Orlando knows what it’s like to have come so close: they’ve been to the NBA Finals twice before, the last time around just last year where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers, giving Kobe Bryant his first post-Shaq championship. Last season they had to go through both the proud Boston Celtics and the rising Cleveland Cavaliers of Lebron James. After surviving those two tough grinds, it seemed they were more than ready for the Lakers and Kobe. That was a non sequitur so gigantic it wasn’t even funny.

Los Angeles showed all the championship poise and patience and discipline in those Finals that the Magic lacked. And they were able to match the height and length of the Orlando roster back then. Sure, Orlando had Dwight Howard, the defensive beast who swept clean both boards and sent enemy shots into the bleachers. They also has versatile forwards who could operate at the perimeter 6-foot-9 like Hedo Turkologku and 6-foot-10 Rashard Lewis. But LA had 7-foot Spanish superstar Pau Gasol, 6-foot-10 do-it-all utility man Lamar Odom, and at times even 7-foot wide-body Andrew Bynum, matching up well with the Magic. Kobe was the difference, since the Magic had no one to contain him.

This season they are on a heck of a roll that has seen them sweep through the first two rounds of these 2010 NBA Playoffs. They shrugged off the pesky Charlotte Bobcats and then totally massacred the let-down Atlanta Hawks. They brought in Vince Carter in the offseason precisely to give themselves a player like Kobe, i.e. able to produce his own points when he needed to, sucking in defenses with his ability to slash and fill the lanes. “I came here to try and win a championship, and I said at the beginning I would do everything they ask me to,” Carter said in one interview. They had to give away Turkologku though, a move many said would ensure they would not even return to the Eastern Conference Finals, never mind the NBA Finals. Funny how that worked out, eh?

Howard continues to be the most intimidating force on defense and off the boards in the entire NBA – averaging over 13 boards and some four blocks per game in the regular season, and he is once again the best defender in the league. His ability to swat shots is second in import only to his ability to alter shots he does not get to, a talent that makes it all the more difficult for opponents to score on the Magic. With Carter aboard, Howard no longer needs to be that dominant on offense, thus allowing him to conserve his prodigious strength on dominating the defensive end. With opposing defenses now torn between building a double or triple team against him and covering Carter at the perimeter, Orlando has a legitimate one-two punch that few teams can match.

Lewis and fellow veteran holdover Jameer Nelson have not been lost in this shuffle, ditto Mikael Pietrus and Marcin Gortat. Nelson, the 6-foot pointguard who was named an All Star last season, the 6-foot-8 utility man Pietrus, and the 7-foot block of a man named Gortat are still enjoying playing Orlando basketball. The same can be said of 6-foot-2 pointguard Jason Williams, the only player on this roster with a championship ring, and 6-foot-3 sharpshooter guard JJ Redick. This is a crew that has come together at a critical time, deep into the playoffs, awaiting the survivor of the Boston –Cleveland series. Nelson and Lewis were thought to have been the most disappointed when management allowed Turkologku to sign with Toronto. With their current playoff success they seem to have forgotten all about the popular Turkish player. “We miss Turk because he’s a great player and a great guy, but we also understand the business part of basketball,” said Nelson in one interview.

Speaking of surviving, Orlando is probably licking its chops at the prospect of facing a surely drained and tired team in the East Finals. Whoever should emerge from the Boston-Cleveland series would have gone through a wringer. As of this writing that series was tied at 2-2, which means it will go at least six games. It is not only physically taxing; it is also mentally and emotionally draining. While no one ever disputes that every good team rises to a different level come playoff time, no one disputes as well that the stress and pressure of any extended series takes its toll. The way the Celtics and Cavaliers have been tearing into each other, perhaps it is not really out of line to call the eventual winner of this series as “survivors”.

With the Magic well rested thanks to their relatively easy sweep of the Hawks and Bobcats, their chances of returning to the NBA Finals is looking better and better. Charlotte was practically a given, since that young and untested team surely was no match for a team with the depth and talent of the Magic. This was practically a scrimmage series, with the Magic hardly breaking a sweat in disposing of the upstarts from the Carolinas. The ease with which they walloped the Hawks however was a surprise to many people, who thought Atlanta would surely make a series of it. Atlanta had a bunch of stud forwards who, on paper, looked like a good enough match against Howard et al. 6-foot-10 Josh Smith is an All Star and also among the NBA leaders in rebounds and blocks like Howard. He had 6-foot-10 enforcer-type Al Horford, and even the unassuming 6-foot-9 Zaza Pachullia. Their perimeter included 6-foot-7 superstar swingman Joe Johnson, 6-foot-5 hotshot guard Jamal Crawford, and the venerable 6-foot-2 pointguard Mike Bibby. Alas, this roster proved too small and too intimidated by Howard and easily picked apart by Carter.

Of course returning to the Finals does not mean taking home the title. Hopefully their experience from last season has helped. “We came close but we weren’t really close,” said one Orlando front office man. “In a sense the Lakers just plain showed why they won all those championships. Hopefully if we make it back to the Finals we can finally take care of unfinished business.” Carter has been to the Finals before, as a member of the New Jersey Nets when he, Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson were all still teammates. It was the Lakers that did them in as well, when Kobe and Phil Jackson rode Shaquille O’Neal to that championship.

Two fruitless trips to the NBA Finals certainly qualifies as unfinished business, and in a magical season, Orlando and its fans can only hope the magic continues.