The Orlando Magic surprised just about every basketball fan last season by beating the Cavs to reach the NBA Finals. Not only did they beat the Cavs, but they took down a Celtics team that didn’t include Kevin Garnett in 7 games, though it was clearly still a tough team with the likes of Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen.
A wise basketball fan may have pointed to the fact that the Magic beat the Cavs in the regular season by a score of 3-1, but people were still surprised despite it. Many had pointed to the Cavs as the overall NBA champions last year, so the Magic were definitely a dark horse.
If you look at the team this year, they have more talent than last season. While they lost Hedo Turkoglu and Courtney Lee, they made a huge improvement with the acquisition of Vince Carter, not to mention adding some role players like Ryan Anderson and Brandon Bass.
The Magic currently sit near the top of the NBA standings, with one of the best records in the Eastern Conference. Should they be considered the favorites to reach the NBA Finals? Well, there are some factors that can get in your way. For one thing, the Cleveland Cavs now have the addition of Shaquille O’Neal. After stumbling out of doors, it looks like they may have finally patched things up, as the team is playing much better basketball right now.
Then, of course, there are the Boston Celtics, whose disappointing end to the 08-09 season had to do with the injury of Kevin Garnett, who missed the playoffs. Given that Garnett is healthy now, one wonders if the team can regroup to assert their past dominance.
Lastly, we can’t forget about the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks proved they are no joke two seasons ago when they led the Celtics to 7 games in the first round of the playoffs. They built on this last year by reaching the second round of the playoffs before losing to the Cavs.
With one of the best regular-season records in the Eastern Conference this season, one has to wonder if they can finally break through. This is definitely another team that poses a threat to the Magic in their quest to reach the Finals. So should we expect to see Orlando in another final or is it wishful thinking? It’s definitely possible, but they’ll have to work really hard to get there.
