Posted by Sekou Smith

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – No more sleeping on Vince Carter.

Not here at the hideout.

And certainly not after watching him work in the second half against the Hawks Thursday night.

Carter had just four points at halftime as the Magic trailed by eight points. He blew up for 20 after the break, helping the Magic take control of the game and ultimately the series after their first half scare.

Carter finished his night with 24 points and seven rebounds, fantastic numbers on a night when the Magic needed every one of them.

But his true impact on this game cannot be understated. Carter helped the Magic nail down this win with his play as much as he did with his new attitude. Check out his words after the game:

“We’re a team on a mission,” Carter says. “We’re trying to accomplish a goal, and every night we step on the floor we’re looking to reach that goal.”

Huh?

Is this the same Vince Carter that used to take a beating for not talking like this?

Even the locals, notoriously skeptical of the home team, seem to be coming around to the idea of defending Eastern Conference champions retaining their title, and maybe even adding another.

Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: This is probably going to get me kicked out of the National Consortium of LeBron-Worshipping Media Members.

ESPN’s Bill Simmons will no doubt tell his army of Twitter followers what a backwoods buffoon I am.

David Stern may even try to fine me $35,000 for “Columnizing unbecoming of the NBA’s best interests.”

So be it.

It has to be said:

The Orlando Magic, after Thursday night’s 112-98 blowout of the Atlanta Hawks, are now the team to beat for the remainder of the NBA playoffs.

You heard me.

Not Kobe and the Lakers.

Not LeBron and the Cavs.

Not the latest flavor du jour out west – the Phoenix Suns.

But the Orlando Magic.

I realize there is still six weeks of playoff basketball remaining in NBA’s never-ending postseason, but right now – at this very moment – the Magic should be favored to win the championship.

Why are they the team to beat, you ask? Well, let’s start with this: Because nobody’s beaten them. Because they are the only unbeaten team left in the playoffs.

The Lakers struggled against Oklahoma City in the first round. The Cavs have already lost homecourt advantage against the Celtics in the second round. Two other flavor du jours out west – the Mavs and the Nuggets – have already been iced out of the playoffs.

The Magic? All they’ve done is win … and win … and win some more. In fact, they haven’t lost a game in more than month. They’ve won 12 straight dating back to a regular-season loss at San Antonio on April 2.

The Magic have washed over their opponents like a Louisiana oil spill. They’ve suffocated their opponents like an Icelandic volcano cloud. They’ve made their opponents look more perplexed than a Greek stockbroker.

They swept the Charlotte Bobcats 4-0 even when their best player – Dwight Howard – spent more time on the bench than traffic court judge. They followed that up by annihilating the Hawks by 43 points in Game 1 of their second-round series.

Then came Thursday night when the Hawks gave Orlando everything they had, but everything they had wasn’t even good enough to keep them within single digits.

Everything they had wasn’t enough because Vince Carter scored 20 points in the second half and showed he is still Vince Carter.

Sure it was!

It’s all about Vince right now.

Welcome back Carter.

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