The Orlando Magic's Turkish forward Hidayet �Hedo� Türkoğlu expressed his happiness at being selected as the NBA's most improved player hours before helping his team close out the first round playoff series over Toronto Raptors Monday. "I guess this year was the time for me to step it up and come this far, so I am just blessed that I was healthy this year and all the things went well for me, having a good coach, my teammates, everybody," Türkoğlu said. "If you look at it, it is not just my improvement, it is the Magic's improvement too, comparing to last year."
This was the type of season the Magic always expected from the 2.08-meter forward, now in his eighth year.
"Without him, I don't know where we would be," Magic general manager Otis Smith said. "I am happy to have him on our team and I'm happy that he is winning this award eight years late, but I am happy that he is at least winning this award. This is a sign of things to come for Turk."
Türkoğlu received 61 first-place votes and 380 points in the voting by a panel of American and Canadian sports journalists, well ahead of Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay, who earned 167 points, and the Portland Trailblazers LaMarcus Aldridge with 128.
"He has been asked to do a lot this year, and he has responded well. He has had these abilities all along, he just had to be brought out of them, and now he is able to do it," Smith said.
Later Monday, Türkoğlu was not at his best shooting performance in 102-92 victory over the Raptors, but almost had a triple-double with 12 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.
Dwight Howard's monstrous performance of 21 points and 21 rebounds helped Orlando win win the best-of-seven Eastern Conference opening round series 4-1, leaving the Raptors to ponder over a first round loss for the second straight season.
It was the first playoff series win for the Magic since 1996, when the team made it to the Eastern Conference finals led by Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway.
"It's just an unbelievable feeling," Howard told reporters. "We did something I feel that hasn't been done here in a while."
The Magic will play the winner of the Detroit-Philadelphia series, which is tied 2-2.
"This is great, I'm happy to be a part of this for this organization," Hedo said. "We just kept our focus and everybody stepped it up. This is the beginning, we want to go as far as we can."
Meanwhile, Joe Johnson poured 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter to spark the Atlanta Hawks past the Boston Celtics 97-92.
That win tied the series between underdog Atlanta and star-studded Boston at 2-2.
Also Monday, Kobe Bryant scored 31 points and Pau Gasol added 21 to help the Los Angeles Lakers past Denver Nuggets 107-101, completing a sweep, and giving time for the Lakers to rest before the next round.