Kobe Bryant antagonist Matt Barnes (right) recently signed with the L.A. Lakers. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Kobe Bryant says anyone who is crazy enough to mess with him on the court is crazy enough to play with him.

Two seasons ago, Bryant got into an altercation with Ron Artest – who was with the Houston Rockets at the time – during a playoff game. A year later, Artest signed with the Lakers and became an integral part of the Lakers’ championship run in 2010. Last week, the Lakers signed another Kobe antagonist – Matt Barnes.

Barnes, who played with the Orlando Magic last season, got into a heated battle with Bryant during a regular-season game in Orlando. There were back-and-forth intimidating glares, some words were exchanged and Bryant even shot an elbow at Barnes’ chest as he finished off a dunk. Barnes retaliated by showing the ball right in Bryant’s face on an out-of-bounds play. The two went face-to-face on more than one occasion, and the officials and teammates had to separate them.

Barnes downplayed the whole incident and claimed the encounter was a bit overblown.

“What we went through during the regular season was [something] the media built up,” the seven-year pro said on ESPN’s First Take on Wednesday. “That was just two competitors trying their best not to let their team lose.

“When you’re in the heat of battle sometimes it gets tough down there,” Barnes added. “Either of us wasn’t going to back down, and that’s really what all that was. There was a lot of talking back and forth, there were a few cuss words said.”

It was Barnes who reached out to Bryant this offseason when the opportunity to join the Lakers presented itself. Barnes was close to signing with the Toronto Raptors, but when the deal fell through the Lakers became a viable option for the former UCLA standout and Santa Clara native.

“Once I started thinking about the Lakers that’s where my heart kind of went. It was between them and Miami as my two main choices,” said Barnes, who signed a two-year deal worth about $4 million. “Being from California and going to UCLA, I just thought it would be a great opportunity and a dream come true to play for the Lakers.”

Barnes added: “The Lakers have always been on my radar. Talking to [Lakers GM] Mitch Kupchak, he said he felt the same way.”

Barnes said he grew up idolizing the Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Showtime Lakers during the 1980s. He joins a Lakers squad that has won the last two NBA titles. He’ll play backup shooting guard or small forward. The feisty defender and a decent outside shooter should be a welcomed addition to an already talented Lakers roster. The Lakers are Barnes’ eighth NBA team.

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All-Star point guard Chris Paul should reconsider his trade demands and try to bring a championship to New Orleans. (GETTY IMAGES)

There are now several published reports that point guard Chris Paul wants out of New Orleans and lists the Orlando Magic as his No. destination.

This has LeBron James’ fingerprints all over this sudden trade demand from the NBA’s best point guard. James and Paul are very good friends. In fact, the week of LeBron’s “Decision” Paul was at his basketball camp in Akron, Ohio. James probably told Paul what his intentions were and planted the seed on this whole “super team” idea.

Paul dropped hints last month during Carmelo Anthony’s wedding that he would love to play with other superstars. He mentioned playing in New York with Amare Stoudemire and possibly Anthony (if he decides to leave Denver), and he also mentioned Dallas, Portland and Orlando. 

Forming super teams are becoming the latest trend in the NBA, much like the headbands and arm sleeves. What every happened to being an original instead of a copycat? Michael Jordan certainly disagreed with LeBron’s decision to leave Cleveland to be with two other All-Stars in South Beach. Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley couldn’t understand why a reigning MVP would smudge his star like that and hop on someone else’s bandwagon. That was complete foreign to super studs in the 1980s.

With James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh joining forces in Miami, Paul looked at his own situation in New Orleans and got star envy. I guess David West and Emeka Okafor won’t suffice at this point.

That’s where the Orlando Magic comes in. Paul sees Dwight Howard and his mouth begins to salivate just thinking about all those alley-oop passes he can serve up to Blankman. But Orlando already has a point guard, Jameer Nelson, and he just happens to be Blankman’s best friend. Would Blankman toss his good friend under the bus so he could team up with a better PG? Not likely to happen.

