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 06, 2008

Magic suffer embarrassing loss to Knicks

Even though the Magic already have clinched the third seed in the East, they still want to stay sharp in their remaining games as the playoffs approach. Against the NY Knicks, losers of 17 of their previous 19 games, the Magic played maybe their worst game of the season in an ugly 100-90 loss. The Magic trailed 26-12 after one quarter, came back in the second qtr to trail by just one at the half, and trailed 73-71 early in the fourth qtr before collapsing and falling behind by as many as 14 pts.

The Magic had just four players in double figures, led by HTurkoglu with 22 pts (8 of 17 FGs), 6 asts; JNelson 19 pts (6 of 11 FGs), but just 1 ast and 4 TOs: MEvans 16 pts (6 of 15 FGs); and DHoward 13 pts (3 of 10 FTs), 15 rebs. The Magic bench scored just 14 pts, with three players scoring 4 pts. Turkoglu and Lewis combined to shoot 2 of 16 from 3 pt range.

NY had six players in double figures, led by rookie Wesley Chandler scoring a career-high 23 pts. Zach Randolph added 20 pts, 11 rebs.

The statistical breakdown:

FGs... NY 33 of 92 (35.9%) ORL 32 of 80 (40%) NY 73 ORL 73
3 PT FGs... ORL 9 of 36 (25%) NY 7 of 23 (30.4%)
FTs... NY 27 of 35 (77.1%) ORL 17 of 29 (58.6%)
REBs... NY 55 (17 offensive) ORL 52 (11 offensive)
AST/TO... NY 20/8 ORL 17/14
BENCH... NY 29 ORL 14

This was the Knicks' first win against a team currently over .500 since FEB 19th against WAS. The Magic no longer have a chance at catching the Pistons for the second seed, but can't afford any more embarrassing losses like this one as the season winds down and the playoffs approach.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 11:43 PM  

4 Comments:

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

    Quote from Magic coach Stan Van Gundy:

    "It was our worst game of the year by far. Both ends of the floor, no energy. We did an awful job. I did an awful job leaving those guys in the game. I should have gone with some other people in a game like that because the guys out there either couldn't or wouldn't."

    I agree with the coach there. This was both a poorly played and poorly coached game.

    Bogans has been horrible the last six games. In those games, he is averaging 5.2 ppg on 11 of 38 FG shooting (28.9%), including 6 of 28 3 pt FGs (21.4%) and 3 of 9 FTs (33.3%). If ever there was a time to get Redick off the bench and play him extended minutes, this was the time, but Redick stayed glued to the bench.

    Why not give Augustine some playing time too in a game like this?

    After an outstanding game against the Cavs, Garrity returned to being his usual self against the Knicks with just 4 pts on 2 of 8 FGs.

    In his last eight games, Howard is averaging just 13.8 ppg.

    Not good seeing Nelson with just 1 ast and 4 TOs in 32 minutes.

    In a weird stat, all the Magic starters had a negative +/- rating of worse than -10, while the four Magic bench players who played all had a positive rating, even though the bench played poorly scoring just 14 pts on 5 of 17 FGs and was outscored by the Knicks bench 29-14.

    Thankfully, these types of games for the Magic have been few and far between these last couple months. Let's hope we see the real Magic show up against the Bulls on WED night.

     

  • At 6:27 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    While I agree that the Magic should use the remainder of the regular season for sharpening their game for the play-offs, I also realize that the Magic has nothing to play for in these games. The team has been generally consistent in winning the matches that they should have won, and let's hope that trend will carry over to the play-offs.

     

  • At 12:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Great coaches do not let up, specially now. You don’t want to go to playoff with a losing streak. The Magic #1 issue has been inconsistency by the point guards and the lack of present of a Power Forward position. If Nelson is not producing SVG should do an assessment right way and replace him with Carlos, same is with Dooling. They all three have a similar game, If Bogans is not producing, well we have Evans and JJ and JJ is dying for an opportunity. Another issue, it’s no way that Howard should only take 8- 10 attempts to the basket per- game in the last 3 games. We have to feed the Big Man. He should get at least 14-18 attempts per game. Howard should be our primary option follow by Hedo and Lewis. Donal Foyle should get more minutes than Garrity. He is a physical present and in the playoff and we probably need all his 6 fouls because when Howard leave the game, we can’t stop anyone in the pain. At least Foyle will try to kick someone butt. He doesn’t look afraid to mix up against anyone. Cook and Garrity want to play SG “BOTH”. I will go farther; I will experiment with Foyle and Howard playing at the same time. Foyle be the center and Howard the PF and Turk playing the SG position, having Evans as the 6 man. We are talking a 6’10” SG “THAT you may considerate him as the best playmaker in the team”. A 6’10” SF with Lewis. A 7 ‘ footer PF and Foyle another 6’10 crushing the boards. I have some more, I will sit Nelson for Carlos or Doling, neither D nor C turn the ball over. This game is about match ups and adjustments. We are becoming too predictable.

     

  • At 5:29 PM, Blogger ASponge said…

    Hello, I'm the administrator of The South Florida Fan blog

    http://thesouthfloridafan.blogspot.com

    As you all know, it's been a miserable season for the Heat. There's still a great deal of affinity for Stan Van Gundy in South Florida, and I'd like to get some coverage of the Magic down here.

    If any of you (readers or contributors) are interested in chronicling the Magic for us, please send an e-mail to thesouthfloridafan@gmail.com expressing your interest and qualifications.

    It would be great to increase Magic fandom statewide. This is a great opportunity. thanks!

     

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