Scoreboard Watching: April 5th, 2009

Scoreboard Watching will give Orlando Magic fans a heads-up on which games with potential playoff implications to pay attention to.

HEADLINER: Charlotte at Detroit, 6:00 PM

This game is arguably the most important one in the Charlotte Bobcats' 6-year history. They're in hot pursuit of the Detroit Pistons for the Eastern Conference's final playoff seed, and the franchise's first-ever trip to the postseason. A victory pulls them within one game of the Pistons in the loss column, while a loss would put them 3 games back with 5 games to play and essentially punch the Pistons' postseason ticket, with the destination yet to be determined. Regardless of the result today, Charlotte will need to come up big on the road the rest of the way, with only 1 home game left. The Bobcats are 22-18 at Time Warner Cable Arena the Cable Box, and 12-24 everywhere. Gut-check time for them. Fortunately, one of those 12 road wins came in Detroit back in January. Maybe that'll give 'em some much-needed confidence.

For what it's worth, the Pistons are 3-12 on Sundays this year, which gives them a 33-28 record on games played any other day of the week. That win percentage, on its own, would be good for the 5th seed in the East. Unfortunately for them, Sunday games count in the standings. The Lord rests, but the NBA doesn't.