The second team on Paul’s wish list is the New York Knicks. Again, Paul would love to run pick-and-rolls all day with Stoudemire, but at some point you have to play defense which is something head coach Mike D’Antoni doesn’t have in his playbook. If D’Antoni, hypothetically, had 100 pages on his playbook, 99 of them would be devoted to offense.

Even if the Knicks somehow convince Paul and Anthony to come to the Big Apple it still wouldn’t guarantee the Knicks a spot in the NBA Finals. Championships are not built overnight (unless you’re the Boston Celtics in 2008, which is somewhat of an anomaly).

Which leads us back to New Orleans.

Paul, who has two years left on his Hornets deal, has been the face of the New Orleans Hornets the day he was drafted into the league. He’s more than just a starting point guard to the people of New Orleans. He’s the ray of hope that lifts spirits of a ravaged community that is still recovering from a devastating hurricane. Losing CP3 would be like losing the Superdome or the French Quarters on Bourbon Street. It would pretty much signal the end of basketball in New Orleans.

The Hornets brass, which includes GM Dell Demps and head head coach Monty Williams, are scheduled to meet with Paul and convince their superstar that the team is doing everything they can to piece together a contender. If the talk goes well, Paul will likely stay in New Orleans. If not, the Hornets better have a Plan B.

I’m hoping CP3 would come to his senses and think better of leaving the franchise that worships him. Bringing a championship to New Orleans would easily trump three or four titles with the Magic.

Paul should call Drew Brees and ask him how great it feels to lift a downtrodden football team all the way to the Super Bowl. Brees won’t have to win another championship in his lifetime. Bringing ONE championship to New Orleans is worth a thousand mardi gras.

Memo to CP3: Stop listening to LBJ.

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Doc Rivers has maintained since April that, at some point during the postseason, Nate Robinson was going to win a playoff game for the Boston Celtics.

Throughout the 2010 NBA playoffs, Rivers made it a point after almost every Celtics practice to remind Robinson to stay focused, be ready and told him to “stay engaged.” “At some point, you’re going to win a game for us,” Rivers said to the little-used point guard. “I can’t tell you when you’re gonna play, I can’t tell you if you’re gonna play.”

The Celtics coach proved to be prophetic as Robinson got his opportunity in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals and delivered a superlative game off the bench that catapulted the Celtics to a series-clinching 96-84 victory and a trip to the NBA Finals.

Robinson – the 5-foot-9 three-time slam dunk champion who was acquired by the Celtics from the New York Knicks during the trade deadline – led a Boston second unit in the second quarter that pushed the Boston lead from 11 to 21 points. He scored 13 points in nine minutes and made two huge 3-point shots that not only got the crowd excited but inspired his teammates.

Nate Robinson provides a big lift for the Celtics in the second quarter of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference finals. He scored 13 points, including two crushing 3-point shots. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

“They actually made their big run with Rondo sitting on the bench,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “That’s not a knock on Rajon Rondo. I’m not sitting up here saying they’re a better team without Rajon Rondo. But tonight they were.

“Nate Robinson was great. He’s a real talented guy,” Van Gundy added. “He scored a lot of points in New York, and what he did tonight was probably what they had in mind when they made the deal. I guess, for whatever reason, he hadn’t played much for them. But in an absolutely huge game he stepped up and played great.”

Paul Pierce, who led the Celtics with 31 points and had 13 rebounds, credited Robinson for sticking to the script and staying sharp despite the limited action.

“He kinda fell off the rotation, but my hats off to him because usually young players mentally fall out of it when they don’t play, just go through the motions in practice and really not into it because they’re worried about their time. That’s normal for a young player,” Pierce said of Robinson, who turns 26 this month. He had averaged just five minutes of court time in this year’s playoffs.

“But he kept his poise. He went to practice and got his work in, shot the ball, and did what he had to do to stay ready. Tonight his number was called and that just shows his true professionalism,” Pierce continued. “The game could have went either way at that point. We were only up by six or eight [points] and Rondo gets hurt, and he comes in and was a huge sparkplug, and really pushed the game for us.”

