Magic Nation has high expectations for this postseason.Orlando just completed its 2nd best regular season in their 20 years of existence. Against the top teams, Orlando compiled an impressive record of 6-2. Still, after such an impressive run, there is some doubt with this team. The Magic were an unimpressive 4-5 in the month of April, which included home losses to Toronto and New York. Although a few of the losses can be excused because the Magic did not play their best lineup, there still might be cause for concern. Hedo Turkoglu sat out the final two games of the season after twisting his ankle against the New Jersey Nets, while Rashard Lewis missed the final 3 games with tendinitis issues. Although Stan Van Gundy is being rather indecisive about the status of two of his stars, I'd bet a lot of money they will be ready for Sunday.

On paper, Orlando has every advantage in this series as they won all three matchups this season, which included two games in Philly. Dwight has a huge advantage in the post, as he should be able to get the 76ers bigs in foul trouble relatively quickly. As the regular season showed us, having to pay so much attention to Dwight will open up Orlando's outside shooters. Good news for us.

Here is the schedule for Round One.

Game 1 - Sun April 19 Philadelphia at Orlando 5:30PM TNT
Game 2 - Wed April 22 Philadelphia at Orlando 7:00PM NBATV
Game 3 - Fri April 24 Orlando at Philadelphia 8:00PM ESPN2
Game 4 - Sun April 26 Orlando at Philadelphia 6:30PM TNT
Game 5 - Tue April 28 Philadelphia at Orlando TBD TBD
Game 6 - Thu April 30 Orlando at Philadelphia TBD TBD
Game 7 - Sat May 2 Philadelphia at Orlando TBD TNT

The experts expect Orlando to advance relatively easily. Take this from ESPN's John Hollinger:

Cosmo (Anytown, USA): Is the best news for the Sixers right now that this series will be over quickly?  

John Hollinger: Probably the best news for Rick Kamla and Fred Carter too. Only silver lining I see for Philly is that Orlando can be turnover-prone, and Philly can turn those mistakes into easy baskets as well as anyone.

Now let's see what TPASTBM contributors think:

Maxwell Effort:

Magic in 5: I am spotting the Sixers one game because its really tough to sweep but I just do not see how the Sixers can compete in this series. They do not defend well, no one on their team is a consistent 3 point shooter and they struggle mightily in the half-court. They have to play up and down to let AI2, Thaddeus Young, and Lou Williams excel with their athleticism but that is tough to do when the game slows down in the playoffs. Though they have a variety of "big men" they are not equipped to handle Dwight and are typically foul prone against the Magic. I am expecting the Magic to put their late season doldrums behind them and come out with renewed spirit and energy. If the Magic are playing like they did 95% of this season they should be able to put the Sixers away fairly easily.

El Fantasma de Carlos:

Magic in 5: I expect the Magic to come out strong to prove all the naysayers wrong. I mean, even Avery Johnson predicted and offset. Seriously AJ, I mean, really, really, really...I mean come on man. I think Dwight wants this more than anything else in the season. I think that loosing Nelson has inspired them more. Also, Alston has a chip on his shoulder and wants to prove he belongs too. It all comes down to the health of Hedo and Shard. But regardless, Magic win in 5. Philly steals a game at home, but Orlando finishes it up back in Orlando. Mark it.

Jareth Cutestory:

Magic in 5: The Magic lost 3 straight against non-playoff teams before the season ended. They had already wrapped up the 3rd seed for months. The 76ers lost 6 in a row while battling for playoff position. What does this have to do with the playoffs? Absolutely nothing. Both teams are now at 0-0, and both need to win 4 games to advance. Despite their late season woes, I expect them to look like two rejuvenated ball clubs. I still see the Magic taking this series in 5, with Philly squeaking a win out at home by 3 late in the game.

Paul Ego:

Magic in 5: Stifling defense. End of story. Did you watch the defense against the Bobcats? The 76'ers lack of half court execution does not bode well for this series (as far as Philly is concerned). Their one hope is Orlando's lack of focus at times and ability to cough up the ball. If Philly can capitalize on this, and it happens enough, they could steal a game.As far as Orlando injuries, well, don't believe the hype.

