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.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Magic head to All-Star Break on positive note with win over POR

The Magic (27-26, 18-10 home) were able to get a much-needed win against POR (22-32, 10-18 away) 103-91 as they head into the All-Star break hoping to get a little healthier. Several players stepped up for the Magic in the absence of 4 regulars.

The Magic were led by HTurkoglu, who had been in a horrible shooting and scoring slump, with 24 pts on 10 of 16 FGs; DMilicic a career-high 21 pts, 8 rebs; DHoward 20 pts on 8 of 12 FGs, 16 rebs; and CArroyo, starting at PG in place of JNelson who was out due to the flu, with 15 pts, 7 asts, and just 1 TO. JRedick led the bench players with 7 pts on 3 of 5 FGs. POR was led by Zach Randolph with 28 pts, 10 rebs; and rookie Brandon Roy with 19 pts.

The Magic (40 of 76, 52.6%) outscored POR (34 of 84, 40.5%) from the field 86-71. The Magic made 6 of 16 3 pt FGs, while POR made 3 of 11. Both teams shot well from the FT line with POR at 20 of 22 and the Magic with 17 of 18. Rebounds were even at 41 apiece. The Magic had an outstanding AST/TO ratio of 22/11, while POR had a good ratio of 13/7. The Blazers bench outscored the Magic bench 30-17.

Good win for the Magic in closing out the road-weary Blazers. The Magic now have 6 days to rest and recuperate (with the exception of Dwight who will be very busy during All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas) before a very difficult stretch of games begin after the All-Star Break, starting at NY next TUE night. Also, the NBA trade deadline is FEB 22nd.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 12:25 AM  

8 Comments:

  • At 12:51 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Nice to be able to talk about a number of positive things that occurred in the game... let me go over a few.

    I can't say enough about what an outstanding game CArroyo had at PG. He took just 10 shots in 31 minutes of play, made 7, and dished out 7 asts with only 1 TO. It really is nice to see Carlos playing as well as he was back in NOV.

    When JNelson comes back, I'd love seeing him and Arroyo on the floor at the same time, if the matchups with the opposing team would allow it. I think it's apparent that Arroyo is the better "true" pt guard than Nelson.

    Good to see HTurkoglu bounce back, as he's taken a lot of heat from our blog the last several games for his mediocre performances.

    Darko and Dwight continue to shine in the starting lineup... a combined 41 pts and 24 rebs!

    Only 11 TOs... and 94.4% FT shooting... two areas that the Magic have struggled in all season.

    Here's hoping the Magic use their 6 days of rest wisely, get the majority of their injured players back, and get ready for an awful tough schedule coming up after the All-Star Break. More on that in the days ahead.

     

  • At 2:48 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    It was a good win for the Magic. As tdawg mentioned, it was important to get a win tonight going into all-star break to stay above .500.

    Positives

    Hedo broke out of his shooting slump, but he did it by attacking the basket.

    Arroyo was the version of himself I like. He showed good patience. He looked to pass first. We couldn't have asked for better play from a PG. I even noticed it in Dieners game, where he seemed to pass up on some shots that he would have normally fired on. Patience is good.

    Maybe someone finally filled these guys in; on the offensive end, we have to go inside to Dwight and Darko first, and everything comes from that.

    This leads me to the next positive; Dwight and Darko playing together. Tonight, Guokas and Steele brought up what will happen with Darko when Battie returns. Guokas said he pretty much expects Darko to go back to the bench, as B Hill will want to stick with the veteran Battie starting. I really-really hope this doesn't happen. Dwight and Darko are playing great together. Dwight and Battie haven't put up these kind of numbers EVER. Battie shouldn’t mind; his injury has forced B Hill to start Darko, and have proven it's better for the team. The production and efficiency of those 2 side by side has been outstanding. If Battie coming back means Darko returns to the bench, I wish a long recovery and more injuries for Battie. Harsh; I know.

    This brings me to the negative. I didn't mind seeing Dooling out on the floor, he does bring energy. In the first half, Hill put Redick in first. In the second half, Dooling came off the bench first. Dooling played 20 minutes to Redicks 16 in his first game back, and the game was a blowout. Nelson didn't play, and we still have Hill and Ariza out. Was this the first step in sending Redick back to the end of the bench? Not good.