Rivers noted that he had already decided to give Robinson more playing time for Game 6 after he played well during the Game 5 loss in Orlando, and it became absolutely necessary when Rondo hurt his hip during the first quarter. “Even though we had played awful, [Robinson] came in and had bought into our defensive system and he was able to run a couple of sets in our system,” Rivers said.

Robinson carried over his solid Game 5 performance with an ever better one in Game 6. He was aggressive on offense and, more importantly, applied heavy pressure on Magic point guard Jameer Nelson, who struggled to a 5-for-14 evening and had just 11 points.

Orlando fought valiantly in this series and Rivers credited Van Gundy for keeping his team together even when most people had already counted them out when they fell behind 0-3.

“We got away from our game when we got behind. Unfortunately, it happens to every team. When we missed shots early, we didn’t stick with our game,” said Van Gundy, who pointed out that the first quarter was the key to the whole series.

“There’s this thing that people try to perpetuate that the NBA is fourth-quarter league, and you don’t even need to watch the first three quarters. That’s for people who don’t study at all and don’t follow NBA basketball. Go back through the years, two thirds or three quarters of the games are won by the team that wins the first quarter. It’s a first-quarter league. You gotta be ready at the start.”

The Magic fell behind 30-19 in the first quarter and played uphill the rest of the game.

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Jameer Nelson reacts after making a 3-pointer in overtime in Game 4. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

It’s only one game, but the Orlando Magic may have turned the corner with the help of their little leader.

Down 0-3 in the 2010 Eastern Conference finals and their season on the line, the Magic finally showed some fight thanks to Jameer Nelson, their 5-foot-10 point guard with a big heart. Nelson took it upon himself to lift his team out of the three-game funk it was in with his scoring, passing, play-making and, more importantly, his leadership.

He scored 23 points, set up Dwight Howard for many of his 13 field goals from close range and finished the game with nine assists, two more than his assist total for the previous three games. He also thoroughly outplayed his counterpart Rajon Rondo, who had been torturing him for much of the series.

“He’s a tough competitive guy, I thought he played with great aggressiveness and fought very, very hard,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said of Nelson, who made seven of 14 shots for the game, including two huge 3-pointers in overtime, to lead Orlando to a hard-fought 96-92 victory in overtime in Game 4.

The Orlando Magic avoided elimination after winning Game 4 in Boston. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

Howard easily played his best game of the playoffs with 32 points (13-for-19 from the field), 16 rebounds and four blocked shots, and J.J. Redick scored 12 points off the bench, all of them coming in the second half that helped maintain Orlando’s lead. But it was Nelson who made the big plays when it matter most.

“He created the vast majority of our offense tonight there’s no doubt about that,” Van Gundy said. “We put a lot on his shoulders and he responded extremely well. He was tremendous tonight.”

Though Orlando is still down 3-1 in the series, getting one win was a huge boost to their sagging confidence after Boston won the first three games. “At some point, somebody’s gonna come from three-nothing down to win a series. And the only thing I knew for sure was we’d start by winning Game 4,” said Van Gundy.

“A lot of times people say ‘I can’t think about winning the series, you gotta win one game.’ I’ve never really bought into that. I’ve never been down three nothing as a head coach. I’ve been [down] three-one. If you don’t believe you’re going to win the series, then it’s too easy to let go. Yeah, you have to play it one game at a time but you have to have a belief somewhere that you can win the series. Otherwise, there’s just not enough to sustain you and to keep you going in the game.”

Van Gundy shouldered much of the blame for the 23-point loss in Game 3, saying he should have done a better job of coaching. If that’s the case, then Van Gundy should get a lot of credit for shifting the focus of the offense from Howard to Nelson, putting him in double pick-and-rolls on the strong side, which allowed Howard to slip to the post instead of having to fight for position every time. Also give Van Gundy credit for not sticking with Vince Carter, who was just 1-for-9 and held to three points. Instead, Van Gundy opted with Redick’s offense and Matt Barnes’ defense down the stretch.

