Archive for December, 2010

After a two week mini-hiatus, the Serra-Melnick Power Poll is back in full effect. Bammo! We are now more than half way through the season and the somewhat surprising team of the year is still on top of the Power Poll.  The San Antonio Spurs lead the way for both Andrew Melnick and I, as they top the league with their 20-3 record.  Orlando’s beloved Magic have begun a hard slide down the poll and are struggling mightily at the moment.  Since starting 15-4, the team is only 1-5 in their last 6 games.  Shortages and sickness aside, this team [...]

After their loss to the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night (their fifth in the last six games), Dwight Howard once again voiced his displeasure with the performance of his teammates. “We’ve got to play defense, that’s it,” Howard said at his locker. “It’s got to be everybody. Our wings got to do a better job not allowing their man just to get to the rim every play. It puts a lot of pressure on the bigs. It’s hard for the big guys to really help like we want when a guy takes one dribble and he’s at the rim. It’s very [...]

The Orlando Magic finished their four game West coast road trip Tuesday night with a 111-94 loss in Denver to Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets.  A shorthanded Magic team was unable to finish the game strong, or at all, and Denver closed the game with a 24-6 run.  The Magic led 88-87 with a little over 9 minutes left in the game following a rare 5-point play from J.J. Redick (fouled on a 3 pointer, plus drew a technical foul on J.R. Smith), but from that point on the team fell apart. The technical foul that was called on J.R. [...]

After snapping their four game losing streak with a victory over the Clippers in Los Angeles Sunday night, the Orlando Magic will face a tough test when they battle Denver Nuggets Tuesday night. Denver has always been a difficult place for the Magic to play and that was no different last season when the Nuggets handled the Magic 115-97 at the Pepsi Center. The Magic come into the game with a record of 16-8. The Nuggets are coming off a loss in New York against the Knicks Sunday that dropped their record to 14-9. Carmelo Anthony’s apparent trade demands have [...]

Tuesday Afternoon Update: Quentin Richardson will not play in Tuesday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets but both Mickael Pietrus and Chris Duhon have been cleared. Quentin Richardson, who did not play in Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers, injured his left elbow in practice Monday. Fortunately, per Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, it seems like nothing more than a minor injury. SF Quentin Richardson injured his left elbow during practice Monday when he collided with Dwight Howard and fell to the floor. Richardson was slated to receive X-rays. “It seemed like he was feeling OK when he [...]

Here is the official word from the Magic: Orlando Magic All-Star Dwight Howard to Present $25,000 Donation in Support of BETA Center Program **Donation to help new teen parenting program** WHO: Orlando Magic Center Dwight Howard WHAT: Dwight Howard BETA Center Donation NBA All-Star Dwight Howard will present $25,000 to the BETA Center for the second consecutive year.  Howard’s gift will be used to support the newly developed “Dwight Howard Learning Center” at BETA.  The learning center is a newly designed program that incorporates innovative activities to empower teen moms to achieve academic and vocational success.  Services at the center [...]

The Orlando Magic were on a roll early Sunday night, getting out to a 42-17 lead. The Magic seemed to ease up a bit and scored just 10 points in the third quarter but still managed to come away with a 94-85 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers to end their four game losing streak. Dwight Howard has a quiet night through three quarters but scored 13 of his team-high 22 points in the final frame to help put the Clippers away. Eric Gordon led all scorers with 28 points while rookie Blake Griffin filled the stat-sheet, scoring 27 points, [...]

The Orlando Magic look to get back on the right track when they travel to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers Sunday night. It’s been ugly for the Magic lately. They’ve lost four straight games and are 0-2 on their current road trip. A game against the young Clippers, who start three rookies, could be exactly what they need. The Clippers have shown signs of improvement but you can’t tell by their record – they’re just 5-19 and have have lost four of their last five games, including back-to-back one point losses. They lost 87-86 to the Los Angeles [...]

The Orlando Magic finally got it together on offense, putting up 57 first-half points and 105 in the game. Unfortunately for the Magic, their defense fell apart, allowing the Jazz to score 117 points and post an effective field goal percentage 60.5%. The Magic played a lackluster third quarter that saw them post just 15 points, which allowed the Jazz to extend their lead to 10. During the quarter, Orlando was able to cut the lead to just four, 71-67, but the Jazz answered with an 11-2 run. J.J. Redick cut the lead to nine on Orlando’s first possession of [...]

The Orlando Magic have made a change in their starting lineup. Brandon Bass will start at Power Forward with Rashard Lewis shifting to Small Forward. Quentin Richardson will come off the bench. “We played most of the last game against them big,” Van Gundy said. “It’s just tough with Millsap and Kirilenko to be smaller at both the 4 and the 3. So, it’s better matchups for us.” Van Gundy said there’s “a good chance” the Magic will use the same lineup when the Magic face the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday and the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. “Again, it’s [...]