Orlando Magic Make Dallas Mavericks Look Second Rate: Battle of Second Bests

With the Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks each residing in second place in their respective conferences, the tilt between the Magic and Mavs is a good barometer to measure the playoff preparedness of each second seeded squad.

Which team is a serious threat to its conference’s king, and which is doomed to being second fiddle come the playoffs?

Whereas Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic answered the challenge with an impressive 97-82 victory in Dallas, the Mavs were soundly defeated on their home floor.

Among the reasons for the score was the play of each team’s franchise player.

Second to None

The more Dwight Howard plays, the better he becomes. If last year’s Defensive Player of the Year award was granted to Howard, it was strictly because of the media’s short attention span to Dwight’s ability to sell out defensively and block shots from the weak side, but now he has evolved into an almost complete defender.

While Howard still chases penetrations and commits one silly goaltend per game, he’s such an intimidating presence that opponents panic in the paint in fear of Howard swatting their attempts away.

Against Dallas, Howard had five blocked shots, but his presence was also illuminated by Dallas’ shooting numbers in the paint—16-38. The Mavericks missed 22 shots in the vicinity of the basket, a staggering amount.

Consider that a small handful of the makes came on fast breaks, and the number looks even more dismal—or divine, depending on your point of view.

Aside from protecting the paint, Howard is much more comfortable defending screens along the perimeter.

He’s able to move well laterally to prevent pocket jump shots that targeted him in the past, and he takes a low stance that can get fingertips on sloppy handles—as he did when he tipped away a J.J. Barea dribble after Dallas’ mighty mite tried to split Howard after a screen.

And his rebounding has always been exceptional—20 rebounds against the Mavs.

Indeed Howard is quickly evolving into the most complete defender in the league, and is a deserving candidate for whatever defensive accolades are thrust upon him.

Dwight’s offense has always lagged behind his defense. Against the Mavs, Howard was 3-7 when asked to create his own offense in the post, as opposed to 3-4 when finishing off cookies.

His lone assist came on a simple pass out of a double team that Rashard Lewis converted into a three.

His handle was suspect (three TO), and he committed a traveling violation.

Still, Howard is a threat in the low post simply because of his overwhelming measurables. And his threat-level is code red when he’s diving to the lane after setting a screen. Whenever Caron Butler was late dropping down to put a body on Howard after a screen, Howard tallied a dunk or a foul.

And Howard set bone shattering screens, pummeling Barea and Jason Terry to the ground on two separate occasions.

If he ever becomes the same kind of threat from the post, the league will be his.

Second Rate

While Dwight Howard dominated the game on the defensive end, and was a major factor offensively, Dirk Nowitzki was a non-factor defensively, and disappeared offensively as the game went along.

Dallas’ pet move was to use a baseline cross screen to bring Nowitzki from the left to the right baseline, roughly 14-16 feet away—an area close enough to the basket where Nowitzki is dangerous, yet far enough where he can pick apart double teams with passes and spaced teammates.

In transition, Dirk would run down to the basket, stop, turn, and set a target at either the elbow or mid-post.

Dallas also ran a side screen/roll with Dirk that freed him up for a made jumper.

Nowitzki was checked by inferior defenders—Rashard Lewis, Matt Barnes, Ryan Anderson, and Brandon Bass—and over the first half, took full advantage with his series of twisting turnarounds and fadeaway jumpers.

Lewis was completely befuddled by Dirk, and was riddled with foul trouble early in the third quarter. Bass was overaggressive and couldn’t help but foul Dirk or bite on his pump fakes. Anderson isn’t good enough to defend a player of Dirk’s caliber, and Barnes isn’t strong enough.

Midway through the third quarter, Dirk was playing as a star should—8-17 FG, 6-6 FT, 22 PTS.

But without Orlando altering their gameplan—they never double teamed Dirk—or switching a better defender onto him, Dirk simply disappeared.

He actually started off making eight of his first 15 attempts, but went 1-7 for the game’s final 21 minutes. The same awkwardly contorted shots he was making earlier were shot a little bit sooner, or from slightly more extreme angles. When he had a good look, he’d simply brick it.

Either way, while the rest of the Mavs were disintegrating and Orlando turned up the pressure, Dirk faded away, and Orlando developed a double-digit lead and pulled away.

He couldn’t get to the basket, he couldn’t get to the free throw line, and he couldn’t do anything to get the Mavs back in the ball game. A disappointing performance from a player who’s had way too big a share of disappointing performances.