“I don’t think we played desperate, I do think we played hard and we fought,” Van Gundy said. “I thought in the first half we played well. In the second half and overtime, [we had] 15 turnovers so we didn’t play well but we did keep fighting and fighting and fighting, and that’s what it took to get an overtime win.

“It’s the first time, I think in the series, we actually made it tough on them.”

With Nelson initiating the attack, the Magic played faster and got into their sets quicker, making it tougher for the Celtics to set up their great halfcourt defense.

“Jameer was driving the ball hard. I thought he was really aggressive. At times, he got down too deep and he did turn it over a lot. But he’s got a lot of guts,” Van Gundy said.

With both teams looking weary and tired from 48 minutes of physical basketball, Nelson put the Magic ahead for good at 89-86 when he banked in a 3-pointer from the wing. He then iced it with another 3-pointer with 1:59 left that put Orlando up 92-86.

The Magic fed off Nelson’s fighting spirit and now they believe can make this a series. Orlando returns home for Game 5 and should the Magic win the pressure shifts to the Celtics in Game 6.

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How quickly things can change.

A week ago, the Orlando Magic was the sexy pick to represent the East in the NBA Finals based on the way they dismantled the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks.

Today, the Magic are on the brink of elimination and appear to be surrendering to the Boston Celtics, who have completely undressed the Magic in the 2010 Eastern Conference finals thanks to a stifling defense that is reminiscent of their championship run in 2008.

Is Orlando’s season over? According to Dwight Howard, his team seemed despondent and defeated in Game 3, and has not shown any signs of wanting to extend this series. The Celtics held the Magic to 39% shooting and 28% from behind the arc in their 94-71 rout in Boston to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Glen Davis (right) and the Celtics have kept Dwight Howard in check in the 2010 Eastern Conference finals. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

Howard, Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis, all key cogs during Orlando’s eight-game playoff winning streak, have been handcuffed by the great Celtics defense.

Howard, aka Blankman, has once again smeared the Superman brand with his pathetic performance in the conference finals. He was held to seven points in Game 3 and is shooting just 45% from the field (he shot 84% in the previous series against the Hawks).

The biggest reason why Orlando has had a difficult time scoring (83.6) against Boston’s defense is Blankman’s ineptness in the low post. Because Blankman can’t beat Boston’s single coverage, the Celtics’ perimeter defenders have been able to attach themselves to the Magic shooters, running them out of the 3-point line every chance they get.

Nelson, who won his one-on-one battles with Charlotte’s Raymond Felton and Atlanta’s Mike Bibby, has been severely outplayed by Boston’s Rajon Rondo.

Celtics head coach Doc Rivers targeted Nelson as the key to the whole series, and Boston has done an excellent job in limiting his kick-outs to his shooters and funneling him to the teeth of the defense where his 5-foot-9 frame becomes an issue. Nelson is making only 38% of his shots from the field and under 30% from threes. He also has just seven assists in three games.

And then there is Lewis, the poster boy for Orlando’s struggles on offense. Boston’s suffocating defense, led by Kevin Garnett, has made Lewis disappear and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who vowed to get Lewis more shots after Game 1, has not been able to get his forward more involved.

Lewis, who is 6-for-24 for the series, is averaging a measly 5.0 points per game and has made just one 3-pointer (1-for-13).

No team has ever come back from an 0-3 hole in the NBA playoffs, so the odds are stacked against the Magic. Losing the first two games at home was crippling and, after tonight, don’t expect to see Orlando again until October when the 2010-11 season begins.

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Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy is always very candid when it comes to evaluating his team, and that includes himself.

The Magic seemed like it couldn’t do anything wrong after the first two round of the 2010 NBA playoffs. After three games in the Eastern Conference finals, the Magic can’t seem to do anything right. The Magic is on the verge of getting swept out of the playoffs after dropping Game 3, 94-71, in Boston.

