Magic to try to spoil Bulls playoff chances
The Magic bring a 27-43 record, 7-29 on the road, to the United Center as they go up against CHI, who has a 31-39 record, and only 16-18 at home. Bulls coach Scott Skiles, in a brilliant move last week, changed his starting lineup after his team was stuck in a rut, benching Ben Gordon and Tyson Chandler. The move has paid off, as the Bulls have won two in a row and have moved to only 1 1/2 games behind PHI for the eighth spot, with Gordon and Chandler playing brilliantly off the bench.
Gordon leads the Bulls with a 16.4 average, Kirk Heinrich (15.7 ppg), Luol Deng (13.8 ppg), and Andres Nocioni (12 ppg) average in double figures.. C Tyson Chandler (5.3 ppg) isn't much of a scorer, but is a ferocious rebounder (9.3 rebs) and shot blocker (1.3 blocks). Chris Duhon (8.8 ppg) and Mike Sweetney (8.4 ppg) also contribute. Coach Skiles has always done a great job of using his bench. Remember Jannero Pargo torching the Magic earlier this season for 23 pts? The Bulls average 96.8 ppg, while allowing 97 ppg. ORL averages 94.3 ppg, while allowing 96.2 ppg. But the Magic have scored more than 100 pts four games in a row.
The Magic have their work cut out for them tonight. They have lost 5 in a row to CHI, including 2 this season. This will be the teams' first meeting since Dec. Skiles is a superior coach to BHill; we'll see if that comes into place in the game tonight. CHI is a perimeter-oriented team that shoots very well from 3 pt range (38%), but also has the tendency to foul a lot, averaging nearly 25 fouls per game. Bulls are 5 1/2 pt favorites (www.pinnaclesports.com).
Gordon leads the Bulls with a 16.4 average, Kirk Heinrich (15.7 ppg), Luol Deng (13.8 ppg), and Andres Nocioni (12 ppg) average in double figures.. C Tyson Chandler (5.3 ppg) isn't much of a scorer, but is a ferocious rebounder (9.3 rebs) and shot blocker (1.3 blocks). Chris Duhon (8.8 ppg) and Mike Sweetney (8.4 ppg) also contribute. Coach Skiles has always done a great job of using his bench. Remember Jannero Pargo torching the Magic earlier this season for 23 pts? The Bulls average 96.8 ppg, while allowing 97 ppg. ORL averages 94.3 ppg, while allowing 96.2 ppg. But the Magic have scored more than 100 pts four games in a row.
The Magic have their work cut out for them tonight. They have lost 5 in a row to CHI, including 2 this season. This will be the teams' first meeting since Dec. Skiles is a superior coach to BHill; we'll see if that comes into place in the game tonight. CHI is a perimeter-oriented team that shoots very well from 3 pt range (38%), but also has the tendency to foul a lot, averaging nearly 25 fouls per game. Bulls are 5 1/2 pt favorites (www.pinnaclesports.com).
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 2:05 PM
8 Comments:
At 2:18 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
This will be the first time I actually get to watch the Magic play since I visited Orlando over the holidays and went to two games and saw several others on TV.
It will be interesting to hear what the Chicago announcers have to say about the new-look Magic.
At 2:59 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Why aren't you going to the game?
Darko alone is worth the price of a scalped ticket.
At 4:12 PM,
Big Figure said…
The bulls dont start a traditional line-up,instead of starting two small forwards at the forward position,skiles starts two point guards in the back-court,and aint afraid to go small at the forwards position either,putting deng at the power forward at any point in the game,this is especially a matchup in their favor b/c of the fact that deshawn doesnt post up and take advantage of his size against undersized players,so all night what you have is kirk hinrich against deshawn shooting the ball,deshawn's gonna lose that without the game even being played b/c he doesnt even attempt three's,this is one of those nights where we're gonna have to depend on our defense to offset for their offensive output,and i dont know how long the magic are prepared to defend tonight,the first five are gonna have to play well offensively taking advantage of our mismatches,(jameer & dwight pick and roll should be like stockton and malone for years to come),while the bench is gonna have to be huge,keyon,carlos,trevor,are gonna have to help against their small backcourt combos's all night,i think their's enough confidence brewing right now that if we dont turnover the ball we can impose our will and size and get the win!
At 5:17 PM,
Big Figure said…
To win on the road you have to be able to get some easy baskets,in philly the magic was able to create steals and get out on the break,battie,dwight & darko all got some easy basket in transition,we dont need to run a whole bunch against this team b/c they are undersized,so playing a controlled game would be to our advantage tonight,while running off steals,pounding it inside to dwight,darko,hedo,and playing pick and roll with jameer,keyon and carlos also,we should be able to get them in foul trouble,therefore shooting alot of freethrows for more easy points,only problem is if they go small and the magic get behind early and have to play catch up the whole game,anytime they hit a three it will do two things,extend their lead quickly,and expand all of our energy within our comeback attempts!
At 7:52 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
WeRDevos, I was thinking about it. I checked the internet last night for tix availability, and I could have had a seat on the main floor 5 rows behind the basket for $105, or a seat in the seventh row on the third level for $25. You're right, Darko alone is worth that much to go see at either price.
But since I'm about a 37-38 mile drive from the United Center, I just decided to relax and chill in the comfort of home tonight in front of the TV watching the game. And I don't have to put up with traffic!
At 8:41 PM,
Ken said…
I didn't realize that Garrity's contract expires at the end of this season. OTIS - PLEASE OH PLEASE DO NOT RESIGN THIS PERSON!
Now I see he is activated for tonight. If he sees even 1 second of playing time I'm gonna throw a fit... I honestly don't know anything about the Bulls so i'll just have to take everyones word on how they are. But I did watch Scott Skiles when he played in Orlando, and if they are anything like him, they're pretty tough. But we are still better... Games on.... gotta go...
At 9:00 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Hate to burst the bubble but Garrity gets $3 million from the Magic next year. For some reason it is not on Hoopshype.com.
Sorry to depress you and I really hope I'm wrong about this, but this has been published on other sites.
Hoopshype is accurate about 98% of the time. Wish this were the case with Garrity.
At 10:58 PM,
Ken said…
So we're stuck with this slob for another year? SHIT!!
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