     

  • At 4:31 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    fantastic win, even if against a road-weary opponent. even though our record this month isn't great, there are encouraging signs. i want to echo comments above noting two trends in particular:

    --Arroyo has resurrected himself. I've never seen a player look so good, then so bad, and so good again, all in the same season. His February shooting and assist numbers are outstanding. Much of our success in November was to our offensive 1-2 punch at the PG position (though our defense there needs work); maybe Nelson and Arroyo can revive it.

    --Milicic has come alive, and in the process he has made BHill look like a fool (surprise!...okay, moving on). Milicic's shot selection, rebounding, and confidence have skyrocketed in Battie's absence. I actually like Battie, but he should definitely be going off the bench.

    And who knows? *Maybe* even Hedo has found some game again...

     

  • At 10:38 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    A very good win. Magic played solid, but let's not forget that POR was a beat up team playing on back-back after they were pounded the night before in MIA. POR's defense in the middle was as spongy as it could be, and that had a lot to do with Hedo and Darko's success attacking the basket. It was nice to see Hedo playing good, but that is how he has always been; very good in one game and very bad in the next. I would rather see Hedo score in the 12-15 points range, consistently, rather than scoring 22-25 in one game and 0-8 in the next. Carlos played really well, but there were times that he jacked up quick shots, although they went in this time around.

    Regardless, it was nice to head into the all-star games on a positive note. The schedule gets a lot tougher right after the all-star break, but then the injured players are coming back, and I particularly like the effect of Trevor's return. Let's hope that Darko will remain in the starting line-up, and J.J. still gets meaningful minutes now that he looks comfortable on the floor, and the results of his presence are evident.

     

  • At 12:01 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    So hedo decided to attack the basket,what a foreign concept!!!! BSH can make me leave him alone for the rest of the season by doing one thing,just leave darko in the starting line-up,forget what matty says,forget what everyone thinks,just keep darko in the starting line-up,this is the perfect time to make the change,with this essentially being a bye week,in football coaches make drastic changes in the bye week that sometimes propel them into having a much better second half to the season,bsh could have the same impact with this basketball team by doing the same thing,just leave'em out there,battie's injury itself plus us winning games is a great reason to keep darko in the starting line-up,THIS IS THE TIME,and it may not present itself again soon.

     

  • At 7:00 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I think B Hill secretly reads our blog for coaching advice. I just read something posted in the Sentinel today. The article was titled, Magic Flying High Again, which is far from true if you think about it.

    www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-magic1507feb15,0,7927824.story?coll=orl-magic

    But, in the last sentences of this almost meaningless article, read what should have been the headline. And it might be the best news we'll hear until this summer. And it also means BIG has to start leaving Brian Hill alone. Here is how it read. I'll believe it when I see it.

    Milicic, 21, can hardly keep from smiling. He has seemingly filed away his dour days as a lampooned bust in Detroit with his play on the court and his blossoming personality off it.

    "I was so mad being there," Milicic said. "I was just happy to get out of there. I was in Miami [during the break last season] and saw my name on ESPN SportsCenter. I got traded. I was so happy."

    Milicic, quiet and sullen when he arrived, can be seen clowning with teammates. He also has averaged 12.7 points in the four games he has started for Battie.

    Coach Brian Hill might have delivered Milicic the best news. He said that Milicic will start alongside Howard even if Battie is able to play with a splint on his hand.

    "Just playing with Dwight, it's really great and this was my best game," Milicic said. "As soon as I got here, I tried to focus on Orlando and my future here."

     

  • At 7:44 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    That's funny. If Hill reads our blog, then the question is why is he doing the opposite of what we suggest? In the mystical histoy of some Asian countries, there are demons who always do the opposite of what they are asked to do. No comparison is intended!!!

     

  • At 8:55 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Here is a quote from Brian Schmitz's blog within Sentinel's website:

    [Reading the tea leaves and the lines between Brian Hill's comments, it looks as if Darko Milicic has supplanted Tony Battie as the starting power forward.

    Hill said after Milicic's career-high 21-point game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night that Milicic would remain the starter for the Magic's next game even if Battie can come back and play with a splint on his hand.

    "If he's ready to play in the first game, I think Darko will probably still be our starter alongside of Dwight (Howard) and we'll see what Tony can give us," Hill said.].

    The problem is that statement is as vague as it could be. Hill is not saying that Darko is going to be the starter. He is just saying that he would be the starter for "the next game", and adds that "we'll see what Tony can give us".

     

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