<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>For weary players, it might be the pause that refreshes, but the NBA all-star "break" doesn't really mark the midpoint of the season. It is an intermission before teams make one last playoff push. When the Orlando Magic return to practice Monday -- mostly with defensive improvement in mind -- they will be just galloping into the stretch run with 28 games remaining (16 at home, 12 on the road). "That's the time we have left to get our game together," said Coach Stan Van Gundy, who will re-examine the lineup, rotations and schemes this weekend. "We'll be very definitive when we come back on areas we really have to work on, if there's anything that needs to be changed. "We have a limited amount of time now." Thanks to schedule-makers, the Magic have played the most games in the NBA at the break -- 54. Orlando and Milwaukee have played the most road games, each with 29. The Magic are 33-21, six wins ahead of last season's pace when they were 27-27 after 54 games. They are 14-11 at home and 19-10 on the road, sharing the league lead in number of road victories with the New Orleans Hornets. Last season, the Magic finished 40-42 under Brian Hill, going 25-16 at home and 15-26 out of town. This year's club should surpass that win total, but here's where it can really show improvement: The Magic finished just 13-15 in their final 28 games last season and eked into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed -- which didn't bode well. They were swept by the No.1-seeded Detroit Pistons in their first postseason appearance since 2003. They are in much better position now. And yet, since the Magic roared out at 16-4, they have played .500 basketball. They've gone 17-17, alternating between encouraging stretches of play (beating Boston, Detroit, Portland and Denver) and poor stretches (losing to Memphis, Charlotte and New Jersey). "We've been up and down -- it's never steady," Van Gundy said. Aside from the occasional high turnover rate, the Magic have had top-10 firepower offensively, riding Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. The trouble comes on the defensive end. The guards struggle to stop penetration, rotations break down and shooters are left open. Big-time scorers circle the Magic on their calendars, although even off-Broadway stars have enjoyed big nights, too. "Our offense is good enough to play with anybody," Van Gundy said. "It's the defensive end we have to work at. "Some of it is physical limitations on the part of guys, but everybody's got those. We've played some good teams and defended them well. I think we've shown we're capable of playing good defense. I don't think we have too many guys who are naturally defensive-minded, so our focus is really key." If the Magic are to make a trade before next Thursday's deadline, General Manager Otis Smith agrees it would have to be to upgrade the defense. Point guard Carlos Arroyo and shooting guard J.J. Redick seem to be the most vulnerable to being dealt, although Smith says he won't take on a long-term salary to make a quick fix. The Magic are sitting comfortably atop the Southeast Division with a 7-game lead over the Washington Wizards. Washington has 15 road games left, including a five-game trip West in March. Orlando has no West trips remaining and its longest junkets are two-game sets. The Magic are currently holding the No. 3 seed in the East, good for home-court advantage in the first round if they can hang onto it. Orlando hasn't had home-court advantage since 1999, when they were knocked out in the opening round by the Philadelphia 76ers, 3-1. "We've got to come back with a defensive focus," point guard Jameer Nelson said. "You don't go very far in the playoffs if you don't play defense. We got to cut down our turnovers, too." Nelson said the Magic's goal is the same: winning a title. "It would be foolish just to say we want to get past the first round because we didn't last season," he said. "We can't sugarcoat it. We have to want more."</div> Source: Orlando Sentinel
