What If? Series: 2009 Orlando Magic vs. Denver Nuggets

The Matchup — Star Battle

The Denver Nuggets’ chief strategy would be to stonewall Dwight Howard in the post and keep throwing size at him. That was a strategy the Atlanta Hawks would use effectively in 2011. Of course, the Magic were a significantly weaker team.

Nene was one of the few centers who could dislodge Howard however. In the two games the teams played against each other Howard scored a total of 30 points and grabbed 34 rebounds. He committed nine total turnovers in the two games.

So the gameplan for the Magic would be to use Howard as a decoy and rely on the perimeter players to bail the team out with Denver sinking so deep into the paint.

It worked in the first meeting in Denver when Orlando won 106-88. Turkoglu scored 31 points in that game. But it was also during that West Coast road trip when the Magic were at the height of their power and Jameer Nelson was making his All-Star legacy. Anthony also did not play in this game.

It did not work in the second meeting in Orlando when Denver won 82-73. Orlando shot 30.4 percent in that game but it was also during the time period between Jameer Nelson’s injury and the Rafer Alston trade.

The Magic had already proven they could win despite heroic efforts from fantastic players. Anthony would get his points — he did not play in the first meeting and scored 29 points in the second meeting.

So the question would be how they would handle Chauncey Billups. That is the one player the Magic have never had an answer for. He is probably near the top of all-time Magic killers.

Billups tortured Nelson throughout his career. Of course, Nelson was not fully available for the Finals. The team was running Rafer Alston as the starting point guard at that point. He is not exactly a sizable point guard.

The Magic could come up with an answer for every player on the Nuggets’ roster, but Billups is someone they would have no answer for. Alston was a stop gap, but he was not someone to solve this problem. Certainly not a big, poised point guard like Billups.

While Orlando had a ton of matchup advantages, Billups gives the Nuggets a huge leg up too. And he undoubtedly would have made sure this remained a tight series.