Archive for March, 2011

The Orlando Magic will try to put an end to their two game losing streak when they take on the Sacramento Kings Wednesday night. These two teams met just over two weeks ago when the Kings took down the Magic 111-105 behind Jermaine Taylor’s 21 points. Orlando gave a terrible defensive effort and lost the game despite Dwight Howard’s 31-point, 17-rebound night. The Kings rank sixth in pace (94.4), 25th in offensive rating (103.0) and 20th in defensive rating (109.2). The game will be shown locally on FSN Florida. As always, if you can’t watch the game, you can listen [...]

Turnovers have been a major problem for the Orlando Magic this season. How else can you explain how a team that is 10th in offensive efficiency and third in defensive efficiency and has a player in Dwight Howard who is accumulating better numbers than any player not named LeBron James can have so many problems? The Magic are averaging 14.6 turnovers per game and have a turnover ratio of 24.6%. They rank 23rd in the NBA in turnovers per game and 24th in turnover percentage. Sure, giving the ball away isn’t Orlando’s only problem. They’ve had trouble finding other scorers [...]

Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel points out the Magic need more out of Hedo Turkoglu is they want to have success this season. That’s why the Magic need Turkoglu to turn up the aggressiveness. “He’s shooting the ball as a last resort,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “It’s virtually impossible to shoot the ball well like that. You’re ending up shooting it against more pressure. He just won’t shoot the ball when he’s open.” Turkoglu is passing the ball well. His 5.7 assists per 36 minutes is the highest output of his career, and he’s leading all small [...]

Despite the absence of Dwight Howard, the Orlando Magic gave a good effort against the Portland Trail Blazers but came up just short, falling 89-85. LaMarcus Aldridge led the Blazers with 24 points while Jason Richardson had 22 points for the Magic. The Magic stayed in the game during the first half, largely in part because the Blazers couldn’t hit open shots. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason the Magic stayed in the game, their defense wasn’t terrible and they made just enough shots. Early in the third quarter, the Blazers used a 10-2 run to push their lead [...]

Richardson was excellent offensively, scoring 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting despite Orlando’s loss. (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).

Ryan Anderson had 13 points and seven rebounds in the loss. (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).

Earl Clark had 9 points 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in Orlando’s 89-85 loss to Portland (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).

After dropping a game to the Chicago Bulls Friday night, the Magic will be back in action when they host the Portland Trail Blazers Monday night. Unfortunately, they’ll have to do it without Dwight Howard. Howard will miss the game due to a suspension after picking up his 16th technical foul Friday. These two teams met in Portland back on December 9, which was part of the “pre-trade era.” Dwight Howard had 39 points and 15 rebounds but got no help and the Magic fell to the Blazers 97-83. Andre Miller had 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for [...]

Dwight Howard will most likely be facing a one game suspension on Monday night after his left elbow narrowly missed Kyle Korver’s face on Friday night.  He received his 16th official technical of the season and according to league rules, faces a one game suspension. However, Magic fans should be somewhat thankful that the league looks at every technical foul to determine if it should stand or not.  The league has rescinded 4 of Dwight’s technical fouls already or else Dwight would be facing his THIRD one game suspension on Monday night. After the 16th technical, you receive a suspension [...]

The Orlando Magic couldn’t keep the come back vibes rolling and played below average basketball for 42 minutes as they lost Friday night to the Chicago Bulls 89-81. The Magic started the game strong and pulled out to a 15-7 lead forcing the Bulls to call an early timeout only 6 minutes into in the game.  From there on out, it would be all Chicago as the Magic looked like a team that remained in South Beach last night after the win. Need evidence that the Bulls were the team with more energy? Let’s look at the hustle stats: Second [...]