The Celtics are now ahead 3-0 in the series, and no team in NBA history has ever recovered from an 0-3 hole.

“The most disappointing to me was I didn’t have our team ready to play. That’s the most disappointing,” Van Gundy told reporters after Game 3. “I’m the coach of this team, and it starts with me. I’m not happy with where I had my team tonight. I thought we were a step late on everything. They just riddled us. Again, I’ll take the blame on that too.

“They were a step ahead on every play and I thought they worked harder than we did. I thought they outcompeted us.”

Stan Van Gundy can't bear to watch what is happening to his team. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

With their backs flushed against the wall, Van Gundy said the knee-jerk reaction is to pack it up and retreat. But it’s hard for him to fathom a team that has been so mentally tough all season long will go down without a fight.

“What I said to them after the game is there are a lot of guys in that room who have worked long and hard to bring this franchise up a long way,” Van Gundy said. “That game out there tonight, not just the score but the way it went, is disappointing because that’s not who we are. So, how do we pick it up? I mean, I think between right now and Monday night there’s gonna have to be a lot of soul searching and a lot of pulling together.

“The easiest thing to do for anybody when things go badly is to escape. That’s all we want to do. It’s going to be everybody’s natural reaction. I’m not saying our guys will do that. That’s everybody’s natural inclination. It takes very mature, very mentally tough people to stand up and say, ‘No, I’m part of this and we’re gonna pull together.’ ”

Magic center Dwight Howard had another horrendous game and was held to seven points on 3-for-10 shooting and had just seven rebounds in Game 3.

“Right now, we gotta find ourselves,” said Howard. “Seem like tonight our bodies was here but our minds wasn’t. Our hearts seem like it wasn’t into it, I don’t know.”

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Rajon Rondo beats Jason Williams to a loose ball in the second quarter that set the tone for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

Kevin Garnett called it “the play” of the 2010 playoffs. Doc Rivers described it as an “unbelievable play.”

It occurred with under nine minutes left in the second quarter and the Boston Celtics leading the Orlando Magic 34-17. After a ball was deflected into the Orlando backcourt, Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo tracked it down by outrunning Magic point guard Jason Williams. But it wasn’t your average run-down. Rondo dove head first, reached between Williams’ legs to gain possession of the ball, got up and dribbled past Williams for a layup. It was one of those signature moments in the playoffs, and it pretty much summarized how the series is going.

“If that didn’t give your whole team energy nothing will,” Rivers said of Rondo’s amazing play that brought the crowd to a frenzy at TD Banknorth Garden and may have killed the Magic’s spirit. Boston went on to win Game 3, 94-71, to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

“I just wanted it. I just wanted to make a play on the ball,” said Rondo, who has been locked in throughout these playoffs and pieced together another solid outing, scoring 11 points and delivering 12 assists. He was also responsible for Boston’s 12 steals.

Garnett called it pure grit, pure hustle that has defined Rondo’s young NBA career.

“I told him after the game, when we were in the back, that it was probably the play of the playoffs for me,” Garnett said. “Pure basketball, pure hustle, pure I-want-it-more-than-you type of play. And I thought it was a foul too, but that’s just me. I’ve said this about Shorty, man, he’s in a zone. He’s just showing the world what he’s made of. The future is scary for youngin.”

Video courtesy of NBA.com

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When a player is feeling good about his game, he tends to do a lot of talking. Paul Pierce must be feeling good about his game lately because he’s making a lot of noise.

After the Boston Celtics defeated the Orlando Magic, 95-92, in Game 2 to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals, Pierce spoke with ESPN’s Doris Burke and confidently boasted that the Celtics will close out the series in Boston. “Our fans aren’t going to let us relax. Ya’ll aren’t gonna let us relax,” Pierce told Burke. Then, Pierce looked into the camera and said, “We’re gonna try to close this out in two games, ya’ll hear me. We’re comin’ home and close it out.”

