Vince Carter thought Orlando’s quick turnaround was tough.
“That’s pretty tough with the couple of hours of travel, the time change and then playing an hour earlier than normal,’’ said Carter, who scored 23 points and hit three 3-pointers. “That’s pretty tough on guys 30-plus (years old) – whoever that is.’’
Apparently eight is enough when it comes to the Magic’s winning streak, one that stretched from Feb. 26 to March 14. Orlando missed out on a chance to tie the franchise record of nine consecutive wins set twice previously in 1994 and 2001. The Magic also missed out on a chance to clinch a playoff berth.
Unlike much of the past three weeks, the Magic (47-21) looked like a flat team most of the night. Charlotte whipped them on the boards 46-34 and without ace defender Matt Barnes the Magic had no answer for Stephen Jackson (28 points and three 3-pointers). Charlotte (34-31) won for a sixth consecutive time
You can read John Denton’s postgame analysis here.
For the fourth time this season, the Charlotte Bobcats gave the Orlando Magic all they could handle. But on Sunday, unlike the first three games, the Bobcats outplayed the Magic down the stretch and came away with a 96-89 victory. Dwight Howard, who was one of three Magic players to score at least 20 points, finished with 27 points, 16 rebounds and 2 blocks. Stephen Jackson had 28 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists to lead the Bobcats.
It wasn’t all bad for Dwight Howard and the Magic on Sunday night. Howard became the franchise’s second all-time leading scorer, passing Tracy McGrady (8, 298 points) in the third quarter of Sunday night’s 96-89 loss to the Bobcats. Howard, who finished the game with 27 points, now has 8,309 points in his career. Nick Anderson is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 10, 650 points.
When asked about the feat, Howard said that he was only concerned with bringing the franchise it’s first championship.
Congratulations, Dwight.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).
The Orlando Magic got a bit of bad news before Sunday’s game with the Charlotte Bobcats. Matt Barnes injured his left big toe and will be inactive for Sunday’s game. He is listed as day-to-day. Mickael Pietrus will start in his place.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).
The Orlando Magic rallied from an early 15-point deficit and defeated the Washington Wizards 109-95 Saturday night. The Magic will have to turn right around and take on the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday night. You can read a preview of that game here.
Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy thinks that this will be a tough back to back.
The Magic (47-20) will try and tie the franchise record for consecutive victories at nine tonight when they host the Southeast Division rival Charlotte Bobcats in an especially tough back-to-back. Charlotte, winners of five straight, could be without all-star forward Gerald Wallace, who has been out with an ankle injury.
“This is a tough back-to-back because it’s an early game and the clock is going forward,’’ Van Gundy said. “We’ll get home and have about 12 hours before we’re back on the court doing our walk-through for Charlotte. So some mental toughness will be required against a team that’s playing very well.’’
Update: Matt Barnes is inactive with a sprained left big toe.
The Orlando Magic, fresh off a victory over the Washington Wizards on Saturday night, will have to go right back to work on Sunday night when they return home to host the Charlotte Bobcats. The Magic have now won eight straight games, which is an NBA high because the Dallas Mavericks had their 13-game winning streak snapped by the New York Knicks on Friday night. The Charlotte Bobcats are also one of the league’s hottest teams – they have now won five consecutive games. In their last contest, they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 106-98 on Friday night.
The Magic and the Bobcats have met three times this season. Although the Bobcats gave the Magic some problems and played three close games with the Magic, the Magic made big plays down the stretch and won each meeting.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).
After being dominated early on and falling behind 37-23 in the second quarter, the Magic went on a 23-4 run to take the lead. Orlando dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Wizards 41-22 in the period to take a six-point halftime lead. The Magic added to their lead in the third quarter and the Magic again extended the lead in the fourth quarter and closed the game out earning a 109-95 victory. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 28 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks. Andray Blatche had 32 points, the 4 rebounds and 4 assists to lead the Wizards.
