The Rest of January ...
The rest of January 2007 is one of the toughest stretches for the Magic this season. They are playing 11 games, out of which 7 are on the road. Thanks heavens for two games against Atlanta. Out of the 11 games 5 are against winning teams, one against a .500 team and one against a team just one game below .500. Overall, one may say 7 out of eleven are tough games. Here is the breakdown:
@GS: 14-5 at home; projection: L
@LAL: 16-4 at home; projection: L
@PHO: 14-3 at home; projection: L
@NO: 7-9 at home; projection: W
WAS: 6-11 on the road; projection: W
@NJ: 10-10 at home; projection: W
@CLE: 15-3 at home; projection: L
DAL: 11-5 on the road; projection: L
ATL: 5-12 on the road; projection: W
@ATL 5-9 at home; projection: W
MIL: 7-12 on the road; projection: W
Magic would have done well if they go 6-5 on this stretch. If the Magic could steal the first west coast game at GS, the outlook for that trip could change, although it is hard to see them winning in either LA or Phoenix. The game at NJ could go to the loss column, as well since it is on a back-to-back after playing WAS at home, and NJ is a .500 team at home. Although it is not impossible, it would be hard to imagine a victory against DAL at home, since that would be Magic’s fourth game in five nights on a second set of back-to-backs, and no back-to-back for DAL.
@GS: 14-5 at home; projection: L
@LAL: 16-4 at home; projection: L
@PHO: 14-3 at home; projection: L
@NO: 7-9 at home; projection: W
WAS: 6-11 on the road; projection: W
@NJ: 10-10 at home; projection: W
@CLE: 15-3 at home; projection: L
DAL: 11-5 on the road; projection: L
ATL: 5-12 on the road; projection: W
@ATL 5-9 at home; projection: W
MIL: 7-12 on the road; projection: W
Magic would have done well if they go 6-5 on this stretch. If the Magic could steal the first west coast game at GS, the outlook for that trip could change, although it is hard to see them winning in either LA or Phoenix. The game at NJ could go to the loss column, as well since it is on a back-to-back after playing WAS at home, and NJ is a .500 team at home. Although it is not impossible, it would be hard to imagine a victory against DAL at home, since that would be Magic’s fourth game in five nights on a second set of back-to-backs, and no back-to-back for DAL.
posted by Matt @ 4:56 PM
4 Comments:
At 9:55 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Matt, I agree with just about all your projected wins and losses for the Magic. If we can go 6-5 in this upcoming 11 game stretch, I will be happy. I agree that the game WED against GS will be a key, because like you said, it will be very difficult to win at PHO or LAL.
The Magic just finished a 15 game stretch where 12 of those games were at home. They were 14-6 when the stretch started, and are now 21-14, so they went 7-8 during those 15 games, which is kind of disappointing, but injuries and a heavy schedule had something to do with it, along with the Magic being exposed for not having decent outside shooting for several of those losses.
With just about everyone healthy now, this will be a good test to see where the Magic stand as a team at this point in time. It would be great to see them beat Dallas, but like you said Matt, the circumstances entering that game will make it really difficult for the Magic.
At 11:07 AM,
Big Figure said…
The away games i beleive the magic can go 4-3,the home games the magic can win them all.Over this stretch i think they go 7-4 or better.
At 3:11 PM,
OVERWADED said…
I'm feeling a little optimistic like Big Figure. I do agree with Matt that this 1st game tonight against GS will be critical. But if they can get this win under their belts tonight, I'm expecting them to go 3-1 on this road trip. Regardless if the Lakers are looking better this year or not, I expect the Magic to make a game out of it and have a chance to take the game. The game I'm worried about is against the Suns. We'll be coming off of the Lakers the night before. And the Suns can just put up so many points so quickly, which is typically what the Magic struggle doing. We'll have to bring our offense and defense to the table to be there in the end. If the Magic make it a playoff style game, I think they might have a shot. And lastly there is NOK, which I expect a win, period.
As for the rest of the month, every game is winnable. The toughest games are against the Cavs on the road, which do not scare me one bit because I still don't view them as legit. Then we play red hot Dallas, but it's in Orlando, and I expect the Magic to show up for that game ready to play.
In the end, I'm right there with Big. If the Magic are going to make a statement, there is no better time than now to do it going into the All-Star break. As it stands today, I think this team is as good as anybody in the Eastern Conference. And we're definitely a lot better of a team than 6-5 for the rest of January. As I've been saying, I think the Magic of November are back. This means, I expect W's, period. I expect them to continue to beat the average and below teams by over 10. And I expect them to hold their own in all the rest. Take a look, 6 of the 11 teams we play are below .500. Regardless if they are road or home games, why should we not expect all of those to be W's? And then, if this team is as good as we think it is, why should we not think they'll steal a few against the rest? Or I could have just said what BIG did; 7-4 or better.
At 5:23 PM,
Big Figure said…
Right with ya intro,the magic of november as you call them won basketball games despite sub-par coaching,now that were healthy i expect the same results. The one thing that may hamper us during this stretch is shooting,with keyon back in the mix you can forget seeing trav or JJ.
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