Archive for February, 2010

Sunday afternoon’s rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals had the look and feel of a playoff game. The crowd was into it, the play was physical and the stars stepped up. Orlando got off to an excellent start only to see the Cavaliers make a third quarter run, quickly turning a 49-43 halftime deficit into a 59-53 lead. The Cavaliers had an 85-80 lead with 5:56 to play when the game began to turn around. Vince Carter’s dunk ignited a 9-0 run and the Magic held on for a 101-95 victory. LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal were fantastic for the [...]

Orlando played a very solid opening quarter – they shot 12-of-20 from the field, allowed the Cavs to shoot just 8-of-21 and ended the quarter on a 6-0 run giving them a 25-18 lead. The second quarter was back-and-forth. Cleveland cut the Magic lead to three early in the period only to see the Magic push the lead to 11, the largest lead of the game, with a 10-2 run. Some poor decisions by the Magic led to turnovers and they allowed the Cavs to cut the lead back to six, 49-43, at the half. After being outscored by Howard [...]

The Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers will meet for the third time this season. The Cavs have won both meetings. These teams met just 10 days ago when the Cavs defeated the Magic at Quicken Loans Arena, but these Cavs will present a new and different look for the Magic. Exit Zydrunas Ilguaskas. Enter Antawn Jamison and Mo Williams. Jamison was acquired from Washington on Wednesday and Mo Williams is just returning from his injury. The Magic defeated the Cavs 4-2 in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals and these two squads are the favorites to meet again in the [...]

Bill Simmons of ESPN.com recently called Dwight Howard the second-most valuable player in basketball but thought that Howard was too soft to ever win a championship. A few days later, Orlando Sentinel columnist George Diaz shared Simmons’ sentiments calling Howard a “tail-wagging, happy-go-lucky puppy.” “If you want to be critical of our team, I could’ve thought of about 50 to 100 people and things you could’ve been critical of before it was Dwight Howard because he smiles during a game or something,” Van Gundy said. “I mean, I guess George would rather have a guy who gets eight [points] and [...]

(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 blew an 11-point third quarter lead, hit a terrible dry spell in the fourth quarter and fell to the Dallas Mavericks 95-85.

The Magic continued a trend that they have kept up all season long – no lead is safe in any Magic game – for either team. Orlando had an 11-point lead with 3:35 to play in the third quarter, only to see the Mavericks go on a 19-0 run and hold the Magic to 16 fourth quarter points to earn a 95-85 victory. Dirk Nowitzki did not shoot the ball very well but still managed to lead the Mavericks with 23 points. Dwight Howard had an excellent game for the Magic, scoring 29 points, grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking five [...]

The Orlando Magic have won 11 of their last 14 games and defeated the Detroit Pistons on Friday night 116-91. To get their 12th win in 15 games, the Magic will have to overcome a much more difficult challenge when they play host to the new-look Dallas Mavericks on Friday night. The Mavericks made one of the biggest deals of the trade deadline when they sent Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Brendan Haywood, DeShawn Stevenson, Caron Butler and cash considerations. The Magic were quiet on deadline day as General [...]

The Orlando Magic will get a tough test on Friday night when they take on the Dallas Mavericks. You can read more about that game here. The Magic will be honoring Darrell Armstrong during the game. John Denton discusses the Magic honoring Armstrong. In nine seasons in Orlando, Armstrong played 502 games and averaged 11.7 points, 5.1 assists and 1.65 steals a game. He ranks in the top 10 of six major statistical categories in Magic history and at one time played in 206 straight games. He still holds the franchise record for consecutive made free throws with 47. “It’ll [...]

As mentioned a fews back, the Magic will honor Darrell Armstrong as part of their commitment to the past night. This also means the Magic will be wearing their “Hardwood Classics” jerseys. Here’s the official word from the Orlando Magic: DARRELL ARMSTRONG HONORED AS PART OF MAGIC’S COMMITMENT TO THE PAST Orlando, FL – As part of the Orlando Magic’s “Commitment to the Past,” fan-favorite guard Darrell Armstrong will be honored by the organization when the Magic host Dallas on Friday, Feb. 19 at Amway Arena. Game time is 8 p.m. Undrafted by any NBA franchise, Armstrong was originally signed [...]