Magic try to break long road losing streak at ATL today
The Magic, 24-41 overall including 6-27 on the road, will try to break a 14 game road losing streak as they travel to ATL, who is 20-43 overall including 13-19 at home. The Hawks have lost 4 games in a row, and are coming off a 111-101 loss Friday to Utah. ATL averages 96.9 ppg, and gives up 102 ppg.
Joe Johnson (20.3 ppg) and Al Harrington (19 ppg 6.9 rebs) lead the way for ATL. Former Magic center ZaZa Pachulia is having a good year for the Hawks, averaging 11.5 ppg and 7.9 rebs. Salim Stoudamire (9.8 ppg), Josh Smith (9.8 ppg) and Josh Childress (9.7 ppg) also contribute. Former Magic guard Tyronn Lue is injured with a sprained MCL.
On Feb. 3rd, the Magic suffered one of their toughest losses of the year here when Joe Johnson hit a long jumper with less than a second remaining for a 2 pt Hawks win. Expect DHoward to have a big game, as he is an Atlanta native and averages 19.2 pts and 13.4 rebs in 5 career games against ATL. ATL is a 2 1/2 pt favorite (www.pinnaclesports.com). However, this is a great opportunity for the Magic to win their first road game since late Jan.
Joe Johnson (20.3 ppg) and Al Harrington (19 ppg 6.9 rebs) lead the way for ATL. Former Magic center ZaZa Pachulia is having a good year for the Hawks, averaging 11.5 ppg and 7.9 rebs. Salim Stoudamire (9.8 ppg), Josh Smith (9.8 ppg) and Josh Childress (9.7 ppg) also contribute. Former Magic guard Tyronn Lue is injured with a sprained MCL.
On Feb. 3rd, the Magic suffered one of their toughest losses of the year here when Joe Johnson hit a long jumper with less than a second remaining for a 2 pt Hawks win. Expect DHoward to have a big game, as he is an Atlanta native and averages 19.2 pts and 13.4 rebs in 5 career games against ATL. ATL is a 2 1/2 pt favorite (www.pinnaclesports.com). However, this is a great opportunity for the Magic to win their first road game since late Jan.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 4:14 AM
8 Comments:
At 9:41 AM,
Matt said…
The spread is nonesense. We should win this game by 10 points if Brian Hill doesn't get in the way of players figuring it on the fly and plays Darko close to 30 minutes, or even better starts him.
At 9:47 AM,
Ken said…
Your right matt, we should win this one. Our new players are beginning to jell nicely and shouldn't have much trouble knocking off the Hawks, so long as BSH dosn't go thinking he's some sort of coach again and getting in the way.. Let the guys play and they should be alright..
At 10:45 AM,
Big Figure said…
No TV,that sucks,we're gonna have to RUN to take advantage of our size,last time we played them,undersized guys like al harrington and josh smith killed us at the PF position,joe johnson is solid,so shutting everybody else down will be critical! Two things to watch for tonight,(1) When we go on the road,battie usually is a no show and fade's as the game goes on,that has to change,cant just play good at home!(2)Also keeping focus on the things you can control,freethrows and turnovers have been good enough to win with lately,so those numbers cant be horribly bad and expect to win on the road today! This is a team that atl hasnt faced yet,with all of our changes we'll be a new experience for them,magic should be able to outlast them with our depth,and make it tough for them to score with dwight and darko doing their thing in the paint,magic win a close one!
At 11:01 AM,
Big Figure said…
Dont look now,but if the magic win their next two games,everybody up to the 5th seed is gonna start sweating,b/c the magic are starting to win their home games,just stealing a few on the road is what they need to do next,with such an easy schedule left for the magic,anything is possible,philly has been losing rapidly without iverson,so catching the 8th seed is a real possibility,and the opportunity to go higher is there also,just gotta keep winning,knock on wood!
At 12:19 PM,
Matt said…
Big Figure, I like your positive views on Magic not being out of play-offs race, mathematically despite the odds being so far off to support such occurrence. Since you haven't been specific on it, do you think that Darko should get more of Battie's minutes or even start?
At 2:05 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
I, too, like the positive thinking regarding the Magic not being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs yet. But let's take a realistic look at the numbers to put things in perspective: Philly, at number eight, is 31-34. The Magic is 24-41. The Magic are currently 7 games behind Philly with 17 games left. Assuming 39-43 would be good enough for the eighth spot, the Magic would have to finish 15-2, while the Sixers would have to finish no better than 7-10 in order for the Magic to overtake them. That's a huge mountain for the Magic to climb.
Also, the magic number for Philly eliminating the Magic from overtaking them is 11. Any Sixer win or Magic loss reduces that number by one. And there's also teams ahead of the Magic fighting for the eighth spot too, BOS and CHI.
At 1:57 PM,
Big Figure said…
Matt 100% darko should start,the reason is simple,your best five should be on the floor to start and finish games,in our case darko is one of those five,there's no way BSH can convince me that,battie,who's game offers so much less than darko's does,should be getting more minutes than darko,or more importantly starting and finishing games,if darko starts at the begining of the game you can get teams to start bad,now your team can play with the lead,but starting battie,teams are much more competitive to start games b/c battie doesnt give you that shot blocking fear that darko gives the team,players usually go right at battie,and rightfully so b/c battie isnt the greatest jumper as he's getting up in age,we all like tony,but he would be much better if he was playing the 17-20 minutes with the back-up unit,with grant out,jameer,deshawn,hedo,dwight & darko should be on the floor for major minutes,with carlos,keyon,trevor,Bo & battie,being a hell of a heart & hustle imitation,theres no way darko should be playing with the second unit!
At 2:14 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
I think everyone except BHill thinks that Darko should be starting. Now that the season is in the final month, maybe Coach will surprise us and start Darko some time. Like Matt said in a previous post, the Magic front office should have a conference with BHill and suggest that he start Darko, or if he's not going to start him, at least play Darko around 30 minutes a game.
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