Posted on 04 February 2012.
Predicting which Orlando Magic team shows up from night to night has been a daily guessing game.A recent season-high four-game losing streak was plagued with turnovers, inconsistent play on defense
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Posted on 04 February 2012.
Aside from handing the Indiana Pacers their only home defeat of the season,
the Orlando Magic had a rough go toward the end of last month.
A couple of easier matchups have helped the Magic get off to a good start in
February.
Seeking a third straight victory overall, visiting Orlando tries for a
seventh win in its last eight meetings with Indiana as the teams face each other
for the third time in 12 days Saturday night.
It was a forgettable conclusion to January for the Magic (14-9), who
finished the month with five losses in six games – with their only win over that
stretch coming 102-83 at Indiana on Jan. 24. After that win, Orlando suffered a
season-worst four straight defeats – including a 21-point home loss at the hands
of the Pacers (16-6) on Sunday.
The Magic, though, may have put their woes behind them this week. Two days
after snapping their skid with a 109-103 win over road-weary Washington, Orlando
beat Cleveland 102-94 on Friday. The Magic committed a season-low five turnovers
and held the Cavaliers to 36.7 percent shooting from the field.
“We did good job of spacing the floor out, moving the ball and getting each
other involved,” said Jason Richardson, who returned following a two-game
absence (knee) to score 19 points – his second-highest total of the season.
Dwight Howard had 19 points and 16 rebounds and finished two blocks shy of a
triple-double. His 9-of-16 effort from the foul-line, however, helped allow
Cleveland to cut what was a 21-point lead to five with 2:12 to play after
continuously sending him to the line.
“That’s the game plan,” Howard said. “Until I get better at the line they’re
gonna continue to do it. It is what it is. I shot them better. I just gotta
continue to work on them. They’ll fall.”
The Magic had outscored the Pacers by an average of 14.5 points while taking
six straight in the series before Sunday’s loss. Orlando has still won its last
four visits to Indiana while limiting the Pacers to 40.3 percent shooting.
Indiana, however, has now won a season-best four straight overall after
prevailing 98-87 at Dallas on Friday. Second-year swingman Paul George made 7 of
11 from 3-point range and finished with a career-high 30 points.
“Yeah, he’s oozing confidence, as is our whole team,” coach Frank Vogel
said.
While George was been held to a combined 13 points in the two games versus
the Magic this season, he could fare better this time.
“I’ve grown into a confident player. I feel like I can knock down any shot,”
said George, averaging 12.4 points on the season. “I’ve got a comfort level out
there right now.”
The Pacers have to like their chances of keeping things going in front of
their home crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where they’ve allowed just 87.9
points per game while going 6-1. Indiana is holding teams to 39.3 percent
shooting on its own court – the second-best mark in the league.
Orlando guard Jameer Nelson is all but certain to miss his fifth consecutive
game with concussion-like symptoms. He could return Monday when the Magic host
the Los Angeles Clippers.
Glen Davis will also be unavailable against the Pacers as he serves the back
end of a two-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.
Gotta run!.
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Posted on 04 February 2012.
Read More: Jason Richardson (G – ORL), Dwight Howard (C – ORL), Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers
The Orlando Magic improved to 14-9 on Friday night with a 102-94 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. After perhaps the roughest losing streak in the Dwight Howard era, the Magic have now won two straight games over inferior Washington and Cleveland squads. Howard finished the game with yet another double double, scoring 19 points and grabbing 16 rebounds against a Cleveland team which lacks a true center.
Guard Jason Richardson matched Howard with 19 points of his own, and led Orlando to a quick double-digit lead in the first with 14 points over the first 24 minutes. Richardson looked as good as he has in a long time, boosting Howard along with 3 other Magic players in double figures. Orlando had just five turnovers, and for the second straight game, managed to get some rhythm going on the offensive end after that woeful stretch last week.
The Magic now travel to Indiana for the second night of a back-to-back against the Pacers.
For more news, analysis, and discussion on the Magic, visit SB Nation’s Magic blog, Orlando Pinstriped Post. For more on the Cavs, visit SB Nation Cleveland and SB Nation’s Cavaliers blog, Fear The Sword. For all your NBA news, be sure to check out SB Nation’s NBA basketball hub.
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Posted on 04 February 2012.
Stan Van Gundy often says he doesn’t care anything about acrobatic dunks, but even Van Gundy had to love what he saw from his starting shooting guard midway through the first quarter Friday night.
Jason Richardson elevated into the air, caught an alley-oop pass from Chris Duhon and slammed home a dunk with his back to the hoop.
The Magic need more from Richardson this season — more points, more defense, more energy — for the team to reach its potential, and that explains why the dunk was such a welcome sight. After missing two games to rest an injured knee, Richardson scored 19 points to help the Magic beat the rebuilding Cleveland Cavaliers 102-94 at Amway Center.
