Orlando Magic @ Toronto Raptors

According to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel, Vince Carter will not play today because of the ankle injury he suffered on Friday night in New Jersey. Additionally, Mickael Pietrus was sent home with flu-like symptoms.

See the full story here.

Carter tested the ankle before the game against the Raptors on Toronto’s practice court but couldn’t move from side to side.

“We will not have him. He tried to go. He can go straight ahead,” Coach Stan Van Gundy said.

That leaves Orlando with a different starting lineup:

Orlando

C Dwight Howard
F Ryan Anderson
F Matt Barnes
G J.J. Redick
G Jameer Nelson

Toronto

C Andrea Bargnani
F Chris Bosh
F Hedo Turkoglu
G DeMar DeRozan
G Jose Calderson

See my game preview here.

In other news, Hedo Turkoglu says an “akward meeting” is what drove him from Orlando.

Turkoglu was upset with the Magic after what he called an “awkward” meeting with the front office following the season.

He said the Magic made an unsatisfactory offer — four years for $34 million, with the Magic insisting on holding the option on a fourth season — and some communication issues.

Turkoglu said he first got the impression he might become a former Magic player after he met with General Manager Otis Smith and Coach Stan Van Gundy.

“They said I had a good year, it’s a good market for you and we hope you get some money,” Turkoglu said. “It was awkward. After that, my agent [Lon Babby] looked into other teams. Then they [the Magic] didn’t return our calls. They made some kind of offer. … It was frustrating.”

Turkoglu is averaging 13 ppg, 4.5 rpg, and 2 apg with the Raptors.

Click here for the full story.

Halftime: Magic lead 64-53.

• Orlando cooled down after shooting 7-of-11 from beyond the 3-point line the first court.
• J.J. Redick has a career-high 18 points.
• The defense has not been good.

End of 3rd Quarter: Magic lead 99-89

• Toronto out-scored Orlando in the period 36-35.
• The defense is playing awful. Toronto has 89 points on 57.4% shooting.
• Jameer Nelson was on fire, hitting three 3’s in the quarter. He has 24 points and 5 assists.
• Dwight Howard is just 4-of-11 from the field but is 12-of-13 from the line.
• J.J. Redick has 23.
• Ryan Anderson has 15, with 12 points coming on 3-pointers, but I love the way he’s putting the ball on the floor.
• Hedo ‘Turkoglu got hot in the quarter and has 14 points for the game.
• Chris Bosh leads Toronto with 25.
• The Magic are 15-of-26 from downtown, but Toronto is hitting their 3’s too – they’re 8-of-9.

Final: Magic win 125-116.

• Four players scored over 20 points – Ryan Anderson (20), Dwight Howard (24), Jameer Nelson (30) and J.J. Redick (27)
• Redick’s 27 was his career-high.
• A full recap and analysis are still to come.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)