Magic Rested or Weary?

Fifty wins for the Magic would be a big stepping stone to reclaiming the glory of the 90's. When a casual fan thinks of the Orlando Magic, usually Shaq and Penny come to mind, but this years Magic team is out to set a new image. One currently on everyones mind would be Dwight Howard soaring through the air with a superman costume on, but if this current team does not win, the image of Shaq and Penny will always remain.

The Magic are currently the Southeast division champions which is no huge accomplishment this year, however, it marks the first title since 1996 and are sitting a game away from the franchises first 50 win season since 96 when the Magic won 60. You would think 10 games ago when the Magic were sitting at 45-25 with an easy home stretch they would have reached this number by now. Watching the team drop 6 out of their last 10 I have noticed a drastic drop in passion to win. The team is just going through the routines and this could have a serious psychological affect on the team come playoffs next week. The last thing you want is a lower seed team thinking they can come back from a double-digit lead at your arena, which is exactly what the Magic showed last night. Losing 102-101 to a 20 win club is not going to put the fear needed into more than likely first round opponent Philadelphia, especially after being up the entire game at times by 15.

However, the opposite could be true for this late season slump: The Magic could be fully rested come playoffs. Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rashard Lewis have seen a decrease in minutes after the team locked the 3rd seed in the East and if you couple that with mentally resting while on the court, this team could become a monster come next week.

As Magic fans, we are all praying for the second possible result from this lack of effort and passion shown by Orlando the last 10 games. Time will tell what happens to this new look Magic team.