Orlando Magic Blog

Group Blog talking about the NBA 2009 Eastern Conference Champions. Due to the amazing success of the 2009 playoff run comments are now frequently deleted to kill offensive comments, incoherence, or asininity. Comments can no longer be anonymous and require either a Blogger or OpenID account.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Magic to try to pull upset against Shaq, DWade, Miami

The Heat come into the game tonight with a 50-26 record, 29-8 at home. The much-improved Magic are 31-44, 8-30 on the road. MIA is coming off a 99-86 victory at WAS Saturday night, and were led by Shaq with 27 pts and reserve Derek Anderson with 20 pts. DWade was in foul trouble and only scored 11 pts.

DWade leads the Heat, averaging 27.5 ppg on 49.7% shooting. He also averages 6.8 assists and 5.8 rebounds. Shaq is averaging 20.4 ppg on 59.8% shooting, along with 9.2 rebounds. Jason Williams (12.4 ppg) is resting his injured knee and will not play. Antoine Walker (11.8 ppg) is the only other Heat player to average in double figures. For the Magic, hopefully HTurkoglu will feel well enough to play, as he took a nasty tumble at the end of the DET game as the players were fighting for a rebound.

MIA averages 100.3 ppg and allows 96 ppg. The Magic average 94.6 ppg, while allowing 96.3. MIA is only 2-3 in its last 5 games, but have beaten the Magic 5 straight in MIA. The Magic have beaten DAL and DET in the last week; adding MIA to that list will be very tough, but it can be done. MIA is a 7 pt favorite (www.pinnaclesports.com).

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 5:25 AM  

10 Comments:

  • At 8:26 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    It all depends on whether or not Hedo is able to play. If he is, we have a chance to pull off another upset. If he is not, besides his 20+ points, we loose depth in SF that could be compensated only by moving Deshawn to SF and start Keyon at SG.

     

  • At 9:29 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    If Magic wins today, all of a sudden the sky would be bluer than ever for the team. Looking at the schedules with a positive outlook, they are only 3 games behind CHI and PHI with one game with each team in Orlando. Now assuming they will beat both teams at home, they need to cover the gap of 2 games only. Out of the two teams PHI has a tougher schedule: NJ (2), WAS, MIA (@MIA), ORL and CHA. Chicago: NJ, WAS, MIA (@MIA), ATL, ORL and TOR. After today Magic has only one tough game away from home (@SA) and one relatively tough game @IND. Making to the playoffs may come down to the last game in IND. Therefore, Magic is not mathematically eliminated, but on the contrary, if they win today, they are right in the mix.

     

  • At 9:33 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    The second sentence should read: "they will be only 3 games behind...". Right now they are 3½ games behind CHI and PHI.

     

  • At 11:16 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    If they win tonight that would be huge! It amazes me that after how this year has gone their is an actual "buzz" in Orlando about the Magic. Matt, you're right on point with the Magic winning tonight. They need Hedo to take a win tonight. I expect the refs to job us, Wade will likely shoot 15 free throws. Our bigs need to hold their own, even though they will not get the respect from the refs against Shaq. Jameer could be a huge factor, being that he's had 2 off games, besides redeeming himself in the clutch against Detroit. Hopefully that confidence can carry over into Miami. He should be able to have his way against whoever is guarding him. This sounds crazy, but I'm starting to "believe in Magic"; Magic by 4.

     

  • At 11:37 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    That is not too much to ask for, Introvert316. This team has some swagger about it that is nice to witness. Tony, with the contract in his pocket, is playing every night as though he is playing his last game in the league. Darko thinks he can block every shot and make every jump-shot, although overdoing it sometimes. Everybody is attacking and running like crazy. The confidence level has skyrocketed. If Jameer dominates on the offensive end, with Williams being out, a victory is not out of reach.

     

  • At 12:16 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    The heat have little depth at the point guard without JWilliams,little depth at the forwards position without JPosey,and without mourning, MDoleac is their depth at center,anyone see a trend! "IMO" This game will depend on how much coach hill lets the team push the ball,the heat dont have any great shooters,and the magic are a good defensive team at forcing the opposing team to take jumpshots,which allows you to rebound and run,and if they do that we should beat the heat,b/c when teams are short handed,tireing out the guys they do have always seems like the best strategy! Intriguing match-up:dwight vs. shaq,dwight hasnt played against shaq enough times to come up with a defensive strategy against him like ben wallace has,so dwight must even out the match-up by running the floor,and try and keep the big guy tired,b/c your not gonna stop him offensively,but if dwight makes shaq chase,he can even things out in the match-up just b/c fatigue is shaq's biggest enemy,if dwight can stay a little less than even or even with shaq,and the rest of the guys just keep doing what they've been doing in shutting all the role players down (except wade let him shoot all day))the magic should win,we create alot of turnovers at home,so it will be interesting to see how active our hands are tonight,if you notice players not even trying to get their hands in passing lanes,thats a sign that they think they are great already,its up to BSH to keep the little things in focus,the things that got you the streak cant become foreign on the road,and also battie needs to be better against haslem with a four inch height advantage,at 6ft7 haslem shouldnt be able to guard anyone,battie,darko or dwight,so let see how many times coach hill tries to take advantage of our biggest mismatch,if it were up to me,no matter who haslem is guarding,i would post that player all game b/c they can shoot over him so easily in the post,lets see if BSH has any since! Magic win..........but its gonna be close!

     

  • At 12:25 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Will we run? Will we take advantage of our mismatches for smart high percentage shots? Will we keep our hands active? And most of all,will jameer return to form and attack the basket,not just jumpshots tonight? IF all these question's get answered yes,i'd be willing to bet they come in a magic victory!

     

  • At 12:29 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    Yeah, the combo of Dwight and Darko should be able to have their way on the court. It will be impossible for the Heat to stop the both of them on the offensive end.

     

  • At 2:03 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Introvert316 pointed out a key thing about the game tonight. The Magic definitely will not get any respect from the refs, especially after Shaq's whining and criticizing the refs last week.

    I expect the Heat to get a decided edge in FT shooting tonight; and if that happens, the Magic will have to play darn near perfect in every other area to win the game. The way they've been playing lately, I will not sell this team short, as they continue to amaze me.

    Matt, good summary of the Magic's playoff chances. If they happen to pull off the upset against MIA, if PHI loses to WAS tomorrow night and CHI loses to NJ Tuesday night, all of a sudden the Magic are just 2 1/2 games out!

     

  • At 7:31 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Wow... a 13 pt lead for us at the half! More great shooting... Jameer is having a great game... balanced scoring. The Magic have a slight edge at FTs so far which shocks me.

    We all know that the Heat are going to make a strong run sometime in the second half, and most likely the Magic won't continue to shoot over 60%. Will we have the poise to withstand the Heat?

     

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