The week ahead for the Magic, and the Magic's free throw shooting woes
The Magic begin this week with a 14-4 record, 8-2 on the road and 6-2 at home, in first place in the SE 1 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta, and have the best record in the East, 1/2 game ahead of Boston and 1 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta and Cleveland. Only two other NBA teams have a better winning percentage than the Magic, and they are both from the Western Conference: Phoenix (14-3) and the LA Lakers (13-3). It should be noted that the Lakers have played 12 home games already and just 4 away games.
The Magic play only 2 games in the next 8 days:
Wednesday, Dec. 2: vs New York (3-14, 2-6 road)
Saturday, Dec. 5: at Golden State (5-10, 3-3 home)
It's been a very busy first month of the season, as only three other teams have played as many games as the Magic. The Magic will welcome the five days without a game this week.
The Magic's free throw problems have really worsened the last 4 games. In those 4 games, the Magic have shot 64 out of 109 on free throws, a dismal 58.7%. Even when you take out Dwight Howard's FT percentage those 4 games, the rest of the team has struggled also. Howard shot 23 of 45 on free throws in that span, while the rest of the Magic shot 41 of 64, just a 64.1% clip at the line.
For the season, the Magic are shooting 67.5% on free throws, but if you subtract Howard's free throw shooting, the Magic are shooting a more respectable 74.8% on free throws. During the last 4 games, the Magic, not counting Howard, are shooting 10 percentage points worse than their season free throw percentage.
The fact the Magic won 3 of those 4 games is encouraging, and a testament to how well they are doing other things, despite such a mediocre performance from the free throw line; but the Magic, including Dwight, have got to get better from the free throw line if they hope to advance to another NBA Finals.
The Magic play only 2 games in the next 8 days:
Wednesday, Dec. 2: vs New York (3-14, 2-6 road)
Saturday, Dec. 5: at Golden State (5-10, 3-3 home)
It's been a very busy first month of the season, as only three other teams have played as many games as the Magic. The Magic will welcome the five days without a game this week.
The Magic's free throw problems have really worsened the last 4 games. In those 4 games, the Magic have shot 64 out of 109 on free throws, a dismal 58.7%. Even when you take out Dwight Howard's FT percentage those 4 games, the rest of the team has struggled also. Howard shot 23 of 45 on free throws in that span, while the rest of the Magic shot 41 of 64, just a 64.1% clip at the line.
For the season, the Magic are shooting 67.5% on free throws, but if you subtract Howard's free throw shooting, the Magic are shooting a more respectable 74.8% on free throws. During the last 4 games, the Magic, not counting Howard, are shooting 10 percentage points worse than their season free throw percentage.
The fact the Magic won 3 of those 4 games is encouraging, and a testament to how well they are doing other things, despite such a mediocre performance from the free throw line; but the Magic, including Dwight, have got to get better from the free throw line if they hope to advance to another NBA Finals.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 7:33 PM
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Bucks have been one of the biggest surprises of the 2009-10 NBA season thus far, jumping out to an 8-3 start. Rookie of the Year candidate Brandon Jennings has been a huge factor in Milwaukee’s turnaround. His numbers of 22.6 points, 5.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game are closer to those of an MVP candidate than that of a rookie. While limiting his production will be a major focus of Orlando’s defensive game plan, offensively the Magic look to challenge the Bucks’ weak interior. With Andrew Bogut out for the contest (strained/bruised left leg), Orlando will look to All-Star center Dwight Howard to take advantage of Milwaukee’s big man rotation of Dan Gadzuric and Kurt Thomas.
ET Thursday. The second game of Orlando’s back-to-back is in the middle of a grueling stretch that has the Magic playing in four cities in five nights. “It’s going to be a real tough holiday weekend for us,” Magic shooting guard J.J. Redick said. “We have four games in five nights and it’s four cities in five nights. So it will be a challenge for us.” The Hawks have won seven of their past eight games and are currently 1/2 game ahead of the Magic atop the Southeast division. In order for Orlando to claim division supremacy, they’ll need to find a way to slow down Atlanta guards Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford, who are currently averaging a combined 39.3 points per game. While initially displeased with his team’s defensive start to the season, Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy is beginning to see improvement. “I think we’re really battling hard defensively,” Van Gundy said. “I think that has really improved over the last two games. We went into Boston, they were No. 1 in the league in field goal percentage and we held them in the low 30s. We come in (Sunday) and this team is averaging 107 a game and (we) give them 28 in the first quarter, and then still end up holding them below 100. That to me is what I like. I see us fighting harder and making a better effort defensively. “
7:30 p.m. ET. Orlando has won 12 of its last 13 regular season meetings with Miami and will look to continue that trend in front of a national audience. After jumping out to a terrific start to the season, Miami has dropped three of its last four contests and is struggling to find a way to limit its opponents on the defensive end. The Magic, on the other hand, have been on a tear. After notching three straight home victories, Orlando earned road triumphs over two Eastern Conference contenders, Boston and Toronto. In both road wins, the Magic’s biggest offseason addition made an immense impact. Eight-time All-Star Vince Carter posted a game-high 26 points in Orlando’s victory over Boston and then followed it up with a game-high 24 in the Magic’s win over the Raptors. “Both games on the road we put the ball in his hands late and I think he’s making pretty solid plays,” Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy explained of Carter’s recent performances. “He’ll be the guy that will probably have the ball in those situations, not necessarily to take the shot all the time, but to make the plays.”