Shortly after the ESPN postgame interview, Pierce allegedly posted a message on his Twitter account (paulpierce34) that read, “Anybody got a BROOM?” Pierce denied sending the tweet, claiming his Twitter account was hacked.

Sure. Likely story, Paul.

It’s the old my-dog-ate-my-homework excuse, or like punching your buddy on the arm while he’s not looking and when he turns around you point at someone else and pretend it wasn’t you.

Paul Pierce is confident his Celtics will take care of business at home. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

Whether Pierce, the longest tenured Celtic player and the team’s captain, is being honest about Twitter-gate, the message was loud and clear: Paul Pierce has his swagger back.

Pierce seems to have regained his shooting stroke after it briefly left him in the conference semifinals. In two games against the Magic, Pierce is averaging 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists. In six games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Pierce was limited to 13 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Pierce said wrestling with LeBron James for six games sapped his energy in the previous series and his offense suffered because of it.

“I have the opportunity to be more aggressive in this series than I did in the last series since I had such a huge defensive responsibility. Not taking anything away from Vince [Carter], Vince is a great challenge and he’s known to have big games, but you’re talking about playing the best player in the league. It’s tough, physically and mentally,” Pierce said of guarding James, the NBA’s two-time MVP.

“In this series, I have a little more free reign to be more offensive.”

Though Pierce won’t say it publicly, but privately he’s gotta be loving his matchup with Carter, who is not known for his defense. Pierce has been allowed to get to his sweet spots without much of a fight. He has been to the free-throw line 21 times in two games in the conference finals, compared to only 19 free-throw attempts for the entire conference semifinals.

When Pierce is getting to the free-throw line, he’s being aggressive. And when he’s aggressive, the Celtics are nearly unbeatable because he puts a lot of pressure on the defense and takes pressure off Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo.

Pierce was simply telling the truth when he said the Celtics are going to close this thing out in Boston. Nothing wrong with feeling confident at this point, especially with the way the Celtics are playing defense and the way Pierce is wearing out Carter. Expect another hacker to send a tweet on Pierce’s behalf and post this message: “Beat L.A.”

Video courtesy of ESPN

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After a perfect 8-0 run through the first two rounds of the 2010 NBA playoffs, the Orlando Magic can’t seem to do anything right in the Eastern Conference finals. Down 0-2 to the Boston Celtics, the Magic are now staring at a deep hole they may not be able to climb out of.

The Magic suffered a gut-wrenching 95-92 loss to the Celtics in the Game 2, and the series now shifts to Boston for two games. It could be Orlando’s final two games this season if it doesn’t fix its many issues.

There are plenty of blame to go around and it starts with head coach Stan Van Gundy, detours to Vince Carter’s missed free throws, makes a pit stop at J.J. Redick’s poor clock management and ends with Rashard Lewis’ shooting woes.

Redick was involved in a head-scratching final 10 seconds for Orlando in which the Magic backup guard wasted four precious seconds before finally calling timeout. Down by three with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Van Gundy elected not to foul and forced the Celtics to make a play. After Kevin Garnett missed a long jump shot, Redick grabbed the rebound but inexplicably dribbled to halfcourt before a timeout was called, forcing the Magic to inbound in the backcourt instead of the frontcourt.

Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy talks to backup guard J.J. Redick during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

When asked about needing a timeout sooner rather than later, Van Gundy answered with an emphatic “yes.”

“It was all covered in the timeout,” Van Gundy told reporters during his postgame news conference. “We had a six second differential, we were playing for stop and an immediate timeout. It made big difference because if you watch the last play Rashard [Lewis] got open, but because we were inbounding the ball in the backcourt, [Michael] Finley was back in the passing lane and we could not make the pass to him.”

Van Gundy is quick to blame Redick for not calling timeout, but he could have easily called the timeout himself to avoid any confusion. As it turned out, Redick threw the ball in the backcourt to Jameer Nelson with three seconds remaining on the clock, and Nelson’s desperation heave from midcourt fell short.