The Big Train:

Magic in 5: Orlando will take game one by 7, and game two by 20 behind stellar shooting and defense. However, Dwight will get himself in some foul trouble, mainly due to two offensive foul calls, and Philly will take game 3. After that, Dwight gets serious and puts up 20-20 performances in game 4 and 5, and there is great rejoicing in Orlando.

The Nickel Steak:

Magic in 4: On paper, this looks like a terrible series for the Sixers. In reality, it looks worse. Philadelphia is a team that relies on transition baskets and interior penetration for their points. Their halfcourt offense is nauseating, their best half court player(Elton Brand) isn't going to be there, no one on the team can shoot from beyond 20' consistently, and their best interior defender besides Brand, Samuel Dalembert, has a career average of 4.3 fouls per 36 minutes, and he'll be matched up against the player who lead the league in FTAs 2 years straight. Dalembert only played 24.8mpg this season, and he'll struggle to meet that number in this series.If the series goes 5 games, I'll be disappointed. If it goes 6, I'll be flabbergasted.

Supply and Demand:

Magic in 4: Sweep baby! Philly is by far the easiest match-up for the Magic could have asked for. Philly is the WORST jump shooting team in the league as their league low 31% team three point shooting demonstrates. Attacking the paint is the best weapon and Orlando has the soon to be "NBA Defensive player of the Year" waiting to swat shots. Orlando swept the regular season, I see no reason this does not continue for a Philly team that limped into the playoffs with a 3-6 record in April.

Terry & The Pump Fakes:

Magic in 5: Unless David Stern comes out with a surprise announcement that dunks are now worth 5 pts each Philly will be out in 5. They are atheletic but like so many other teams out there they just don't have the shooters that are needed in the playoffs when the game slows down to more of a half court style.As great as Andre Miller is, when he has been forced to play a half court style of ball he is not the same point guard. The Magic will go under picks and force him to shoot the ball. The Magic will pack the paint and make AI shoot the ball. Dwight will get Philly's front line into quick foul trouble and the rest of the team will be parading to the foul line with Philly in the penalty early.Philly is an entertaining team that fights hard but when Dwight and company decide to play with energy there are not too many teams that are going to take them in a 7 game series.

Vile Feminista:

Magic in 4: We have momentum, it has just been hiding, we never lost it. The last few losses, while heartbreaking to an extent, really did not matter. This team is ready. Thaddeus Young may be the only part of Philly that worries me and that worry is so minute it doesn't even feel worthy of the concern. The added rest we get from a sweep may prove to be a deciding factor in the title run, for good or bad.

Survey says! Magic in 4.75.

Unless you are a Magic fan living under a rock, you've heard by now that Orlando will face off against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round. Game 1 is slated for Sunday at 5:30 PM. It will be televised on TNT, and if you are the type of person that cares what radio station the game is on, I'm willing to bet you don't know what a blog is. Anyway, before we get too in depth on the matchup (that will come tomorrow), let's look back at the 3 matchups these two teams had in the regular season.

The first matchup was waaaay back in early November when Orlando took one at home 98-88. Hedo and Rashard each put up 20 points and 8 rebounds. Jammer added 16 points and 9 assists, but that doesn't really matter anymore. Dwight only logged 29 minutes, as he got into a bit of foul trouble. He scored 14 and grabbed 8 rebounds. As for Philly, Thaddeus Young scored 19 while Andre Iguodala added 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists. Point guard Andre Miller scored 15 on 7 on 24 shooting. The PG matchup will be key in this series.

Orlando took round 2 up in Philly, 96-94. Dwight scored 21 while shooting 13-18 from the line. He needs to get used to that. Tony Battie added 20 off the bench. For Philly, Elton Brand scored 21, but that doesn't really matter anymore either.

In the 3rd round, again up in Philadelphia, Orlando won once again, 106-100. Dwight fouled out, while Hedo and Rashard each added 23 points while Courtney Lee put up an impressive 18. Andre Miller scored 23 for the 76ers while adding 8 rebounds and 7 assists. Hopefully we don't see any of that in the next week and a bit.

So that's how it went down when these teams faced each other this year. I'll leave you with this... Hopefully T-Mac and Eric Snow keep it to themselves this time around.