Nowitzki’s defensive highlights include slapping the ball out Vince Carter’s hands in transition, staying in front of Ryan Anderson on an up-and-under move, and containing Jameer Nelson on a switch.

Otherwise, Dirk offered no basket protection and gave up far too much room to Lewis and Barnes, allowing them to square up and bomb away from downtown.

As Howard was giving Orlando confidence that they could outclass any talented team in any building, Dirk was disappearing at home. Business as usual.

Super Secondary Players

While Howard was the main reason for Orlando’s defensive dominance over the Mavs, Orlando got contributions all around to pick up the win.

Vince Carter has shaken off the dreadful slump that plagued him until February and has embraced the role of Orlando’s go-to perimeter scorer.

While he still lounges around too often on the perimeter, he knocked down a brace of jumpers, ran Olando’s screen/roll game well, and abused Dallas’ small lineup in the post.

If Carter’s defensive technique is poor—having his hands down and contesting shots only well after the shooter has gone into the apex of his shooting motion—he still managed to prevent Caron Butler from sniffing the basket.

Jameer Nelson has eclipsed Carter in replacing Hedo Turkoglu as Orlando’s primary screen/roll initiator. He frequently over-handled and forced passes—six TO—but he also knocked down important shots when Dallas made a semi-run midway through the fourth.

Lewis and Barnes were mostly non-factors, but they took advantage of the slightest airspace to drill their threes—4-8 3FG combined.

As is his habit, Mickael Pietrus played adhesive defense and made timely shots during critical junctures of critical games—6-6 3FG, 24 PTS.

Bass abused Shawn Marion in the post and finished strong at the rim. With Anderson too limited on offense and too inexperienced on defense, Bass has taken the roll of primary backup power forward.

Orlando closed out hard on the perimeter, chased over every screen/roll, stayed attached to the hip of curlers, and funneled Dallas into the paint where Howard was lurking.

Plus, by not doubling Nowitzki, Orlando prevented Dallas’ secondary players from finding open three-point looks, and trusted that Nowitzki wasn’t going to be able to beat the Magic by his lonesome—a winning strategy executed well.

It’s that soundness on the defensive end that can carry the Magic to a title, even should their three-pointers not be dropping. And when Orlando is shooting 14-24 from downtown, it’s curtains for the opponent.

Second-Class Citizens

While Dirk certainly disappeared down the stretch, too many of his teammates never decided to show up.

Caron Butler was dismal—missing layups, taking fall-away jumpers over Carter, and having no impact on the defensive end.

Whereas Butler was a spark after being rescued from basketball hell, his play has trailed off after initially being acquired, and it’s no certainty that he’s going to provide a lift for the postseason.

Brendan Haywood, and especially Erick Dampier, were overmatched by Howard, and were unable to contest Magic screen/roll jumpers.

Jason Kidd couldn’t turn the corner, couldn’t convert open looks (2-8 FG, 1-5 3 FG), and struggled defending Orlando’s taller two-guards who shot over him or posted him up.

Marion looks older and slower every time he plays—2-9 FG, 4 PTS. He was outquicked or overpowered on defense, and is nowhere close to being the defensive player he was in Phoenix.

Plus, he’s never been particularly adept at creating for himself. With broken plays less of a factor in the postseason, it’s doubtful that Marion will contribute much of anything in the playoffs.

Without the open looks Jason Terry thrives on, he was forced to create off the dribble more than he is accustomed to and struggled as a result—6-16 FG.

Rodrigue Beaubois—0-3 FG, 0 AST, 2 TO, 2 PTS—over-handled, over-penetrated, made no-look passes that were intercepted by the Magic, and looked every bit like the rookie he is.

Only Barea had any success, but only in garbage time. Plus, all three pint-sized guards were obliterated on defense.

Dallas is mostly an isolation offense that doesn’t have a great deal of team speed defensively, and doesn’t have size on the perimeter—all weak spots that can get picked apart in the playoffs.

If Dallas’ supporting cast plays well, then Dirk won’t have the pressure of unilaterally carrying the Mavs scoring load. In turn, he’ll play better and the team will play better. But if Dallas’ supporting cast can’t contribute, then Dirk will be asked to bear too heavy a burden and the Mavs will be doomed to an early exit.

The latter is a more likely scenario than the former.