Magic to face red-hot Suns Friday night
Two teams going in completely opposite directions meet tonight. The Magic (20-37, 6-23 away), losers of 10 road games in a row and 15 of their last 17 games, face the streaking Phoenix Suns (39-17, 23-8 home), who have won 8 games in a row and 13 of their last 15. PHO has scored 100 or more points for 19 games in a row, the longest run in the NBA since the '94-'95 SA Spurs. The scary thing is, Amare Stoudamire has been injured all season, and may return this month.
PHO is averaging a league-leading 107.8 ppg, and have 7 players averaging in double figures, led by the Western Conference's February player of the month Shawn Marion (22 ppg, 12.4 rebs). Marion leads the league with 44 double-doubles. Steve Nash averages 19.8 ppg and a league-leading 10.9 assists per game. The Magic, meanwhile, average just 92.8 ppg, and are allowing 96.1 ppg.
Orlando stunned PHO 111-102 on Jan. 24th at TDW (remember when things were actually going well?). HTurkoglu scored 30 pts that game to lead the Magic. PHO will be eager to atone for that loss. They are a whopping 14 pt favorite to beat the Magic tonight (www.pinnaclesports.com). The play of Darko and Carlos Arroyo has been a real bright spot amidst all the losses. You can bet BHill will want to slow the pace of this game down, as I doubt he wants to get into another shootout with PHO.
PHO is averaging a league-leading 107.8 ppg, and have 7 players averaging in double figures, led by the Western Conference's February player of the month Shawn Marion (22 ppg, 12.4 rebs). Marion leads the league with 44 double-doubles. Steve Nash averages 19.8 ppg and a league-leading 10.9 assists per game. The Magic, meanwhile, average just 92.8 ppg, and are allowing 96.1 ppg.
Orlando stunned PHO 111-102 on Jan. 24th at TDW (remember when things were actually going well?). HTurkoglu scored 30 pts that game to lead the Magic. PHO will be eager to atone for that loss. They are a whopping 14 pt favorite to beat the Magic tonight (www.pinnaclesports.com). The play of Darko and Carlos Arroyo has been a real bright spot amidst all the losses. You can bet BHill will want to slow the pace of this game down, as I doubt he wants to get into another shootout with PHO.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 4:05 AM
10 Comments:
At 10:26 AM,
Big Figure said…
Two bogus coaches lead us to 36 wins,will this team lead by BSH even win 30? I doubt it! Right now,seeing darko & dwight play together is the only reason i still watch this crap,might as well try and get the best pick we can so winning is no longer important,deshawn & tony in the line-up as starters is gonna have us right at the top of the lottery anyway,so maybe they are helping us?
At 12:19 PM,
OVERWADED said…
That's a way to take a positive view on things. I'm pretty much right with you. I'm kind of hoping we do keep "fighting" yet losing. I'd like for them win a few of their last games, especially at home just to end on a positive note. Beyond that, B Hill can stick with the wrong guys on the court, we'll continue to lose, and hopefully we can guarantee ourselves a top 3 pick.
Oh yeah, chalk tonight's game up as a loss. I know we beat them here earlier in the season, but that is when we were on one of our "highs". I just don't see us stealing a win in their house.
At 2:55 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
According to the Sentinel, Jameer Nelson will be a game-time decision on whether he will play or not.
When he comes back, this team will really be fun to watch: Nelson, Dwight, Darko, Arroyo, Ariza... that's our future! I'm not worried that we need to get a high draft pick this summer, because of the excellent acquisitions that have already been made, so I'm hoping that translates to more wins to end the season on a high note, and get everyone excited about next season.
At 4:16 PM,
Big Figure said…
Mike with all due respect,whats fun about watching the same mistakes night after night,whats fun about our coach playing the wrong guys for tons of minutes and our best players spend critical minutes on the bench,at this point it doesnt matter who BSH has to use,b/c we all know they wont be used correctly,even when jameer comes back he'll be out there with the same four that doesnt work together,jameer's presence will be alot like when carlos is on the floor,but we still lose even with carlos playing well,thats b/c darko & hedo should get all the minutes deshawn and tony get! And also,ariza might not be part of our future,with grant & hedo and the possibility that we will draft a small forward means ariza might find it hard to make it here,the bottom line is we need a good high pick so that the guess work is taken out of the equation,b/c when the magic pick in the teens history says we pick a BUM,if we could get adam morrison,the basketball gods would have shined down on us,if you're not worried about these type of things,thats ok,b/c fact is this team aint winning enough to avoid being at the top of the lottery,and i'll be happy about adding a top ten player that we have locked up for three years on a rookie contract,we have the type of team that you add 1 more piece (top 10 pick guard/forward with three point range),we could be the surprise team in the league next year!
