Keeping it Close

After a thoroughly hyperbolic summer, where experts’ predictions had the Miami Heat winning no fewer than 70 games, it’s shocking to see the Southeast division race is even remotely competitive at this point in the season. And yet here we are, watching the Orlando Magic take advantage of the Miami Heat’s up-and-down campaign to challenge them for the division crown. And if the Magic catch the Heat then, oh boy, we may be in for some late-season waterworks.

Others would argue that since the Heat publicly cleared the air and their tear ducts, they’ve been pressing less and winning more. Heck, the team used a balanced attack on Monday night against the San Antonio Spurs, repaying a 30-point pasting from earlier in the season. It was a thing of beauty, really.

But, to my eyes at least, they’re still way too thin, and if Wade hurts his knee again, or LeBron’s back acts up, the Heat will be out of the playoffs faster than you can say “take my talents to South Beach” three times. Meanwhile the Atlanta Hawks are still milling around, close but not enough to matter. And the Hornets and Wizards… wait, what was the question again?

Miami Heat (46–21)
Grim, moist-eyed times in Miami last week have morphed into okay, stiff-upper-lip times this week. What’s next? Who knows? But, regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, the mood has shifted in Miami. Now, when LeBron misses a handful of shots — because he is, after all, a human being — the fans in Miami look up from their iPhones and boo him. Boo him! The guy that painted a target on his back for you schmucks!

Dwyane Wade and that third guy are playing well enough to beat the lousy teams, and James, despite the occasional ire of faux-tanned fans, is carrying them. The team was handed a gift when the Celtics traded Kendrick Perkins, but now are in danger of locking themselves into the Conference’s 3rd seed for the playoffs. As it stands now, they would play the Knicks in the first round and, from a Heat standpoint, that would be enough to make a grown man (or three) cry.

Orlando Magic (42–25)
Dwight Howard is averaging 23 and 14, with 2.5 blocks per game. He is the league MVP if my vote counted (and, wouldn’t you know it, my ballot always seems to get lost). Some would argue that his team is the deepest of all the contenders and therefore Howard’s contribution is overstated. But I’m not buying that. The Magic has one very good player (Jameer Nelson), a few pretty good players (Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu) and couple of decent players (Brandon Bass and J.J. Redick), along with one Gilbert Arenas, a man who defies characterization. Howard is the one player in the NBA for whom there is really no defensive answer. In my opinion, the Conference Finals could come down to a Bulls-Magic match-up, rather than a Celtics-Heat one. (Somewhere, deep in his underground lair, David Stern just shuddered.)

Atlanta Hawks (38–28)
Joe Johnson badmouthed the fans last season, just before the team finished skulking out of the playoffs. I would advise him to hold his tongue as this seasons winds to a close because, let’s face it, this team is no better than that one was and, chances are, a-skulking it will go.

Josh Smith has been the Hawks’ best player this season and Al Horford is pretty good, although he really should be averaging more than 10 boards per game. Jamal Crawford can singlehandedly win a quarter and his playoff mettle has been established. But the reality is harsh: there isn’t a person alive that can tell me how or why the Hawks have a chance to win a title this season. Even the ghost of former Hawk Mike Bibby agrees. Oh, wait, that actually is Mike Bibby.

Charlotte Bobcats (28–38)
You look at the team’s record and you look at its skill players and you come to the conclusion that this is a pretty well-coached team (Word to Larry Brown and, now, Paul Silas.) Sure they have headache-y super threat Stephen Jackson — the master of playing his way onto and then off of teams — but the rest of its top players (D.J. Augustin, Tyrus Thomas and Boris Diaw) aren’t scaring anybody. How on earth has this team won 10 more games than the Wizards? I thought we covered that already.

Washington Wizards (16–49)
John Wall can’t do it alone. Which is a nice way of saying that he can’t do it. Nick Young is a scorer, but should choose either rebounding, playing defense or distributing the ball, and master that skill, too. There’s no more room in the NBA for one-dimensional starters. Andray Blatche is in the top-half of the league’s big men, but he’s on the bottom of the top half. Still, he’s coming on quickly. Rashard Lewis, on the other hand, is Juwan Howard 2.0 — a guy who was in the right place to get $100 million at the right time. This season was over before it began. On the upside, no guns made their way into the team’s locker room.

Tony Gervino is a New York City-based editor and writer obsessed with honing his bio to make him sound quirky. He can also be found here.

Photo by Keith Allison.