give the Cavs another scoring threat, but last time I checked the Cavs don’t have any issues scoring points. The Cavs only had one issue and that was stopping Dwight Howard in the playoffs. Lost in all the noise and hype about Antwan Jamison’s offensive abilities and his modest rebounding skills is the fact that the Cavs gave away Zydrunas Ilgauskas. You see Jamison is soft like warm butter and he plays defense about as well as Anderson Varejao, which is to say he sucks on D. Jamison can’t guard Rashard Lewis, Dwight Howard, Vince Carter or Mickael Pietrus, which means he’s a liability. Ilgauskas not only contributed 20 plus minutes a game, spelled Jabba the Shaq, but he also provided 6 fouls and good interior rebounding and defense. The addition of Jamison doesn’t make the Cavs a better team, it makes them a softer team that will fold when like a card house during the playoffs.

The long-term ramifications of deal are horrible for the Cavs. Not only did they take on an aging 33 year old power forward that doesn’t play defense, has propensity to make bad passes, but he’s on contract for 2 more years for big bucks. If the owners get a new CBA, that contract will an albatross for the Cavs. He’s going to eat into the cap and the Cavs aren’t going to be a able to sign anyone of value, well unless Lebron James bolts for greener pastures, which is very real possibility if the Cavs don’t make it and win the NBA Championship. The Cavs also gave up their first round pick in 2010, it won’t be a high first round pick, but the Cavs sold their soul and I think it will come back to haunt them.

The trade is a huge gamble in many ways. Part of the reason the trade was done was to sell and appease Lebron James. If the Cavs win a Championship then it was a good move, but if they don’t then I’m going to say Lebron leaves town for the bright lights of New York city. The Cavs are betting that Jabba the Shaq will stay healthy for the rest of the season and still be effective in the playoffs. The Minnesota Vikings made that same bet and although Favre had a great season, when it counted most the pounding the Saints gave him finally caught up to him and he faltered at the wrong time. I don’t want to see Jabba the Shaq get hurt, but he’s old, fat and slow and there’s a good chance something might give out when the Cavs need him most. If it happens there won’t be an Ilgauskas to fill his shoes, the Cavs will forced to play Varejao, Jamison or Hickson at center. Hickson is having a nice year, but Howard would destroy him in a seven game playoff series.

The Cavs are still an awesome team, but as a Magic fan I’m happy they made the trade, because we match up better against them now. When the long season winds down Jabba will start breaking down and once Jamison realizes he’s no longer in DC where the expectations didn’t exist, he’ll wilt under the new found pressure and be a non-factor. But it really doesn’t matter, because when the playoffs start Lebron will turn into a hog the ball, take his team out of the game and try and win it all by himself and in the end he will expose himself for the selfish punk ass he really is.

First off Cavs are at their best when Lebron James is a facilitator, passes the ball and gets everyone involved. The problem with Lebron, sometimes, is his ego gets in the way of team play. You saw it last year against the Magic in the playoffs. Yes, nobody could guard Lebron and he scored at will, but he also took the rest of his team out the picture and they ended up losing 4 games to 1 and it should have been a sweep, but Lebron’s last second pray shot was answered. Point is, if Lebron can play like he did tonight, the Cavs have a chance to challenge the Lakers in the NBA Finals. We’ll see though, because I’m still not sold that Lebron can lead a team to a championship. Maybe Nike can have Lebron puppet win it all.

The block on Howard by JJ Hickson was awesome. I’m a huge Dwight Howard fan, but I’m a basketball fan first and to block Howard’s shot off the backboard was money. Hickson had an awesome game, but that was a great play for the Cavs and demoralizing play for the Magic.

Stan Van Gundy looks like Ron Jeremy when he wears black. I know he’s trying to use black to conceal his fat ass, but it’s porno. Stan if you want to give the appearance of thinness, try going with a dark grey pinstripe suit and a blue dress shirt, stay away from the black dress shirt, it’s scream “get my freak on”. Also keep away from any bling, because you don’t know how to wear it.

The Jameer Nelson implosion at the end of the game can’t be ignored. He made bad passes, took ill advised shots and the layup he missed killed me. I don’t want to put the loss solely on him, but tighten up your game in the clutch.

The last and probably the thing that bothered me most was how fat Jabba The Shaq has gotten. He made 6′ 11″, 265 lb Dwight Howard look skinny and small. I was worried Jabba was going to grab a snack and then use Howard as a toothpick. At one point someone made a great pass to a wide open Jabba and he was so agonizing slow he couldn’t get enough momentum fast enough to spin and score a basket. I guess as long as he’s ready for the playoffs that’s all that matters, but if I was the Cavs’ medical staff I’d keep those paddles handy, because he looks like he has gravy flowing throw those veins.

Scoreboard, the Cavs took it to the Magic. Looking forward to the All-Star game.