NBA Playoffs 2012: Orlando Magic and Teams Guaranteed to Lose in First Round

You never know what might happen come playoff time, particularly in the NBA, but sometimes it is painfully obvious entering the postseason that a certain team doesn't have what it takes to have success. There are a few such teams in this year's NBA playoffs, and while it may seem dangerous to count teams out, there are a few squads I feel confident in burying.

Not every team that makes the playoffs is necessarily a great one. Since more than half the league's teams qualify, there are bound to be a few average squads in the postseason. When you consider how good some of the league's top teams are, there are going to be a few mismatches. That is the case this year, just as it is every other year.

Here are three teams who simply don't have a realistic chance to advance past the first round this season. 

Orlando Magic

For most of the season, I considered the Orlando Magic to be a decent dark-horse team despite all the drama surrounding them. With polarizing center Dwight Howard out for the playoffs, though, it would be shocking to see the sixth-seeded Magic oust the third-seeded Indiana Pacers. The Pacers aren't an elite team in the same way the Chicago Bulls or Miami Heat are, but they are easily the deepest team in the Eastern Conference, and that makes them very tough to beat.

The Magic will be without their superstar, so the offensive burden is going to fall on the shoulders of players like Ryan Anderson, Jameer Nelson, Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu. All of them are obviously solid players, but they are much more effective in a supporting role. The Pacers have played far too well as a team this season to bow out against a team that is missing its best player. Even if Howard were in the mix, the Pacers are simply better.

Utah Jazz

Seeing as the San Antonio Spurs were vanquished by the Memphis Grizzlies as a No. 1 seed in the first round last season, some might be hesitant to say something similar won't happen again this season. After last year's ordeal, though, the Spurs will be totally focused and shouldn't have much of an issue dispatching of the eighth-seeded Utah Jazz. Utah did well to scratch and claw their way into the playoffs, but the Jazz are a flawed team.

The combination of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap inside is solid, but Devin Harris has provided inconsistent point guard play and there is a severe lack of quality wing players on the roster. The Spurs have a good enough big-man rotation to neutralize Jefferson and Millsap, while Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and a host of excellent guards off the bench will victimize Utah's suspect backcourt en route to a fairly easy series victory.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Philadelphia 76ers were one the NBA's most surprising teams early in the season as they were battling for the Eastern Conference's top seed, but they fell off in a big way and will enter the playoffs as the No. 8 seed. The Sixers will have the unenviable task of facing the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in the first round, and while Philly was able to beat the Bulls earlier in the year, the 76ers are a far different and far worse team currently.

The 76ers have some decent scoring depth with Lou Williams, Andre Iguodala, Jrue Holiday and others, but they don't have a guy who can take over a game. The Bulls, on the other hand, have a couple such players in Derrick Rose and Luol Deng. I simply can't see the Bulls bowing out before the conference finals, especially against the Sixers. Philadelphia's early-season run was a nice story, but a drop-off was inevitable and it will ultimately lead to a first-round exit.