Grant Hill returns to ORL tonight with Suns
Grant Hill and PHO make their only visit to ORL this season tonight, as the Magic (5-1) try to sustain their monentum from a 4-0 road trip. PHO (4-2) is coming off a 106-101 come from behind victory FRI night over the struggling Heat. Steve Nash had 30 pts and 8 asts.
The probable starting lineup for PHO:
G... Steve Nash (23.5 ppg, 8.5 asts, 18 of 29 3 pt FGs)
G... Raja Bell (10.2 ppg)
C... Amare Stoudamire (13.0 ppg, 5.0 rebs)
F... Grant Hill (11.3 ppg, 5.2 rebs)
F... Shawn Marion (17.3 ppg, 13.7 rebs)
Top reserves: G Leandro Barbosa (15.2 ppg), C Boris Diaw (9.5 ppg) F Sean Marks (6.5 ppg) G Marcus Banks (5.6 ppg)
This will be the Suns' 4th game in 5 days, and 7th game in their last 10, while this will be the Magic's 6th game in 9 days. Magic have lost 8 of their last 10 against the Suns, and are 1 pt underdogs to the Suns tonight (www.pinnaclesports.com).
The probable starting lineup for PHO:
G... Steve Nash (23.5 ppg, 8.5 asts, 18 of 29 3 pt FGs)
G... Raja Bell (10.2 ppg)
C... Amare Stoudamire (13.0 ppg, 5.0 rebs)
F... Grant Hill (11.3 ppg, 5.2 rebs)
F... Shawn Marion (17.3 ppg, 13.7 rebs)
Top reserves: G Leandro Barbosa (15.2 ppg), C Boris Diaw (9.5 ppg) F Sean Marks (6.5 ppg) G Marcus Banks (5.6 ppg)
This will be the Suns' 4th game in 5 days, and 7th game in their last 10, while this will be the Magic's 6th game in 9 days. Magic have lost 8 of their last 10 against the Suns, and are 1 pt underdogs to the Suns tonight (www.pinnaclesports.com).
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 2:04 PM
5 Comments:
At 2:29 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
I guess I can understand why the Magic are 1 pt underdogs tonight. The first home game back from a road trip is almost always a "trap" game because a lot of times, teams don't play with the same intensity they did on the road trip on the first home game back. The fact the Magic are playing one of the NBA's top teams will make it that much tougher.
DET came into ORL last FRI and won, even though they had played the previous night in MIA. PHO played and won last night in MIA also, so let's hope the Magic can start taking advantage of teams in that situation.
It'll be interesting to see the reaction of the Magic fans to Grant Hill. Even though Grant's 7 years with the Magic were a huge disappointment with all the injuries he had, and the failure of the Magic to win a playoff series during that time, I expect a nice ovation for Grant because he's an all-around good guy and a quality individual.
Mike D'Antoni is playing Hill at his natural position of small forward, unlike Brian Hill playing Grant at shooting guard.
The Magic come into the game tonight knowing what a tough team PHO is, so I don't expect any letdown after the 4 game road trip... Magic by 4.
At 3:10 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
I looked over at the Sentinel blog, and wow, there are certainly some strong feelings about how unhappy, angry, and bitter some people are about Grant Hill and his years with the Magic.
My take is this... the Magic are now 5-1, and have a tremendous future ahead in the coming years. It's time to enjoy the present and look ahead to the promising future... not to look back at all the disappointment in the previous seven years. Also, it was not all Grant's fault for the Magic's failures over the past seven years.
Both Grant and the Magic are in good situations now, and it's not going to accomplish anything by booing him tonight. The focus should be on the Magic and their very promising present and future.
At 3:36 PM,
Anonymous said…
I think the Suns match up well with the Magic.
On the Suns side, they're a bit deeper, which I think might be the difference. Also I don't know if Adonal and Garrity will be able to keep up the frantic pase. I think Nash will have a field day with Jameer.
On the Magic side, they just really have to hit the shots. If Howard plays like...Howard, and if Turk and Lewis heat up, I think they will definately have the advantage.
At 3:39 PM,
Anonymous said…
Oh and G Hill will get lit into. He sucked up the Magic's money and split as soon as he is healthy.
At 3:47 PM,
Big Figure said…
Mike your right,but the problem is that most fans arent that logical. Most fans only remember one thing,as soon as grant was healthy he went to the suns.If grant had stayed and taken a back-up role for at least one more season for the vet minimum,then his debts would have been paid,but as of now everyone i've spoke to says the same thing about grant that he basically robbed the magic. To me it is what it is,i love the name on the front of the jersey not the back,if donald freggin duck could shake you out of your shoes and hit three's then he could be playing for the magic and i wouldnt care! On to the game. Jameer has to be able to slow nash to some extent,if he's running and gunning were in trouble. But i like the magic in this match-up,neither marion or hill are outside threats so we should be able to pack it in and keep them out of the lane for easy baskets,their not a huge team at all so match-ups should be in our favor to play our style all night,magic outlast the suns in a high scoring affair.
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