Let's start off by acknowledging the fact that Dwight Howard will be named Defensive Player of the Year for the 2008-2009 season by the NBA.  If this doesn't happen, well, let's not go there, I don't need ANOTHER restraining order in my life.

Every time someone starts talking about DPOY, two names are brought up, outside of Dwight.  LeBron James and Dwayne Wade have ratcheted up the defensive intensity this year, to mixed results.  James leads his team and sets the tone defensively in one of the leagues better defensive teams (only Orlando and Boston are more stanch), while Wade seems to be holding his team together on sheer will alone.  I have read numerous articles about all sorts of stats making a case for either one of these players over Dwight, and while they are both impressive in their own regards, I have yet to see someone make one specific, telling point about the defense Dwight brings to the table.

Yes, Wade and Lebron have made some timely blocks (James with his chase down blocks, Wade with his end of game defensive stands like the game @ Detroit) and come up big defensively, but Dwight significantly changes the game in an even more impressive manner.  Thanks to some of the information you can find at 82games.com, you can rank players in the league by points scored on inside shots.  Of the top ten players, only two are not 'big men'.  Those two players, also happen to be LeBron James and Dwayne Wade (not really surprising), each of whom average roughly 10 points per game on inside shots (James at 10.3, Wade at 9.9).

We all know Dwight patrols the paint, and is the biggest reason that Orlando has one of the top three defenses in the NBA this season.  If you watch a lot of Orlando basketball (and we hope you do), you see time and time again just how effective Dwight is at helping to protect the rim and keep those pesky perimeter players shooting jumpers instead of dunks and layups.  So, lets look at what happens when Orlando faces two of the best in the league at getting to the rim.

Orlando has played Cleveland three times this season.  Two blow out wins in Orlando and a nail biting loss in Cleveland.  In the two games in Orlando, James was held to just 6 points on inside shots.  That's total, not per game.  Even in Cleveland, he was held to 8 points, 2 below his season average of 10.  For those of you that are mathematically challenged, that's an average of 4.67 points per game scored on inside shots.  Less than half his season average.

Orlando has squared off against Miami four times this season, so lets see how D. Wade fared against the Magic and Dwigth Howard.  In two home games for Miami, Wade has a total of 14 points, 6 and 8, and a total of 6 in Orlando, with all 6 coming in one game and 0 in another (that's impressive enough).  A home average of 7, away average of 3, and a total season average of 5, again, well below his normal season average of 9.9.

If that's not impressive, I don't know what is.

Photo courtesy of The Orlando Sentinel.

All of us here at TBASTBM have known each other quite a long time now... Our common bond being the Orlando Magic. We had always talked about starting a blog about our favorite team. Nothing serious, until the beginning of this year. There is a decent chance some alcohol was involved, as well as the desire to show the Internet who's boss. That said, we did some good ole' fashioned brainstorming and came up with The Puns Are Starting to Bore Me. We fiddled with Blogspot for several days, and before you could name all of Sean Kemp's children, we were off and running.

We mourned the loss of Adonal Foyle, and then praised his return. We stressed Orlando's defensive prowess. Cheered the Rafer trade. Marcin Gortat. For our 100th post, we gave you 100 memories. There was some Taoism somewhere. How about the best SVG quotes? We gave away tickets to a game. We offered our solutions, with or without Jack Daniels, for how to rebound from the Jameer Nelson injury. We even discussed the Magic in spanish! And much, much more!

It turns out we enjoyed blogging, and for some reason a decent amount of people enjoyed reading our blog. But, like Shaq and Orlando, TPASTBM outgrew Blogspot. Ya see, we want all the lights, ladies, glory, and attention that the Internet can provide.

In comes the Bloguin Network.

We have decided to join said network in order to reach the next level. (Remember the talk about lights, ladies, glory, etc? Yeah, that's the next level.) The Bloguin Network will allow us to bring our readers even better content, in a much better looking fashion. Honestly, it looks much more official. So, to continue the trend towards professionalism, we have implemented a dress code for all contributors. Jareth Cutestory can no longer blog naked. It really is a win-win for all.

So, please follow us over to the new The Puns Are Starting to Bore Me and let's keep things going!

Also, thanks to "Sebi" for The Puns banner we have been using for the last several months.