The Magic will limp into the playoffs as the sixth seed after Dwight Howard suffered a herniated disk in his back to prematurely end his season. Many pundits have the Pacers easily dismantling the injury-riddled Magic in the first round to send them into an offseason of uncertainty given Howard's desire to play elsewhere and head coach Stan Van Gundy's unknown status. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel has the latest news surrounding the Magic as their series gets underway on Saturday in Indianapolis.
- The offseason acquisition of Glen Davis from the Celtics appeared to be a bust when he was suspended by the Magic for conduct detrimental to team in February, but the former LSU star has turned heads with his strong play in April. After Howard's season came to a close, Davis was afforded the opportunity to start and demonstrated his ability by averaging 16.4 PPG and 8.8 RPG over his last 12 games. Currently struggling with an ankle sprain, the six-foot-nine Davis will be at a severe height disadvantage when he matches up with the Pacers' Roy Hibbert, who checks in at seven-foot-two.
- Van Gundy will need to see strong contributions out of lesser-known bench players if the Magic seek to be competitive against the much deeper Pacers. Earl Clark and Daniel Orton are two names that Van Gundy will have to reluctantly call upon to keep his starters fresh throughout the series. Orton, 21, provides size at six-foot-ten, but has never played in a playoff game after failing to see any action during his entire rookie season of 2010/2011.
- The Magic are playing coy with Hedo Turkoglu's status heading into Game 1 against the Pacers. Van Gundy knows whether the former first-round pick will start, but refuses to offer any clues to the media, and in turn, the Pacers. Now in his second stint with the Magic, Turkoglu offers the team size at the small forward position against a Pacers squad chuck full of big bodies.