ORLANDO – If the season series between Orlando and Toronto is any measure, the Magic’s first-round playoff battle against the Raptors might hold far more intrigue than a usual No. 7 vs. No. 2 showdown.
The seventh-seeded Magic (42-40) proved themselves to be every bit the equals of the second-seeded Raptors (58-24) during the regular season, splitting the four meetings. While one of Orlando’s wins came while Toronto superstar Kawhi Leonard was out with ``load management,’’ one of the Raptors’ victories over Magic came only after Danny Green sank a baseline jumper as the final horn sounded at the Amway Center.
Orlando, winners of four straight and 11 of 13 to close the regular season, has a surging momentum on its side and is vowing that it will enter the playoffs with plenty of confidence that it can compete with Toronto.
``We feel like we can play against anybody, so just line ‘em up,’’ Magic forward Aaron Gordon said following Orlando’s 122-114 thumping of Charlotte in Wednesday’s finale.
The Magic have plenty of reason to be confident what with them entering the playoffs as one of the NBA’s hottest teams. They closed the season by winning 22 of their final 31 games. Ultimately, their 17-win improvement this season over last season proved to be the largest gain in the NBA.
The Magic might be able to use their momentum to shock Toronto in Game 1, which has traditionally been a trouble spot for the Raptors. In Toronto’s playoff history, it is just 2-13 in Game 1s. The Raptors beat Philadelphia in Game 1 of a second-round series in 2001 and they won Game 1 last season against Washington in a first-round series. However, in between 2001 and 1018, the Raptors lost 10 straight Games 1s.
``We need to have a couple of good days of work and you want to be ready for Game 1 and not ease into it,’’ said Magic coach Steve Clifford, the architect of Orlando’s massive turnaround this season.
Orlando has been so good for such a prolonged period of time that they recently caught the eye of Toronto first-year coach Nick Nurse, who spoke highly of his team’s first-round foe two weeks earlier.
``We’ve had a lot of problems with them,’’ Nurse admitted prior to his squad toppling the Magic 121-109 on April 1st. ``They’ve gotten us twice and we were lucky to get them the one time that we got them. We hit a shot at the buzzer, and they outplayed us that night, too, I thought.
``They’re playing a little bit faster than the last time we saw them (on Dec. 28) and they’re spreading the floor a little more,’’ Nurse added. ``They’ve developed some guys. I just kind of remember seeing them early in the year. Actually, we were in a night early and I went and seen a game and some of their young guys were out there shooting a lot of threes. Well, those guys are making more of those now and the practice they were getting early in the year is paying off. … It’s a talented, long team that is pretty committed to playing hard. They’ll guard you and their (defensive) numbers speak for themselves.’’
The playoff series against Toronto will be especially special for Magic players Terrence Ross and Khem Birch. Ross spent the first 4 ½ seasons of his career in Toronto before being traded to the Magic on Feb. 14, 2017. Birch, a native of Montreal, attended Game 2 of Toronto’s playoff series against Cleveland last spring and he’s excited about having his own personal cheering section of family and friends at Games 1 and 2 this year.
The Ross that the Raptors see will be a dramatically different one who often deferred to DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry while playing in Toronto from 2012-2017. Now, Ross is almost always in attack mode when he comes into games and averaged a career-best 15.1 points a game this season while making a whopping 217 3-pointers.
Ross scored 14 of his 26 points in Sunday’s playoff-clinching victory in Boston in the fourth quarter. On Wednesday, Ross had a season-best 35 points by drilling 12 of 19 shots and six of 10 3-pointers. He said the Magic will head into this playoff series with plenty of confidence that it can win against the Raptors.
``We’ve got to study how the other team plays you and we’ve got to know everybody (on the Raptors) because it gets really personal once you get past the second or third game, so we’ve got to be ready for it. It’s going to be a little different and the environment is going to be real hostile,’’ Ross said. ``We can’t let that be a factor.
``We played them well throughout the regular season, but this is a different season coming up, so we’re going to see,’’ he added. ``People didn’t think we were going to make it to the playoffs. I mean, what do people really know?’’
FIRST ROUND SCHEDULE
Game 1 – Saturday, April 13 @ Toronto, 5 p.m. ET (Fox Sports Florida/ESPN)
Game 2 – Tuesday, April 16 @ Toronto, 8 p.m. ET (Fox Sports Florida/TNT)
Game 3 – Friday, April 19 @ Orlando, 7 p.m. ET (Fox Sports Florida/ESPN)
Game 4 – Sunday, April 21 @ Orlando, 7 p.m. ET (Fox Sports Florida/TNT)
Game 5* – Tuesday, April 23 @ Toronto, TBA (Fox Sports Florida/TBA)
Game 6* – Thursday, April 25 @ Orlando, TBA (Fox Sports Florida/TBA)
Game 7* – Saturday, April 27 @ Toronto, TBA (Fox Sports Florida/TNT)
* If necessary
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