| To make or not make the playoffs Authored by Howard Mass - April 2, 2005 - 3:33 pm
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Tonight, the Magic helped the latter as they fell to the visiting Washington Wizards 111-102 despite a late rally that came up short.
The loss cost the Magic a chance to be tied with the Philadelphia 76ers, who lost to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday 100-83, for the Eastern Conference’s 8th and final playoff spot.
To make matters worse, the New Jersey are back in the hunt for that final playoff spot as well as they are now deadlocked with the Magic at 34-38. The two teams play in New Jersey on Saturday night.
As of now, here are the playoff standings in the Eastern Conference.
Note: Boston would get a higher seed then Washington and Chicago as Division winners automatically get the first three seeds.
Team Wins Losses Winning % Games Back
Miami 54 19 .740
Detroit 44 27 .620 9.0
Boston 39 33 .542 14.5
Washington 41 30 .577 12.0
Chicago 40 31 .563 13.0
Cleveland 37 33 .529 15.5
Indiana 37 34 .521 16.0
Philadelphia 35 37 .486 18.5
Orlando 34 38 .472 19.5
New Jersey 34 38 .472 19.5
When you look at the standings, it is rather obvious that the 8th seed will have to play the Miami Heat, who many favor to win it all, in the first round.
With Indiana playing well shorthanded and the Magic being 4 games back of Cleveland, the only real hope for them is that 8th seed.
Now, let’s take a peek at the current Lottery Combination standings.
Team Wins Losses Winning % Games Back
Atlanta 11 61 .153 -
Charlotte 15 56 .211 4.5
New Orleans 16 54 .229 6
Utah 22 49 .310 12.5
Portland 24 46 .343 14
Golden State 26 45 .366 15.5
Milwaukee 27 44 .380 16.5
New York 29 41 .414 19
Toronto 30 42 .417 19
L.A. Clippers 32 40 .444 21
L.A. Lakers 33 38 .465 22.5
New Jersey 34 38 .472 23
Orlando 34 38 .472 23
Minnesota 38 34 .528 27
When the lottery standings are looked at closer, the Magic could maybe make it up to the 10th pick but is it really worth it?
The Draft has not really started shaping up but it does not look that deep.
Conclusion
Opinions here are going to be a mixed bag. However, I am not for tanking and even with the likelihood of going down hard to the Miami Heat, it is best for this team (Especially Dwight Howard) to get its feet wet even though half of this team probably will not be back next season.
Last season was a disaster and when that first round of the playoffs was going on, I missed watching the Magic there. Many of you might not realize it now but it hurts when your favorite team is not playing.
Feedback
While I got to post my take, I want everyone else to have their say. So, please send me your thoughts and feedback about this and I will post select comments in my next column.
Even if you do not feel like writing up some comments, please take the poll on the left side of the page. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone's take here.
Finally, if you are interested in writing a piece of your own for this site, please contact me at the above address.
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