“I don’t have too many of those left,” the 31-year-old Richardson said, referring to his dunk.
“I’ve got to save those.”
Richardson faded a bit in the second half, to be sure, but he received plenty of help.
Four teammates scored in double figures, including Dwight Howard, who overcame Cleveland’s late-game Hack-a-Howard strategy to finish with 19 points, 16 rebounds and a season-high eight blocks.
It might be a moot point to look too far ahead with the Magic. Howard still wants a trade, and if the front office sends him to another team, the roster will take a dramatically different look.
Still, if the Magic keep Howard, team officials know consistent second and third scoring options must emerge. Although Ryan Anderson has filled the void most nights, Van Gundy wants to involve both Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu more. Both Richardson and Turkoglu played poorly in last spring’s first round, and consistently strong performances by Howard in those playoff games weren’t enough to save the Magic from being eliminated by the Atlanta Hawks.
On Friday against the Cavaliers, Turkoglu scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists.
“Him and J-Rich did an excellent job of trying to get to the basket and just taking shots, and we need that from those guys,” Howard said.
“Those guys have got to continue to do that for our team to be successful.”
Tonight should be a little tougher for Richardson and the Magic (14-9) than Friday was against the Cavaliers (8-13).
The Magic will play the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis. The improved Pacers have become a tough opponent, but circumstances will make the game harder for the Magic.
With Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, there are no hotel rooms available in the city, so the Magic were scheduled to spend the night in northern Kentucky, then fly during the day today to Indy.
That extra travel on a gameday, on the second day of a back-to-back, could cause extra problems for Richardson, who still is suffering from what team officials say is a bone bruise in his left knee.
No matter how he feels, the Magic will have to bring more sustained energy against the Pacers than against Cleveland.
On Friday, the Cavaliers piled up 19 second-chance shots and scored 19 fastbreak points.
“You simply can’t be a real good team if you can’t get back [on defense] and you can’t rebound the ball,” Van Gundy said.
The Cavs closed the gap late after they started to foul Howard down the stretch. Howard didn’t attempt his first free throw until 5:55 remained in regulation. He would go on to shoot 16 foul shots and make nine of them.
“Until I get better at the line, they’re going to continue to do it,” Howard said.
And that’s just one more reason why the Magic need more from Richardson.
jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.
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Posted on 03 February 2012.
As expected, Jason Richardson will play and start for the Orlando Magic when they face the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at Amway Center.
That’s the word for Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who spoke to the press moments ago after the Magic completed their shootaround.
Richardson missed Orlando’s loss Monday in Philadelphia and its win Wednesday over Washington because team officials wanted him to rest his left knee.
On Jan 12, Richardson sustained what the team is calling a bone bruise to the knee, and although Richardson returned to the lineup on Jan. 20, he still experienced weakness in the knee.
That’s why the Magic kept him out of the last two games.
Notes:
• Point guard Ish Smith, who was signed Thursday, definitely will play as Chris Duhon’s backup, Van Gundy said.
• Van Gundy was effusive in his praise of Cavs rookie point guard Kyrie Irving, saying Irving already is one of the top eight point guards in the league.
• Tonight’s referees will be Tony Brothers, Eli Roe and Haywoode Workman.
Follow Josh Robbins on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Orlando Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/joinus.
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Posted on 03 February 2012.
The Sports Network
Posted on 03 February 2012.
The Magic haven’t been too happy with their point guard play, and with the injury of Jameer Nelson, they have lacked depth, so they decided to get rid of Larry Hughes and add Ish Smith.
The signing of the 6’0″ 175 pound Smith excites me.
He has a better skill set than both Duhon and Nelson, though he doesn’t offer much along the way of threes, which is almost essential in the Orlando Magic’s offense. Smith has attempted 15 threes in 505 career minutes. If he can shoot them at all, he’ll find himself doing so playing in Stan Van Gundy’s offense.
Smith had a few impressive performances in 2010. He scored 11 points, dished out 7 assists, and grabbed 4 rebounds in a loss to the Spurs last year, and he had two other games in double digit scoring as well. He played 41 minutes in a win over the Timberwolves on November 10th, 2010.
Smith may not end up being a long term answer for the Magic, but he very well may end up outplaying Duhon and earning the majority of the backup minutes at point guard. Since Jameer Nelson’s play has been suspect, too, he could even get the lion’s share of minutes in a three way time share between the three below replacement level guards.
Smith is quick, has good handles, and seems to see the court exceptionally well for a small player, but remember to temper your expectations. Smith was a four year player at Wake Forest, who averaged over double figures in scoring only in his senior season when he saw nearly 37 minutes a game for the Demon Deacons.