At 4:26 PM,
Big Figure said…
There's only four teams worse than the magic,and if the magic dont start winning some that list could become smaller,at this rate the magic have a good shot at picking in the top three,number 1 isnt out of reach either with a little luck of the pin-pong balls,hopefully pat williams can work some more magic,no pun intended!
At 4:39 PM,
Big Figure said…
Port,atl,char,NY,ORL,top five worst teams in the league,ouch,i cant beleive with our talent level that we suck that bad,there's no reason this team should lose so much,after the trade's were made i expected for us to start winning some games,but no,nothing,nada,zilch,we have an all-star,we have the leading rebounder,the best three point shooter in the east and one of the deepest team's in the league,what the hell else does this coach need to win? This season's over,but darko better be given the starting position in the summer!
At 5:01 PM,
Ken said…
Big, Thats the thing that puzzles me the most also, with all this talent, why the hell can't we at least win the games we're suppose to win? I expected to loose against teams like Miami, LA, Detroit, SA, Dallas, but jeeeez, the damn Hawks, Raptors and Warriors too... I wonder sometimes if any of the assistant coaches ever say anything to BSH about changing the lineup, or if there just a bunch of little ass kissers running around saying yes brian yes brian...
The only reason I continue to tune in is because i am enjoying watching Darko and Arroyo, and on the off chance that BSH might actually call Arriza's or Deeener's number. Outside of that, its just more of the same old shit from BSH...
At 7:29 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
If the Magic can go 12-13 in their last 25 games, that will leave them with 50 losses and a decent draft pick in the top 8 or 9, therefore making everyone happy... the people who want to see the Magic get a high draft pick, and the people (like me) who want to see the Magic win some games and provide some hope and excitement going into next season.
I said that Ariza is a part of the future, but you're right Big Figure, with the way BHill coaches, Ariza may see very little playing time, and depending how the Magic draft, Ariza may very well may not be with the team next year.
It's just so important that the our main core of young players (Dwight, Darko, Nelson, and Arroyo) continue to receive as much playing time as possible so they can continue to get better and get used to playing with each other. Dwight seems to be really happy when he and Darko are on the floor at the same time, according to the quotes I saw in the Sentinel.
I'm not expecting our coach to take a smart pill and all of a sudden become a great coach; just so he gives the young players the bulk of the playing time, instead of the veterans he is so inclined to stick with.
At 12:43 PM,
Big Figure said…
Mike let me make myself clear,i really would like the magic to win all their remaining games and not have to worry about draft picks,but the reality is,that the magic's coach is so bad,that the only thing positive at this point in the season,is to wonder what top ten player will we have the ability to draft and put beside dwight & darko for years to come ( grant's not the answer),b/c this coach isnt gonna win those 12 games you mention,so the position is this:I would rather we win,but since it doesnt seem like we will,might as well start speculating what pick we might have,and what player we might take with that pick b/c we're already 5th worst in the league,and if we keep losing at this pace,we might finish in the bottom three of the league which would get us a shot at the number one pick,do i like this reality,NO WAY,i'd rather us win and not have to worry about draft picks,but when your team loses this much,i have to try and find something positive or i'll go madd and blow up the waterhouse!
At 2:15 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
I agree, when a team loses 16 of 18 games it can really get a supporter of that team down, and start looking ahead to the draft.
Since the Magic have more home games coming up, I expect them to win some of those as our young players continue to get playing time and improve, along with the return of Jameer Nelson, which should help them be in games they otherwise wouldn't have much of a chance of winning. But you're right Big Figure, our coaching staff isn't going to help us win too many more games.
If we could somehow get Adam Morrison in the draft, that would be the answer to our prayers: a SF who has great shooting range.
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