Although it's not yet official, it looks like our opponent in the next round of the playoffs will be the Detroit Pistons. They beat the Philadelphia 76ers last night to take a 3-2 series lead.
But suppose it were up to us, the Magic fans: which team would you rather us play? On the one hand, we handled Philadelphia fairly easily in the regular season, blowing it out twice and winning three of the four games overall. On the other hand, we fared okay against Detroit, including a surprising blowout win in The Palace in our last meeting with them. Additionally, facing the Pistons gives us the opportunity to repay them for all the harm they've done to us over the past several seasons: beating us 8 times last year, and coming back from a 3-1 deficit to beat us in 2003. And historically, they've given us more grief than any other Eastern Conference team. We have an all-time record of 30-42 against them.
So, who do you want to escape that series: the Pistons or the 76ers? For what it's worth, Believing in Magic hopes for the 76ers.