His career assist average from college is 5.1, so that does speak to his potential in the NBA to get some decent assist numbers, but Smith has failed to stick with a team yet for a reason, and the Magic are now his 4th team in less than 2 seasons, so who knows how long we’ll have Smith even playing in the Amway.
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Posted on 02 February 2012.
The Orlando Magic parted ways with Larry Hughes last night, reports the Sentinel: “The Magic are down to one less guard after waiving guard Larry Hughes after Wednesday night’s win against the Washington Wizards. Hughes played almost 14 minutes, scoring two points on 1-of-4 shooting. Hughes was was signed as a free agent by Orlando on Dec. 9. He appeared in nine games this season with the Magic, averaging 1.3 ppg. in 12.7 minpg. The Magic might be signing another point guard, with Jameer Nelson (concussion) not expecting to return until Monday at the earliest. Chris Duhon is now their lone point guard.”
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Posted on 02 February 2012.
It’s a sad state of affairs in the Eastern Conference when sixth ranked Orlando Magic barely held their head above water from beginning to end against the Washington Wizards who have only won 4 games this season. Maybe the lockout was too long and the players are tired? The fans were a bit lackluster in the Amway Center Wednesday night. Or possibly people were expecting the Magic to do their thing and beat the Wizards with one hand behind their back.
Live scoreboard at Amway Center – Magic vs Wizards Feb 1, 2012.
Monica Lehua
Is Anderson the next Howard?
I’m not sure but the comical antics of our surrounding fans were much more entertaining than most of the game. It wasn’t as if there weren’t a few good plays. Dwight Howard made a nice show-off of a slam dunk. However, even though he scored 21 points and 18 rebounds, the cheers were louder for Ryan Anderson whenever he stepped on the courts. Anderson was the high scorer with 23 and J.J. Redick, another crowd favorite mimicked Howards 21 points.
It’s possible that Orlando fans have decided they need to change who they are going to cheer for in the future since Howard has basically said he doesn’t want to be in Orlando. In addition, off the court and in the ear shot of reporters Howard is constantly quoted belittling his teammates – yea, way to go to boost morale, kick your teammates when they are already down. Basically Howard has a foot out the Amway Center door and his comments are loud and clear to Orlando fans – thus you can sense the loyalty of fans changing gears.
Orlando Struggles to Hold On
As usually the crowd began to leave the arena with just two minutes left in the game, Orlando had a tiny lead up by six. We weren’t going to try to beat the crowd, it was too easy for the Magic to make a mistake; they had been struggling all night. Fortunately both sides kept using their time outs and Hedo Turkoglu and Redick’s free throws added a few more points to seal the deal in the final minutes. Orlando’s defense held up and they broke loose from their losing streak. We’ll be holding our breath for Thursday’s game in Indiana at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse as Orlando faces the Pacer’s at 7 p.m. ET.
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Posted on 02 February 2012.
The burden is off the Orlando Magic’s shoulders now.
They ended their four-game losing streak Wednesday night, beating the lowly Washington Wizards 109-103 at Amway Center.
“We’ve still got to get a lot better,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “But I think what sort of breaking the ice does in getting a win is now it allows you to get your mind on getting better instead of your mind on, ‘God, we haven’t won a game in forever.’ “
Goodness knows, his team has a long ways to go these days.
The Magic will gladly take a win at this point. Any win.
But in the victory, the team still struggled to protect the basketball, to rebound the basketball and just bring the ball up the court.
Ryan Anderson scored a team-high 23 points, including a trey with 42.2 seconds left that put the Magic ahead 104-97.
“We didn’t want to focus too much on that streak, because that’s a week we’d all like to forget and those games we’d like to just forget about,” Anderson said. “We can move forward and get a win next game and then just start a little run. I think this started our confidence, but we need to follow through with it.”
Dwight Howard scored 21 points and collected 18 rebounds. And J.J. Redick added 21.
They received a huge boost when Chris Duhon and Von Wafer made 3-pointers a couple of possessions apart to put the Magic ahead 77-71 early in the fourth quarter.
In all, Orlando went 13-for-30 from beyond the arc.
Orlando also contained Washington’s super-fast second-year point guard, John Wall.
Wall went 1-for-12 from the field and didn’t make his basket until a driving layup with 3:08 left in regulation. He did have 10 assists and only three turnovers.
“You’re going to go through some periods shooting the ball, and you can’t just rely on that,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said.
After Orlando had completed its shootaround Wednesday morning, Van Gundy told reporters that he expected his players to begin the game with plenty of energy.
And they did, jumping out to a 25-14 lead with 1:22 to go in the first quarter.
Then came adversity.
Washington went on a 22-5 run.
The Wizards ended that run when Kevin Seraphin followed Trevor Booker’s missed layup with an emphatic dunk. The slam put Washington ahead 36-30 with 7:01 remaining before halftime.
That’s all for today.
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