Archive for March, 2010

In a matchup of two of the hottest teams in the NBA, the Orlando Magic dominated the San Antonio Spurs from start to finish. After a fairly close first quarter, the Magic opened up a 20-point lead on an obviously tired Spurs team. The Spurs closed the gap to 10 at halftime but the Magic ran away with the game in the third quarter. They used a 28-16 third quarter advantage to push their lead to 20 and never looked back. Vince Carter led the Magic with 24 points and 8 assists while Rashard Lewis broke out of his recent [...]

After Wednesday’s 110-84 win over the San Antonio Spurs, Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters that Mickal Pietrus, who left the game in the second quarter with an injured ankle, that he expects Pietrus to miss Thursday’s game against the Heat but will probably only be out a “few days.” (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 will take on the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. You can read a preview for that game here. Tania Ganguli makes it official. Matt Barnes will play Wednesday night. Matt Barnes better gear up for another tough test tonight. Coming off a brief toe injury, Barnes will start tonight’s game against the San Antonio Spurs guarding Manu Ginobili, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. Barnes sat out Sunday’s loss to the Charlotte Bobcats having sprained the big toe in his left foot. Throughout the season Barnes has been charged with guarding some of the league’s top [...]

The Orlando Magic will look to bounce back from a poor effort on Sunday night in a loss to the Charlotte Bobcats when they take on the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.Sunday’s loss snapped Orlando’s eight-game winning streak. The Spurs are coming off an 88-76 win in Miami over the Heat on Tuesday night. The Spurs may have lost Tony Parker to a broken right hand, but they have won four straight games and eight of their past nine. Basketball Stats

The Orlando Magic are going back to the postseason. Officially. Although it was a foregone conclusion, the Magic are officially going back to the playoffs, clinching a spot because of Charlotte’s loss in Indiana against the Pacers on Tuesday night. The Magic, who are currently 47-21, have a three-and-a-half game lead over the Atlanta Hawks for the #2 seed with 14 games left to play. (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).

Per Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel, Matt Barnes plans to play on Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs even though he sat out of contact drills on Tuesday. Barnes missed Sunday’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats with what the team called a “sprained big toe.” He called it “inflamed.” Today he ran with the team, but sat out the contact drills in practice so as not to bang up the toe. “It’s sore,” Barnes said. “I simulated practice today, no contact, but I’m going to keep getting treatment tonight and tomorrow and try to play tomorrow night.” You’ll [...]

Vince Carter doesn’t care about individual numbers. “This was not my goal [Hall of Fame]. I wanted to enter into the league and be the best player I can be, play for as long as I can … and win a championship,” he said. “Everything after that comes from the groundwork you laid from all your years. “I never could come on a team and say, ‘If I average this many points or have this kind of season, I can be a Hall-of-Famer.’ They look at your entire career and that’s where it’s judged.” Brian Schmitz has that story here.

The only word to appropriately describe events like these is “wow.” I’m sure employees in the Meadowlands and in Phoenix did not appreciate these dunks nearly as much as the rest of us did. (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).

When Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy got to the podium after the game to address the media, he looked frustrated and offered his thoughts on why the Magic lost. “We weren’t very good at anything today. We didn’t rebound. We didn’t take care of the ball. We didn’t shoot well. We didn’t defend. We just weren’t very good at anything.” Losing to a playoff team at home that you’ve already defeated three times shouldn’t be classified as a “bad loss.” Sure, the Bobcats were without All-Star Forward Gerald Wallace and you’d figure that would more than make up for [...]

The Orlando Magic had their eight-game winning streak snapped by the the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday night in a 96-89 loss. In the loss, Dwight Howard became the second all-time leading scorer in Magic history. 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 [...]