This article originally appeared on January 19, 2009

The Orlando Magic, 9-1 over their last ten games and 33-8 overall, defeated the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, and Denver Nuggets in consecutive road games last week to finish their four-game road trip 4-0. Orlando is now 15-4 in interconference play and 18-4 against the West.

Defensively, the Magic are third in points allowed per 100 possessions (100.8) and defensive field goal percentage (.426). All-NBA center Dwight Howard is Orlando?s anchor. Howard is leading the league in rebounds and blocks. Power forward Rashard Lewis has difficulty defending face-up scorers, but he and small forward Hedo Turkoglu give the Magic two 6-10 forwards who are capable of defending the pick-and-roll, rebounding in traffic, and using their size and length to clog the paint and play the passing lanes.

Point guard Jameer Nelson struggles with denying penetration from time-to-time, but he has active hands. Rookie shooting guard Courtney Lee, J.J. Redick, Keith Bogans, and the oft-injured Mickael Pietrus comprise Orlando?s shooting guard corps. Lee, Bogans, and Pietrus are excellent on-ball defenders. All four guards are adept at stretching the defense with their long distance shooting.

Offensively, Orlando often runs high screen-and-rolls designed to free up Nelson or Turkoglu on the perimeter. With Nelson, Lee, Turkoglu, and Lewis in the starting lineup, Orlando has four players who can stretch the defense with their outside shooting. This frees up the lane for Howard to roll into the lane unfettered and gives him plenty of room to operate when he receives the ball on the block. Led by Nelson?s team-best 45.4% mark from long-distance, the Magic are first in team three-point percentage (.403) and second in overall attempts from beyond the arc (1068).

Aside from Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu may have been most responsible for Orlando?s success last season, but it?s Jameer Nelson who is having a career-year this season. Nelson is averaging a career-high 17.1 ppg. while shooting a career-best 51.1% from the field. Nelson is fifth in the NBA in three-point percentage, second among those with 150 or more attempts. It?s difficult to imagine Nelson maintaining his shooting percentage over the course of 82 games, but his improvement hasn?t come by accident.

Assistant coach Patrick Ewing is renowned for his work with Dwight Howard, but two-and-a- half-hours before Orlando?s game against the Nuggets Saturday night, it was Ewing who assisted Nelson with his pregame routine. With Ewing feeding him the ball and keeping track of makes and misses, Nelson made five shots from twenty-one different spots on the floor: Seven close range spots, seven mid-range spots, and seven spots from beyond the arc. That is 105 makes before tip-off.

At one point during the drill, Nelson nailed what he believed to be his fifth make from the wing and proceeded to jog to the next station. Ewing called Nelson out and instructed him that he needed to hit one more jumper before moving on. Ewing?s remark was met with laughter from Rashard Lewis who proclaimed, ?Tell him Pat!?
Nelson and Lewis shared a quick laugh before Ewing interjected, ?It?s working, ain?t it!?

I asked Nelson about his pregame workout after Orlando?s 106-88 win over Denver.

Q: I was watching you workout before the game with Patrick Ewing. Can you tell me a about your pregame routine? It looked like you were trying to make five shots from about every spot on the floor.

?What you saw today is what I do before every game. I start at the block, then I move to fifteen feet, and then I move out to the three-point line. I actually didn?t do all of my workout today. I usually practice pull-up jumpers too.?

Q: Have you done that throughout your career?

?I actually just started doing that this season with Patrick Ewing.?

Nelson?s workout isn?t innovative, but he?s putting in the work to become a good shooter. So when you see Nelson knock down a jumper during a game, chances are that he?s already made five shots from that spot. His improved shooting can?t be dismissed as a ?hotstreak.?

Despite Orlando?s offensive and defensive improvement, I still have a hard time categorizing them as contenders. The old saying, ?live by the three; die by the three" remains true, and the Magic definitely live by the long ball.

Coach Stan Van Gundy addressed Orlando?s shot selection before the game, ?We don?t ever talk about the number of (three-point) attempts,? Van Gundy said. ?Our guys understand that we have Dwight inside, and we have two very good pick-and-roll players in Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu. And then the defense has to decide how they?re going to play us. You can limit our three-point attempts. That isn?t a very hard thing to do. You can stay home on our shooters and you play Dwight one-one-one inside and you defend our pick-and-roll with just two guys, but that?s not an easy thing to do.

?We almost always have four three-point shooters on the floor. We?ll never have fewer than three, and so you?re forced into decisions defensively. You?ve got to make decisions against us, and we?ll make whatever plays you give us.?

Given Orlando?s early season success, it?s difficult to argue with Van Gundy?s philosophy. But there will be nights when Orlando goes cold from beyond the arc. Compounding matters is the fact that three of the NBA?s top six at defending the three-point line (Cleveland, Detroit, and Boston) reside in the East. Two or three off-shooting nights over the course of 82 games is barely a blip on the radar, but two or three off-shooting games in the playoffs could mean the difference between advancing to the next round and going home early. That rule holds true for every team, but it?s especially true for teams that rely on the long ball.

Will Dwight Howard be ready to carry Orlando when they go cold from outside? Howard was Orlando?s third leading scorer in last year?s Eastern Conference Semifinal versus the Pistons. Howard has added a few moves to his repertoire ? he?s very good at dribbling middle and spinning back baseline, and his left hand is much improved ? but I?m not convinced that he?s developed the maturity or mental makeup to pull the Magic up by their bootstraps when times get tough.
Nelson deserves All-Star consideration although he remains a second-tier point guard. There have been second-tier point guards who have led their teams to titles in the past ? Jason Williams and Rajon Rondo come to mind ? but Williams and Rondo were surrounded by multiple All-NBA caliber players and veterans who knew what it took to win in pressure situations.

Orlando may be playing better than anyone at the moment, but the Magic remain a few moves and a season or two away from championship contention.

- Brandon Hoffman is a contributing writer for RealGM. Check out Brandon?s NBA blog at BallerBlogger.com.