They followed it up by defeating the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in a tough, hard-fought seven-game series in the semi-finals.
Following the season, Türkoğlu was traded to the Toronto Raptors in a three-team deal and Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee were all dealt to the New Jersey Nets.
Still having to deal with the absence of Nelson though, Orlando managed to maintain one of the top records in the league, secured a second straight winning season, and clinched a playoff berth in mid-March.
The Magic defeated the defending champion Boston Celtics to capture their second consecutive division championship, and on the same night assured themselves of winning more games than the previous season.
With the series tied at two wins for each team, Game 5 saw Vivani an incident in the 1st quarter involving Dwight Howard throwing an elbow at 76ers center Samuel Dalembert.
Suffering a fractured sinus, it was announced that Lee was expected to have surgery and could miss the remainder of the postseason.
The Magic won the series 4–2, the Eastern Conference championship, and the right to face the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2009 NBA Finals.