RealGM

“This is not even a conspiracy theory,” Irving said. “The Earth is flat.”

"OK, is the Earth flat or round? I think you need to do some research on it... it's right in front of our faces. They lie to us. They lie to our faces... If you really think about it from a landscape from the way we travel, from the way we move, can you really think of us rotating around the sun and all planets aligned rotating in specific dates being perpendicular with what's going on with these planets and stuff like this?"

At this point, Richard Jefferson interrupts to ask Kyrie Irving, "How you gonna put planets in quotes?"

Kyrie Irving wrote:“When I started actually doing research on my own and figuring out that there is no real picture of Earth, not one real picture of Earth — and we haven’t been back to the moon since 1961 or 1969 — it becomes like conspiracy, too.”

Orlando is 46-61 all-time vs. Boston in regular season action (34-19 at home, 12-42 on the road), including 0-3 last season. The Magic are 9-8 vs. the Celtics in the playoffs (1-1 at home, 2-0 on the road, 1995 first round series; 2-1 at home, 2-2 on the road, 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals; 1-2 at home, 1-2 on the road, 2010 Eastern Conference Finals). Orlando has lost four straight against Boston and 18 of the last 23 matchups overall. Orlando has won seven of the last 13 meetings at home, but lost 13 straight regular season games at Boston (last win @ Boston: Feb. 7, 2010, 96-89). Orlando defeated Boston in the last game ever played at the Boston Garden, 95-92, on May 5, 1995. Head Coach Frank Vogel began his NBA career as head video coordinator with the Celtics in 1997 and also served as an assistant coach with Boston.

BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. CELTICS: 44 pts., Tracy McGrady (@ Orlando, 1-16-04)

John Denton @JohnDenton555
If Payton (hamstring strain) responds well to today's practice he could be available to play on Sunday. Payton said intensity of practice helped push his hamstring. Didn't feel pain. Next step is see how he feels on Sun. Vogel said Payton is a bit behind w/ conditioning (as expected), but said the PG "looked good" in practice. Even if Payton does return to play Sun vs @celtics, he'll most likely be on a minutes restriction. Could be used off bench. Vogel said team has given thought to withholding Payton & giving him two more practices before playing on Wednesday.

John Denton @JohnDenton555
Coincidences for @OrlandoMagic PGs - EPayton hurt ankle in 1st game & hamstring in 2nd game; DJ Augustin hurt ankle in 2nd game & hammy Wed.

``A true elite team will bounce back after a night like (Friday) and play better. We have to work on our in-game mental toughness, but we also have to show some fortitude the next time we step on the court on Sunday,’’ said veteran guard Arron Afflalo, a mentor to many of the Magic’s younger players who are experiencing success for the first time. ``There are a lot of lessons in different parts of the season to hopefully have you playing your best basketball at the right time. (Friday) was definitely a tough loss, so we need to bounce back and have a better game.’’

``We were just a little lackadaisical on defense and I think we let the misses on offense dictate what we were doing defensively and that messes up our whole rhythm and the integrity of our basketball team,’’ said Magic forward Aaron Gordon.
``We’re not dwelling on a loss and we’re going to bounce back. It’s going to be a fun game (on Sunday). I know we’re all excited for trying to win at home and take care of our home court.’’

“There’s no reason to panic,” center Nikola Vucevic said. “It’s one game. We’ve had eight games before that. So, we have to prepare for a big one against a great team like Boston. It’s going to be a huge test for us, but we have to respond.”

``It felt good to be working out with my teammates and getting better with my teammates, and I’m just happy to be back out there,’’ said Payton, who figures that it might take him a day or two to build his conditioning and shake off the rust from 13 days of inactivity. ``It’s tough (watching) because obviously I want to be out there helping my teammates as much as I can. Sometimes that’s tough (to do) from the bench, but I’m looking forward to getting back.’’

``It’s always a difficult challenge, but I embrace challenges,’’ Payton said of the Magic’s mission to slow down Irving. ``If my health is there and I’m able to go, I look forward to (facing Irving). It’s more about how I feel (on Sunday) and I was glad that Coach (Vogel) was able to give us a high-intensity practice today so that I could test it. Now, it’s all about how I feel (on Sunday) after a practice like this.’’

THIS DATE IN MAGIC HISTORY – NOVEMBER 5…

November 5, 1993 – Orlando opened its sixth season with a 116-96 win at Miami. Shaquille O’Neal led the way for the Magic
with 42 points and 12 rebounds. Rony Seikaly led the way for the Heat with 21 points.

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___Rand___ wrote:

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OrlandO wrote:

j-ragg wrote:Hoping for good Payton news this morning.

If all goes well in practice on Saturday and Payton can play pain-free once again, the Magic’s starting five could very well be back intact by Sunday night’s showdown against the Boston Celtics.

``I miss the young man out there,’’ Magic head coach Frank Vogel said, referring to Payton. ``I’m looking forward to seeing him (on Saturday). He did shootaround (Friday) morning, the no-contact stuff, and he looked good moving around. Again, (he’s) day to day.’’

OrlandoTill wrote:Even if he plays do we get 100% Payton today.

Hopefully Isaac gets some stops on Tatum