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.

Monday, December 31, 2007

Magic/Bulls preview

The Magic (21-11, 14-5 road) take on the new-look Bulls (11-17, 6-7 home) in a New Year's Eve matinee at the United Center. CHI is coming off a 100-83 win SUN at NY, with Ben Gordon, now coming off the bench as the sixth man, scoring 25 pts. New coach Jim Boylan, taking over after the sudden firing of Scott Skiles last week, is 2-0.

The probable starting lineup for the Bulls:

G... Kirk Hinrich (18.4 ppg, 5.9 asts)
G... Chris Duhon (5.9 ppg)
F... Luol Deng (18.4 ppg, 6.8 rebs)
F... Joe Smith (8.2 ppg)
C... Ben Wallace (4.2 ppg, 8.4 rebs)

Top reserves: Ben Gordon (18.1 ppg); Andres Nocioni (13.5 ppg, 5.1 rebs); Tyrus Thomas (6.3 ppg); Aaron Gray (4.3 ppg); Joakim Noah (4.3 ppg)

CHI is averaging a league-low 91.9 ppg, but has scored 100 or better the last two games.

The Magic beat the Bulls 2 of 3 games last season, and are 2 1/2 pt favorites to extend their NBA-leading road victory total.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 4:29 AM  

4 Comments:

  • At 4:59 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    This game really worries me. The Bulls seem to have newfound energy since Jim Boylan took over the coaching reigns. He has them running a faster-paced offense, and the team has really responded. In a much-needed move, Ben Gordon was taken out of his starting role at SG and now comes in off the bench, and he has been brilliant, scoring a combined 56 pts in two games.

    It will be really interesting to see who the Magic starts at PG. Will Coach Van Gundy stick JNelson back in there if he's healthy, or will he continue to start CArroyo, who has done so well running the offense the last couple games (despite the slow foot-speed on defense :-)

    The Magic better be prepared and ready for this game, as the Bulls will want to continue their improved play under their new coach. The Bulls' two wins came against MIL and NY, two teams well under .500. Can the Bulls play that well against a team like the Magic, who are 10 games over .500?

    On the other hand, the Magic will want to continue to build on their 3 game winning streak, after a dismal stretch of 7 losses in 9 games.

    I'm hoping the Magic will be ready for this one and do what they have to do to win... Magic by 2

     

  • At 12:26 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Lately the magic have been playing down to their level of competition,i dont expect anything different today. This is the type of team that can take advantage of bad defenders (with all the small guards),the dribble drive to the middle,then finding people for open shots is what they do so hedo and carlos have to be better defensively today. If they can keep their guys in front and keep the bulls shooting jumpshots we have a good chance to beat them soundly because they dont really score in the paint.

     

  • At 1:58 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    I agree with Big Figure. Bulls are jumpshooters, and they live and die with jumpshots. I don't think they have any inside presence to match Dwight, and that's why they are doomed to lose. Magic by 7.

     

  • At 3:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Well last game of the year and i hope we ended in a positive stride in the current winning streak which we are on. As we all know chicago dropped scott skiles like a bad habit last week and ever since have been playing well. Bogans in games like this he has to step up and shut down players like gordon in order for the magic to have a chance at it. Chicago barely has any firepower inside due to wallace's weakness on the offensive and big guys like nocioni and smith love to settle on their 15- 20 footers. So perimeter defense will be of great importance tonight!!!


    Magic by 6. HAppy New Year guys !

     

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