The desperate rebuilding of the Orlando Magic is akin to what Florida farmers do to protect their strawberry and orange crops from frigid temperatures: spray water on them so they freeze on the outside, then pray the center stays warm enough to protect the integrity of the fruit.
But even Dwight Howard‘s monstrous 26-point, 23-rebound performance wasn’t enough for the ice-cold Magic to fend off Dallas on Tuesday — just the latest sign that there’s a long, dark winter ahead.
On Thursday, the Magic (16-12), who have lost eight of their last nine games, will host Western Conference-leading San Antonio (24-3 through Dec. 21), which is 9-1 on the road. On Christmas Day, it’ll be a visit from the best team in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics (22-4), who have won a measly 13 games in a row through Dec. 21.
Even if Orlando’s three newest acquisitions — Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson — play those next two games better than they’ve played their first two after last weekend’s trade, combining to shoot 13-for-53 from the field, the Magic better get accustomed to a place in the standings that is closer to the bottom-dwelling Wizards than any postseason contenders. And title talk is out of the question.
Orlando’s Christmas gift is the putrid Eastern Conference, which allows them to take so many steps backward in the first place and ultimately won’t offer enough resistance to keep them out of the playoffs.
“I’d like to get it going sooner rather than later,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy told the Orlando Sentinel on Tuesday. “You don’t want to drop too far down in the standings, but I don’t know how long it’s gonna take.”
Uncertainty is the defining characteristic of one of the biggest December player shuffles in recent history. Magic general manager Otis Smith must’ve expected Turkoglu to make his way from Arizona to Florida via a time machine that also brought back his 2009 self, and the only logic that explains Smith’s long-anticipated favor to both Arenas and Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld is blind faith that the swap for Rashard Lewis would be mutually beneficial.
Not surprisingly, Arenas says he’s smiling a lot. But it’s the Wizards who’ve been liberated while Smith still frantically has the hose going, hoping his audacious move doesn’t backfire and freeze Howard out of Florida altogether.
