Game night preview
ORLANDO MAGIC vs. MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Friday, March 26. 7:00 p.m.
Amway Arena
Orlando, FL
In their previous meeting this season on New Year’s Day, Orlando buried 15 3-pointers and outscored Minnesota by 10 in the fourth quarter to coast to a 106-94 victory at the Target Center. Rashard Lewis led six Magic players in double figures with 21 points. The best one-on-one matchup may be at the point guard position between Jameer Nelson and Jonny Flynn. The rookie out of Syracuse erupted for 23 points against the Magic last meeting.
| Record | Standings | PF | PA | Road/Home | Streak | L10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 14-58 | 5th Northwest / 15th West | 98.0 | 107.6 | Road 5-32 | Lost 14 | 0-10 |
| Orlando | 50-22 | 1st Southeast / 2nd East | 101.8 | 94.9 | Home 28-7 | Lost 1 | 8-2 |
Here is the complete preview from Yahoo! Sports.
The Magic are 14 1/2 point favorites.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 4:05 AM
3 Comments:
At 4:28 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
There were some dissension in the Orlando locker room after their loss to the Hawks Wednesday night, according to the game story in the Orlando Sentinel by Brian Schmitz.
I hope too much isn't made out of it, as the Magic didn't play their best game and Van Gundy didn't coach his best game. Learn from your mistakes and move on.
At 4:46 PM,
Matt said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
At 4:48 PM,
Matt said…
The media foolishly made too much of it, as is their shallow business, and Brian Schmitz is as bad as anybody in that regard. It is the coach's job to have the team ready and motivated for the game, and coach Van Gundy gets a c- on that. After Magic got a big lead, they started playing sloppy, and the rotation in getting to 3-point shooters was awful. When ATL started to fight their way back in the game, the Magic looked disinterested.
My concern is not for the locker room quibble but rather for lack of focus on playing clean and disciplined games for the remainder of the regular season. That is necessary for entering the play-offs with momentum and full of confidence. Magic needs to show that they could consistently lock opponents down on defense, and move the ball well on offense for easy scoring. Did they lack respect for ATL due to prior blowouts every time they met before? Or are they convinced that they are locked in the second spot in the East and have no chance of catching up with CLE, hence no incentive to play? If that is the case why all the fuss after the loss? On Wednesday night both teams were equally bad but ATL made the last shot and won the game. End of story.
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