2012 Playoffs: (3) Pacers Vs. (6) Magic

[Lamrock]

Never thought I'd say this, but Indiana in 4.

[JaoSming]

Same, Magic implosion

[Nick]

This WOULD'VE been a great series, but with dwight out this could be a sweep... Magic might nab 1 game due to Pacer complacency but i think this will likely be a sweep.

[benji]

You guys are ignoring that there will probably be a game where Indiana's offense is sluggish while Orlando hits 35 three pointers.

[Mavs4Life]

Benji makes a point, ORL will bomb 3s, and might just get one, but with no Dwight, Pacers win in 5.

[NovU]

I see Big Baby going Dwight Impersonation. So the Pacers in 5.

[Patr1ck]

Is there really a reason for them to shoot the 3's with nobody to collapse the defense inside?

[Andrew]

At the risk of underrating the Magic's ability to win games from the three point line, Pacers in four. As Nick said, this could've been a pretty good series but with Howard out it seems like the Pacers are primed for a walkover. It's been a tough year for Orlando but they've still been fairly respectable for the most part, a team you can't forget about entirely, but I don't think they'll really be able to make it a series. They might possibly take a game, maybe two if everything falls into place for them on a couple of nights, but I'll stick with the prediction of a Pacers sweep.

[atlwarrior]

Pacers in 6. Never under estimate the shooting ability of the Magic. I can see Ryan Anderson stepping up in this series.

[benji]

Is there really a reason for them to shoot the 3's with nobody to collapse the defense inside?

What else are they going to do? They can't beat the Pacers inside the arc. Their best chance is to rotate the ball and hope they get enough looks to take advantage of the high risk/high reward three pointer bombardment.

This actually isn't all that different from the Magic's offense under SVG even with Dwight. The difference in effectiveness is that Dwight can get enough of the misses and put them back along with a few dunks to lower the risk.

Dwight only gets around 20 points a game, he's not a post up and kick out threat like Hakeem was when the Rockets won two titles with essentially the same system. And he's not a Shaq who can rotate the ball by himself from the post. His impact was on the glass and getting easy dunks and turn arounds.

I doubt they can beat the Pacers without that production but if Anderson and Redick start hitting threes and they keep the floor spread it opens up chances for Nelson, Turkoglu, the Richardsons and Duhon to start getting in on the act and it's easy to see how they can get a game or two just from that. If Big Baby gets going in at least one game (lol) then it's almost guaranteed they'll get a game.

Orlando's real problem is that without Dwight they don't have anyone who can get to the line. (And with Dwight didn't have anyone who can put up points at the line.) Redick, Anderson and especially Nelson have to take the risk and try to get to the rim so they can get to the line. The lack of offensive rebounds will hurt them, but if they can get to the line they can mitigate that loss since they shoot so well.

TL;DR: Orlando's still one of those teams that will piss you the fuck off if they start hitting threes because they will spread and shoot contested. Look at the Warriors that took down Dallas. And that team didn't shoot as well as this team does. (Anderson-Richardson-Redick is a murderers row.)

[Martti.]

Granger got hot last month, no Dwight, should be an easy one for the Pacers.

[retromanas]

If Howard would be played in this series, i say Magic would won the series in the 5 games, but without Howard Pacers could win the series.

[benji]

With Howard the Magic would probably struggle to win this series. The Pacers are legit, Orlando has spent the entire year imploding. With Howard they might make a series when the threes are falling but there's a reason this team hasn't gone anywhere despite having the best big man in the league.

[Lamrock]

Probably goes to seven with Dwight. Orlando did win the season series, with Dwight Howard giving Hibbert fits. Hibbert's overrated as is, but he should go off on a hobbled Big Baby.

I still can't get over Atlanta beating Orlando last year. Pythagorean records be damned.

[benji]

Pythag falls apart when you have deliberate matchups like the playoffs. It still does pretty well though.

Orlando has always been streaky, Atlanta became methodological under Drew. They got LITERALLY raped by Orlando the year before.

Indiana is a great team at executing what they want to execute. Dwight could dominate all over their front line and they'd stay home on the three point bombers and simply wear down Orlando.

I'm mostly betting on Orlando hitting threes just because of how much firepower they have. Depends on how many games out of four/five/six/seven you think they can hit enough threes. I think they can get at least one.

[lakernation]

Without Dwight Howard, Pacers are up for a treat in the first round. Unless the Magic will shoot three pointers in a unbelievable fashion.

[jettdaking!]

if Paul George and Tyler get really hot, Magic have no chance. Roy and Granger are consistently assets for the Pacers, and George Hill is a good support off the bench. Pacers no doubt. 5 games at max

[JBoom_LALALAND]

Magic in 7. Granger cries and Big Baby wears off his diapers. I'm Skeptic.

[The X]

Pace in 4, but two of the games will go down to wire.

[Dan's Brain]

Roy Hibbert will have a field day, and the Magic won't get close. The Pacers will be well rested to go up against Miami.

[Mavs4Life]

Off all the game 1s I thought would feel like an actual playoff game, it wasn't this one.

[Bulls#1]

I admit I was surprised with the Magic stealing Game 1 without Howard.

[Andrew]

Pacers choked that one away. There goes my prediction and perhaps it'll be a series after all, but I'll be surprised if the Magic ultimately prevail.

[JBoom_LALALAND]

Magic froze Indy in the clutch.

[benji]