first meeting this season, the Magic torched the Raptors with their deadly outside shooting. Orlando connected on 17 of its 32 shots from downtown as it notched a 125-116 victory in Toronto. The Magic’s backcourt tandem of J.J. Redick and Jameer Nelson played a huge role in the squad’s success. Nelson erupted for 30 points, while Redick tallied 27 points, six rebounds and five assists. Dwight Howard dominated in the paint, notching 24 points and 11 rebounds.
take on the Celtics at 8 p.m. ET on Sun Sports and ESPN. The national spotlight will be on Orlando as it attempts to prove that it can take down Boston even with its addition of Rasheed Wallace and a healthy Kevin Garnett. “We’re looking forward to playing those guys again,” Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard explained. “We know it’s going to be a dogfight. We’ve always had dogfights with Boston. It’s not going to be any different. It’s going to be a good matchup, but I think we can win that game.” While the Magic will be looking to prove themselves once again, the Celtics, on the other hand, will be looking for payback. The Magic became the first team to defeat Boston after it led 3-2 in a playoff series and just the fourth all-time to win a Game 7 on its home floor when they stormed TD Banknorth Garden and claimed a 101-82 Eastern Conference Semifinals series-clinching victory last postseason.
at 7 p.m. ET. Although Orlando has won seven of its last eight meetings with Oklahoma City, it had a rough showing in the last matchup. Kevin Durant erupted for a game-high 28 points as the Thunder routed the Magic, 102-74, on November 8. “Last time we played them, they just out-ran us, out-jumped us and out-worked us,” Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard said. The Magic were not pleased with their overall performance in that game and are anxious to even the score. “We want to play those guys again after what they did to us in that last game,” Howard explained.
The Magic have dominated the Nets at home in recent history, winning five of the last six meetings in Orlando. In their only matchup of this season, the Magic rolled to a 95-85 victory in New Jersey on October 30. Dwight Howard posted his first 20-20 game of the season, notching 20 points and 22 rebounds. Vince Carter was on pace for a 40-plus point contest, but was forced to leave the game with a sprained ankle in the second quarter after erupting for 16 early points. Still, Orlando won’t let past success get in the way of the task at hand. “You know they are going to be coming for us just like everybody else,” Magic forward Matt Barnes explained. “We really have to set the tempo early and just try to take it to them for 48 minutes.” New Jersey is also dealing with its share of injuries. Chris Douglas-Roberts (illness) Devin Harris (groin), Yi Jianlian (knee) and Courtney Lee (groin) have all missed games due to injury. However, the Magic still recognize that the Nets still possess plenty of young talent. “I know they have a few players hurt, but they have a lot of good young players,” Barnes said. “Teams like that have no fears.”
Finals re-match with the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3) on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. The Magic swept the Cavaliers at home (3-0) during the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals and will look to continue that trend in front of ESPN’s national audience. Orlando’s first nationally televised contest of the regular season is sure to draw a lot of media attention and its players are looking forward to the challenge. “You know everyone loves Cleveland, so you know it’s going to be a good measuring stick,” Magic forward Matt Barnes explained. “This team had success against them last year and we look to carry that on this year.” In order to carry on that success, the Magic will need to limit All-Star forward LeBron James. The perennial MVP candidate is averaging 26.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game. “It’s virtually impossible,” Barnes said of defending James. “You just want to make players like him, Kobe (Bryant) and Paul Pierce earn their points. They are so 
when they visit the Charlotte Bobcats (3-3) at 7 p.m. ET. The Magic went 4-0 last season against the Bobcats and have won eight of the last nine meetings overall. But in order to ensure that things get back on track against Charlotte, Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy has made it clear he wants to see an improved defensive effort from his squad. “(Right now) we’re totally predicated on shooting,” Van Gundy explained after Sunday’s defeat. “We do not have any kind of defensive mindset.” Orlando has allowed five of its seven opponents to crack the 100-point plateau and is allowing the opposition to shoot 47.5 percent from the floor, which puts them at 24th overall in the NBA. While it’s easy to come down on the players’ defensive effort, the Magic have already had to deal with a number of extenuating circumstances. The Magic have played games without Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter (ankle injury), Ryan Anderson (ankle injury), Mickael Pietrus (illness), Anthony 
fourth-worst record in the NBA, the Thunder look like a rejuvenated franchise this season. Their young nucleus, consisting of 2007 second-overall draft pick Kevin Durant, forward Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook, has put up impressive numbers to start the NBA’s 2009-10 campaign. Durant has exploded for 24.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, while Green is averaging 16.6 and 6.6. Russell Westbrook has distributed the ball effectively to both of Oklahoma’s fantastic forwards, notching 7.8 assists to go along with his 18.4 ppg. The key once again for Orlando will be establishing Dwight Howard down low. The Thunder currently lack an effective big man and will rely on Nenad Krstic to stop the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week.