Orlando
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Philadelphia did Orlando a big service yesterday in losing to the Boston Celtics. Technically, the Magic are not quite out of the playoff hunt, but all it takes is a single loss by Orlando and a single win by Philadelphia to put this season on the back burner. Can Orlando run off three consecutive road wins against Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee, and come home to hold off Indiana and Miami?
In the meantime, Philadelphia faces Miami and Indiana next, followed by New Jersey (the third contender for the eighth and final playoff spot), and then Milwaukee and what should be a guaranteed victory against the Atlanta Hawks as the final game in the regular season.
Orlando trails Philadelphia by three games. If they can find some of that old-time Magic and beat four playoff team and last year's surprise team Milwaukee, they have a solid chance of making the playoffs, depending, of course, how everything else shakes out.
In any case, tonight isstillnot an elimination game for the Magic. That's already a good thing.
NEXT GAME
The Magic (35-42, third in the Southeast) kick off their last three game road trip with a visit to the world champion Detroit Pistons (50-27, first in the Central) TONIGHT. The game starts at 7:30pm Eastern and will be broadcast on Sun Sports and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
Q: Hedo, do you want any tattoos?
A: "No, I don’t want any."
Q: Steve, who is the funniest guy on the team?
A: "Dwight Howard"
Read more inside the Orlando Magic Ask-A-Player Archive.
INJURY UPDATE
Hedo Turkoglu(wrist) is on the injured list and out for the remainder of the season.Doug Christie(ankle) is also on the injured list and out indefinitely.Andrew DeClercq (knee) is on the injured list.Grant Hill(shin) is out indefinitely.
Tim Povtak ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites: Still hanging by a thread but resigned to their fate, the Orlando Magic left on their final road trip of the season Tuesday afternoon, knowing they were walking off the edge of the playoff cliff. The only question was how far the drop is. Officially, the Magic will be eliminated from the playoff chase if they lose any one of their final five gamesandthe Philadelphia 76ers win any one of their final five.
John Denton ofFlorida Todaywrites: With only scant playoff hopes to hold onto, Steve Francis has been trying to put his finger on where everything started to fall apart for the reeling Orlando Magic.For one, he could start at March 5. Then he could fast forward to March 21 and finally stop at April 8. Those are the dates that the Magic were systematically dismantled, losing Doug Christie to ankle surgery, Hedo Turkoglu to a fractured wrist and Grant Hill to ankle troubles.