“I made a mistake,” Redick told the Associated Press. “I didn’t hear the whistle initially. When I didn’t hear it initially, I just kind of went, then I realized we should have called a timeout. So that was my fault.”

The poor decision overshadowed an otherwise solid game for Redick, who scored 16 points off the bench.

The Magic could have avoided the botched play in the end all together if Lewis made half of his field goals. Lewis followed his six-point performance in the Game 1 with an equally terrible five-point performance in Game 2. Lewis, who had been averaging 15 points in the playoffs, has made just four of 16 shots in the first two games in the series – 1-for-9 from behind the arc.

Van Gundy said he needs to do a better job of getting Lewis the ball in spots where he can do some damage. The way it is situated right now, Kevin Garnett has been able to stay attached to Lewis out in the perimeter because the Magic are reduced to standing around on offense waiting on Dwight Howard to make a move in the low post or waiting on Nelson to drive and kick.

The good news for the Magic is that Howard bounced back from an awful 13-point Game 1 with a solid 30-point performance in Game 2. The bad news for the Magic is the rest of the starters shot just 13-for-42 from the field.

Video courtesy of NBA.com

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Ten years ago, Vince Carter had the whole NBA world spinning like a 360 windmill.

He exploded onto the scene with a sensational rookie season in 1999 as a member of the Toronto Raptors and then became known as “Half Man, Half Amazing” (thanks Shaq!) with his mind-blowing performance in the slam dunk contest at the 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend in Oakland. Many consider Carter’s first four dunks as the best collection of dunks in NBA history – better than Air Jordan, better than The Human Highlight Film, and better Dr. J.

But then, like most shooting stars who experience a meteoric rise above the competition, Carter fizzled and took a backseat to there new “it” guys such as LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Injuries also took away some of Carter’s immense athletic ability, and the moniker “Half Man, Half Amazing” became “Half Man, Half A Season” (thanks Kenny Smith!).

The regular highlight dunks on SportsCenter had been replaced by close-up shots of Vince Carter wincing in pain – hence the new nickname “Wince” Carter.

Vince Carter, 33, is pointing to a possible NBA championship this season. (ORLANDO SENTINEL)

After six seasons in Toronto, Carter was traded to the New Jersey Nets. He spent the next five seasons with the Nets, experiencing a few bright moments but nothing like the spotlight he enjoyed in Toronto. Last summer, Carter was traded to his nearby hometown team of Orlando. Happy to be back in the Sunshine State, the Dayton Beach native and Mainland High School standout has been a good fit for the Magic and seamlessly adapted to the role of secondary option to Dwight Howard, Orlando’s young first-team All-NBA center.

Carter was once considered a franchise player, like Howard, during the prime years of his career, but those days were left behind in Toronto and New Jersey. Now 33 years old, Carter knows Orlando could be the last stop of his storied career and he’s not about to waste a great opportunity to rewrite his legacy.

“For me, I’m just gonna continue to play, be the player that I am and focus on the task at hand. And when it is all said and done, maybe it’s good enough for some people, maybe it’s not,” said the eight-time NBA All-Star. “This is my opportunity for a championship. I’ve dedicated myself to this team for that reason. Like I said, when it is all said and done, I’m gonna hold my head up high. I’ve felt like I’ve had a great career.

“A lot of people don’t get the opportunity to play 11 years or 12 years. I’ve done that, and hopefully I have a couple of more left. I’m hoping I could say, ‘Yeah. I have a championship as well.’ At the end of the day, I’ll let you guys make the decision.”

On a Magic team armed with three other legitimate All-Stars (Howard, Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis), Carter doesn’t need to be great all the time. He just needs to play his role and wait for his turn to score.

“Guys are just focused. Everybody is locked in on what needs to be done,” said Carter, a career 22.9 scorer but averaged just 16.6 during the regular season. “We’re all playing for each other. We don’t wanna let the next man down. It’s been great to see and guys are just playing hard.”

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