The Orlando Magic, thanks to a 117-92 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, moved back into first place in the Southeast Division. The Magic look to start their three-game road trip with a victoy. The Timberwolves lost to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.
After a lengthy homestand, the Magic hit the road, starting in Minnesota. The Magic played seven of their last eight games at home and went 6-2 during that stretch (6-1 at home). The T-Wolves enter the game with a record of 7-26 while the Magic are 23-8. Minnesota is 4-13 at home. Orlando is 10-5 on the road.
Tip-off [...]

The Orlando Magic have had trouble early on in games. They have trailed at halftime in 11 games this year, but managed to go 6-5 in those games. Although the Magic have often been able to use their superior talent to come back and win these games, that is something they cannot count on doing that against the NBA’s elite.
On Christmas day against a swarming, suffocating Boston Celtics defense, the Magic played an awful second quarter and fell behind by 11 points in the first half. Although the Magic played a pretty good second half, they never got closer than [...]

The Orlando Magic used a second half rally to blow out the Bucks Wednesday night. See how it happened here.
I’ll have more on the Magic’s first half struggles later in the day.
J-Will was tremendous,” Van Gundy said. “He picked up (Jameer Nelson) very, very well, played great and was obviously very instrumental in the second half.”
Dan Savage, taking John Denton’s usual role, offers postgame analysis.
Savage did an excellent job and you can find that here.
Brian Schmitz offers his thoughts on the game.
Van Gundy then revealed that Nelson’s surgically repaired left knee has been swelling, causing him to have his practice [...]

Orlando got off to another slow start but finally woke up in the second half and blew out the Milwaukee Bucks, 117-92.
The Magic looked very lethargic early. They came out with a lack of energy and the Bucks took advantage of it, taking a 10-point first quarter lead. Orlando made late quarter run and finished the period trailing 25-21.
After shooting 33.3% in the first quarter, Orlando didn’t fare much better in the second, going just 7-of-19 from the field. The Magic played a decent game defensively in the first half and stayed within striking distance at 49-41.
The first eight [...]

The Orlando Magic, who got a much needed rest after falling to the Boston Celtics on Christmas day, return to action on Wednesday night when they host the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks are coming off a loss to the Charlotte Bobcats Monday night.
After some tough tests, this game will mark the first of six straight in which the Magic play sub-.500 teams.
Milwaukee was one of the surprises of the league when they started 8-3, but they have won just four games since that start and are 12-17. The Magic come in with a record of 22-8. Orlando is 12-3 at [...]

The Orlando Magic will take on the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night. You can read more about that game here.
Josh Robbins writes that the Magic must cut down on their turnovers, starting tonight.
Although the Magic won three of those four games, those miscues proved especially costly in Orlando’s Christmas Day loss to the Boston Celtics. The Magic turned the ball over 18 times, and while the Celtics didn’t do a particularly good job of converting those errors into points, the turnovers prevented the Magic from developing any offensive rhythm.
“We’ve just got to value the ball a little more and not try [...]

Once again, Brighthouse Networks may keep local Magic fans from seeing their team.
A statement released Tuesday by Fox said:
“We are not optimistic an agreement will be in place with Bright House on Jan. 1 so fans should begin making alternative plans to see Sun Sports’ Magic telecasts and other local sports programming airing on Sun Sports.”
Magic TV partner Sun Sports is bundled in with this Fox/Bright House contract which expires Dec. 31. If no deal is reached, Sun Sports will go dark on Bright House on Jan. 1, meaning 25 of the Magic’s final 50 regular-season games won’t be available [...]

Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy says that Mickael Pietrus is a key piece for the Magic.
What Van Gundy would like to see from Pietrus — and from some other players — is a more consistent energy level.
“I would say that M.P.’s energy tends to be somewhat dependent on how often and how well he shoots the ball, and that’s a challenge because I would really like him to base everything around his defense and his energy and not have his defense and energy be dependent on his offense,” Van Gundy said.
“But it’s not an easy role, to say the [...]

As 2009 comes to a close,  Howard the Dunk takes a look back at Orlando’s “All-Decade Team.” This is a team made up of what HTD believes to be are the best Magic players from 2000-2009.
It should come as no surprise that four of Orlando’s starters on the All-Decade team played on the 2008-09 team which won the Eastern Conference Championship and advanced to the NBA Finals.

We’re 30 games in, but it’s hard to tell exactly what we’re going to see from this Orlando Magic team. The Magic have several new players and have had trouble getting into any kind of rhythm due to injuries and Rashard Lewis’ suspension. The Magic have run into a lot of problems, but are still 22-8.