Why Orlando Should Fear Miami In A Playoff Series

If the season ended today, the Orlando Magic, at 49-21, would be the second seed in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the Miami Heat, at 35-34, would be the seventh seed. 

I think you know where I'm going with this. While the rest of the country watched March Madness, those who tuned into last night's Magic-Heat game got a taste of a potentially great first-round playoff series. Orlando is clearly the superior team, as they showed for most of the game and the overtime period, but Miami, always scrappy, was ultimately right there with them. The Heat lost, but they had a chance to win in regulation and made a great comeback in the fourth quarter.

This isn't the first time Miami's been right with the Magic. They've already beaten the Magic twice this year, once by 18 points in Miami and once in Orlando back in November. That November game actually played out pretty much the same way as last night's game. Orlando led most of the way before the Heat charged back with 16 straight points in the fourth quarter. The Magic choked the game away at the free-throw line, and the Heat took advantage when Michael Beasley tipped in a Dwyane Wade miss at the buzzer.

Last night's game ultimately played out differently, but the point remains: Miami is going to be a challenge for Orlando if they do play each other. SB Nation's Magic blog Orlando Pinstriped Post agrees, saying last night's game "certainly raises questions about the Magic's ability to finish off the Heat in a seven-game series."

The biggest problem for the Magic is that the Heat can stop Orlando's marquee player (Dwight Howard), while the Magic can't stop the Heat's (Dwyane Wade). As OPP writes:

What's got to worry coach Stan Van Gundy and the Magic is Jermaine O'Neal's ability to take Howard out of the game, in a literal and figurative sense. Literally, O'Neal gets Howard in foul trouble and forces him to the bench; figuratively, he gets him too focused on foul calls and non-calls to be fully engaged offensively. Five blocks for O'Neal tonight, 4 of them on Howard. For the season, Howard's averaged just 11.5 points per game on 40.1% shooting from the field against the Heat, due almost entirely to O'Neal's presence. I give him a ton of credit for standing up to Howard this year because, quite frankly, Howard made him look silly and ineffectual as recently as last season, when he averaged 25.3 points on 64.8% shooting. So O'Neal has more than halved Howard's scoring while shaving almost 25 whole percentage points off his conversion rate from the field. Yup, O'Neal has regained his health and some of his mojo, and as a result has proven to be among the most capable one-on-one defenders of Howard in the league.

And Wade? Stop it. He continued his mastery of the Magic. Let's run through those numbers again: 36 points on 59.2% True Shooting, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and just 1 turnover in 45 minutes, dominating the ball on every possession. He's unreal.

Luckily for the Magic, they have superior talent everywhere else, which showed itself last night. Beasley was big in the November game, but he couldn't do anything to shut down Rashard Lewis last night. Lewis hit big shots and dominated a matchup that OPP says "might prove to be what decides the series." Meanwhile, SB Nation's Heat blog Peninsula is Mightier is starting to get fed up with Beasley.

This is just me talking here, and any of you are more then welcome to disagree with me, but I'm getting really sick of Michael Beasley.  He shows up for little patches here and there but overall is proving to be nothing more then a disappointment.  It bothers me even more because we all know that the talent is there, but not so Super Cool has no clue how to get it out.  I think what bothers me the most are the confused looks on his face when things don't go his way. 

Dude...man up and figure out how to at least hit jumpshots again.  Forget driving the ball, just hit your shots.  He was able to do that very well as a rookie, but now he can't seem to do anything right.  At least when his offense struggled at the beginning of the year he still had the effort that brought the team rebounds and defense.  But 8 points and 6 rebounds in over 30 minutes isn't going to cut it.  Ever. 

Throw in Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter, and the Magic should have enough to get by Miami. Still, anytime your opponent can neutralize their best player and you can't neutralize theirs, you're always going to have some problems in a seven-game series. If possible, Orlando might want to do what they can to avoid a matchup with Miami come April.