The Orlando Magic are in a new time zone, perhaps figuratively as well. Orlando had become a punch line. When Shaq left in 1996, a downward spiral began. Penny Hardaway’s knees went, Grant Hill crippled the salary cap, T-Mac was a quitter, a cavalcade of bad coaches came through, the Steve Francis/T-Mac trade was one of the worst trades in NBA history – the Magic were not much more than a perennial first round bye for better teams.
In 2004 Orlando debated between picking Dwight Howard and Emeka Okafor with their first overall draft pick. They chose Howard, barely. They aquired future All-Star Jameer Nelson through a draft and trade. Grant Hill left. Rashard Lewis was acquired in free-agency. Hedo Turkoglu became the NBA’s Most-Improved Player. They drafted a feisty rookie in Courtney Lee. They acquired Mickael Pietrus in free-agency.
In 2008, the Magic were finally equipped to be more than a punch line, they had entered a new time zone. But no one believed they were there yet.
The season led Orlando to the third best record in the East. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers. They slugged it out with Boston, winning game seven on the road. They dismantled Lebron James and the Cavs. They reached the NBA Finals. People started to believe.
On Thursday night the Magic prepared to square off against the Los Angeles Lakers. Tip-off was scheduled for 9:00 pm Orlando time. The Magic, however, were in a new time zone. At the end of the first quarter, Orlando led by two, 24-22.
During the second quarter, Lakers pulled away going into the half up by ten, 53-43. Kobe Bryant was having a monster game. In the first half, the Magic shot 36%, missed 8 threes, and Dwight Howard only played 14 minutes – but they were only down by ten. Magic fans known that ten is far from unreachable.
In the second half, things didn’t get better, they got worse. Kobe continued to scorch the Magic on his way to 40 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. The Lakers obliterated the pitiful Magic 100-75.
In the loss, it was hard to tell if the Magic were outplayed, underperforming, or some combination of the two. On the one hand, Kobe played out of his mind, Lamar Odom played well, and Pau Gasol looked great against Rashard Lewis. On the other, the Magic only shot 29.9% from the floor, Howard only made one field goal, and Mickael Pietrus took the most shots.
The real problems came when the Lakers outscored Orlando 29-15 in the third quarter. During that period, the Magic looked as if they were still adjusting to their new time zone. It seemed as though every shot took a tough roll or bounce out, passes were telegraphed and intercepted, and LA could do no wrong. It almost looked like the Globetrotters against the Generals. It was really, really bad.
The teams have two days off, maybe enough time for Orlando to adjust to their new time zone. If there’s anything they can take away from Thursday night’s game, it’s that times have changed. Kobe made sure they knew.
