Archive for March, 2011

The Orlando Magic staged another late comeback but it wasn’t enough as they fell to the Atlanta Hawks 85-82 Wednesday night. Jameer Nelson led the Magic with 20 points while Josh Smith led all scorers with 26. Both the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks got off to a hot start in what would become a very well-played and entertaining opening period. Despite Dwight Howard picking up two fouls in the first four minutes, the Magic were able to score with the Hawks. The two teams combined to shoot 22-of-39 from the field (Atlanta 11-of-19, Orlando 11-of-20) and the Hawks led [...]

After an overtime loss to the New York Knicks, the Orlando Magic will try to get back on track when they take on the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday night and what almost certainly will be a first round playoff preview. These two teams have met three times this season with the Hawks winning twice. The Hawks defeated the Magic 91-81 behind Al Horford’s 24 points and 11 rebounds on December 20. The Magic were led by Howard’s 19 points and 20 rebounds. It was the first game Gilbert Arenas (10 points), Jason Richardson (nine points) and Hedo Turkoglu (eight points) appeared [...]

Wednesday night is the annual McDonald’s All-American game. The best high school players in the country get together to do battle before heading off to college. Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel has an interesting story about the 2004 game, which Dwight Howard headlined. The game featured an insane amount of talent and Robbins has quotes from Howard, several other players, his high school coach and Magic General Manager Otis Smith. You can check that out here. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook [...]

The Orlando Magic are now 7-3 over their last 10 games. Their first loss came in Oakland against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors went an incredible 21-of-35 from beyond the arc and Orlando still had a shot to tie the game in overtime. Three days later, the Magic fell apart in the second half, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers 97-84. They fell to the New York Knicks in overtime Monday night but played just a seven-man rotation due to injury. Losing to Golden State certainly isn’t a good thing but when Monta Ellis (7-of-9) and Dorell Wright (8-of-11) [...]

The Orlando Magic, already playing without Jameer Nelson (left knee sprain), Quentin Richardson (back spasms) and J.J. Redick (abdominal strain), lost Chris Duhon after just three minutes and had to play a seven-man rotation for the rest of the game. Despite the injuries, the Magic were able to erase a six-point lead in the last 1:05 to force overtime.  The Magic couldn’t quite complete the comeback and fell to the Knicks 113-106, ending both their five-game winning streak and New York’s six-game losing streak. Dwight Howard led the Magic with 29 points and 18 rebounds while Carmelo Anthony exploded for [...]

The Orlando Magic increased their winning streak to five games with a victory over the New Jersey Nets Friday. They’ll try to extend that streak to six by beating the New York Knicks for the second time in less than a week. The Magic have improved to 47-26 while the Knicks have lost six in a row and nine of their last 10 to drop to just 35-38. On Wednesday, the Magic used a dominate second half to come from behind and defeat the Knicks 111-99. Orlando outscored the Knicks 56-40 in the second half. Dwight Howard led the Magic [...]

Here is the official word from the Orlando Magic: ORLANDO’S DWIGHT HOWARD NAMED NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR NBA-HIGH SIXTH TIME THIS SEASON Orlando, Fla. – The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, Mar. 21, through Sunday, Mar. 27. It marks the sixth time this season, which is an NBA-high (LeBron James-5; Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade-4), and the 17th time of his career that Howard has earned the league’s top weekly honor. Howard led the Magic to a 3-0 week and helped push the team to its [...]

A few weeks ago, Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy told the media players are either “day-to-day” or have had “successful surgery,” which Van Gundy says means you “didn’t die.” Luckily for the Magic Jameer Nelson, who hurt his left knee in Orlando’s win over the New Jersey Nets Friday night, is the former. An MRI to Jameer Nelson’s injured left knee revealed no structural damage, a team spokesman said. The starting point guard and co-captain is listed as day-to-day, and although it’s unclear whether he will be able to practice today or play Monday night, it appears Nelson will [...]

Dwight Howard had 21 points and 14 rebounds in the victory. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

Chris Duhon had five points and three assists in Orlando’s 95-85 win over the Nets. Brandon Bass had 14 points in the win. (Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).