Mike Bianchi, SPORTS COMMENTARY
11:25 p.m. EST, April 30, 2012
INDIANAPOLIS -- We have now officially entered an alternative Orlando Magic universe.
A universe where up is down.
And black is white.
And hot is cold.
Andâ€" are you ready for this? -- Glen "Big Baby" Davis is a team leader.
What a wild, whacked-out season it has been.
The Magic, after the 93-78 Game 2 playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers Monday night, come back home to the Amway Center for Game 3 tied 1-1. But at least there is some hope now, and it is emanating from the unlikeliest of all beacons: The erratic, enigmatic Big Baby.
No question, the Magic are going to have to shoot better than they have in Games 1 and 2 if they expect to win this series. Ryan Anderson, the team's leading scorer, has been a non-factor in the first two games. Jason Richardson scored only two points Monday night. Point guard Jameer Nelson hit only 4-of-13 shots and scored 12 points. And the Magic gave up more than half their points on fastbreaks and second chances.
"We got absolutely dominated by their effort and energy in the second half," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said.
Who would have ever thought that the least of Van Gundy's worries would be Davis, who has given the Magic a formidable inside presence they never dreamed they would have when Dwight Howard's season ended?
Maybe just maybe the Big Baby is growing up before our very eyes. With apologies to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who will be playing the Amway Center Thursday night, perhaps they should slightly alter the lyrics of their hit "Mary Jane's Last Dance" to reflect the maturation of Davis during the first two games of this series.
"He grew up tall and he grew up right
With them Indiana boys on them Indiana nights."
Can you believe it?
The Magic playoff ship has sailed without team captain Dwight Howard, and none other than Big Baby is deftly manning the wheel. And you want to know the weirdest part of all? The ship is actually sailing as smoothly as it has all season.
OK, so it got stranded on a sandbar Monday night, but did you really think the Magic were going take a 2-0 lead on Indiana's home court against a Pacers team that is bigger, quicker and more athletic? Admit it, you didn't even think the Magic were going to come home tied 1-1.
Not with Davis, a career backup, giving up five inches to 7-foot-2 Indiana center Roy Hibbert. Say this about Davis: He may give up a lot of height to Hibbert in this series, but he has shown a distinct heart advantage. In the first half Monday, Davis had 14 points and eight rebounds, six of those on the offensive end. He finished with 18 points and 10 boards while Hibbert scored four points and took only five shots.
Even after Hibbert blocked nine shots against the Magic in Game 1 without committing a foul, Davis was not deterred. He said he would continue to play his game; the game of a 6-foot-9, 300-pound renegade freight train.
"I'm going to be who I am," Davis said. "I'm not a dunker. I'm a boulder. I run through people."
Did you ever imagine that this boulder would also turn into a builder â€" a team builder? Yes, you read that correctly. Davis, the man who was suspended earlier this year for getting into a verbal altercation with Coach Stan Van Gundy and fined for flipping off fans, has become one of the Magic's most visible team leaders.
The man plays hurt. The man plays hard. After badly spraining his ankle last week, he played a team-high 41 minutes in Game 1 and team-high 38-minutes in Game 2. He's also the one who came up with the playoff mantra â€" "We All We Got" â€" that has become a rallying cry for Magic players and fans alike.
Welcome to the Magic's alternative universe.
A universe where Davis has not only taken Dwight Howard's place of prominence on the basketball court, but in the locker room as well.
Captain Davis, anyone?
And here's another frightening thought:
With the possibility of Dwight being gone next season, could the Magic actually evolve into Big Baby's team?
It truly has been a long, strange season.
mbianchi@tribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @BianchiWrites. Listen to his radio show every weekday from 6 to 9 a.m. on 740 AM.
Copyright © 2012, Orlando Sentinel
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