Archive for December, 2009

The Orlando Magic defeated the Utah Jazz 104-99 last night. Find out how they did it here. J.J. Redick was excellent last night. Joshua Robbins credits Redick’s improvement to his confidence. “He is playing with great confidence — and for good reason,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Success breeds confidence, and he’s playing very, very well. On top of the confidence, the guy is just so focused and tough. He’s on top of everything.” Read that story here. John Denton also praised Redick’s performance. “The thing that we talked about is that it’s a continual process with your career,’’ [...]

The Orlando Magic got off to another slow start and struggled on offense, but they played solid defense and came away with a 104-99 victory over the Utah Jazz. Rashard Lewis keyed a late run and J.J. Redick had one of the most efficient games of his career, scoring 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Dwight Howard was his usual, dominating self on the defensive end. Orlando showed great effort, intensity and energy  for the second time in two games. Neither the Magic nor the Jazz shot the ball well in the first quarter. The Jazz were just 8-of-24 while the [...]

Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE/Getty Images After losing three of their past four games, the Magic bounced back with a hard fought win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night. Utah will play their fourth straight game on the east coast. They are 2-1 on their road trip so far and defeated the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night. Orlando is 20-7 while Utah enters the game at 16-11. Orlando is 10-2 at home. Utah is 5-7 on the road. Tip off from Amway Arena is set for 7:00 pm EST. The game will air on Fox Sports Florida. As always, if you [...]

Magic Center Dwight Howard was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season. Here’s the official word from the Magic: ORLANDO’S DWIGHT HOWARD NAMED NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK NEW YORK, Dec. 21, 2009 – The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, Dec. 14, through Sunday, Dec. 20. It marks the second time this season and the ninth time in his career that Howard has earned the league’s top weekly honor. Howard recorded four double-doubles on the week, averaging 17.0 points and [...]

The Orlando Magic will take on the Utah Jazz Monday night. Check out my thoughts about Monday’s game here. Magic Point Guard Jameer Nelson, returning from a torn meniscus, will come off the bench tonight and play limited minutes. Magic Forward Matt Barnes, who has a sore left hand, will also play against the Jazz. Mike Bianchi wonders if the Magic have spoiled their fans. I realize the Magic have one of the best records in the league and are legitimate championship contenders. I realize the NBA season is tortuously long and you can’t expect teams to be at the [...]

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Matt Barnes will play tonight. Barnes has been bothered by the injury for the past couple of weeks. He said the hand was bent back awkwardly during a play on Saturday night against the Portland Trail Blazers at Amway Arena. Barnes has said there is nothing structurally wrong with his hand and it has passed various MRIs. Barnes has been bothered by this injury for the last few weeks and sat out of Sunday’s practice. He aggravated the injury Saturday night against Portland. Barnes remained in the game, finishing with 8 points, 4 rebounds [...]

Joshua Robbins of the Orlando is reporting that Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy has confirmed that Jameer Nelson will come off the bench tonight after it was originally reported by John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy just completed his post-shootaround media availability. Van Gundy said that point guard Jameer Nelson will come off the bench in tonight’s game against the Utah Jazz. In other news: –Nelson won’t start because it’s easier to manage his minutes and Jason Williams’ minutes when Nelson is in a reserve role. –Nelson said the biggest challenge tonight will be his [...]

Dwight Howard just hasn’t been the same the season. Sure, he’s doing a lot of the same things that he has been doing throughout his career. He’s putting up All-Star caliber numbers and remains the best big man in basketball. He is a monster on the boards, grabbing 13 rebounds per game. He’s among the league leaders in blocked shots, blocking 2.3 shots per game. Howard is still struggling from the free throw line, shooting 59%, but is shooting 63.2% from the field and is scoring 17.9 points per game. Howard’s numbers may have seen a slight dip from last [...]

Earlier on Sunday, through the official Orlando Magic twitter, John Denton said that Jameer Nelson could play limited minutes on Monday. Denton has elaborated on that earlier tweet. If there’s no swelling in Nelson’s knee, the Magic’s captain should play. The original plan called for him to return on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets, but Nelson impressed in practice the past two days so much so that he could be on the floor against Deron Williams and the Utah Jazz. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy has said that Nelson is his starting point guard once fully healthy, but because he’s [...]

The Magic came from behind to beat the Portland Trail Blazers Saturday night. Find out how it happened here. Vince Carter is in the middle of a shooting slump. “Like everybody else, I thought he played very, very hard defensively today,” Van Gundy said. “I was happy with his effort. I know there’s not going to be too many 1-for-14s in him. I think it’s always good for Vince or for anybody that when you have one of those days that your team gets a win and you can shake it off a lot easier and a lot quicker.” Van [...]