NBA Playoffs Schedule 2012: Pacers Will Make Short Work of Embattled Magic

This, my friends, will not be pretty. 

The hope from a pure love-of-basketball standpoint is that the Orlando Magic can make a series of the first round. 

After a tumultuous season, they have been left exhausted and without their best player. More than that, they are playing a balanced team that comes in winners of eight of their last 10 games. 

First come the schedules, and here is what we know. 

Note: The Orlando Magic and Indiana Pacers will get things off and running with a game on Saturday. The time and TV coverage are to be determined, but here is the link to where the schedule will be listed. 

First, there is the obvious. It comes in the form of a 3-1 advantage that the Magic have enjoyed over the Pacers this season. 

On January 24, Dwight Howard went for 14 points and nine rebounds, a pedestrian night until you consider his team was plus-11 when he was on the floor. The Magic won 102-83. 

Howard dropped 27 points in a close win in February, and went for 30 and 13 in their recent victory over the Pacers on March 11. 

The Pacers, however, can take down the Magic when Howard is at his best. He had 24 points in their defeat on January 29. 

Not that any of that matters, because the best big defender and a huge part of the Magic offense is out, gone for the season after needing surgery on his herniated disk. 

That leaves the surging Pacers to play out a series against a team that was 5-8 through April, is missing their big man and continue to suffer from issues behind the scenes. 

Roy Hibbert will be far more free to do as he wishes down low, and that also gives Danny Granger room to operate. 

The scales were already tipping toward the Pacers, and they have now gone completely to Indiana. 

The Pacers were already a strong defensive team that ranks fifth in the league in rebounding with 43.9 boards per game.

This has been an awful year for the Magic emotionally, but the good news is that it's almost over.

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