Golden State come to Orlando

[damo[23]]

Golden State Warriors face off against the Orlando Magic at the Amway Arena

Tonight, 7PM, we see the warriors, 7 and 3 in their last 10, face off against Orlando in the midst of a 3 game win streak, 8 and 2 over the last 10. Orlando won the first meeting back in December, with a 123-117 over time win; looking to take the first series win over GSW since 01/02 season.

Other notables tonight is the rest of our division are facing off against each other, with Miami heading out to the Hawks, and Bobcats settling up against the Wizards. Good results tonight could see us take 10 game lead in the division, however, going against us only closes the gap to 8 games, still a large margin with 18 games left.

A win tonight will see Orlando surpass our win total for last season with 41-23, opposed to our 40-42 record under Brian Hill last year, and first time since 2003 having a non-losing record.

Game notables

Golden State have scored over 100 in 25 straight games; and in 2 of the past 3 games have scored over 130 points; even when losing they look to put up over 100 points. Averging 109 points per game; this is a potent and fast offense.

The back court is clearly going to be a fight for Orlando. Jackson [though often playing the SF/PF random ass role] and Davis will look to take advantage of the size and strength, not to mention potent scoring abilities over the likes of Jameer, Arroyo and even Bogans/Evans, throw in Ellis, another potent scorer and we have alot to worry about in in the 1 to 3 position. With any luck we see Dooling back tonight to help out with some defensive pressure.

On the flip side, Orlando have a nice match up in the front court. Bedrins, Jackson and Pietrus arguably match up well for us. For once Rashard faces up against a SF, as does Hedo, but we should look to clean up on the inside. Harrington off the bench could change things up - we need to be aware of that scoring threat right there.

Offensive glass could be a key tonight, if we can slow GSW down by forcing them to inbounds it could help us keep the score low, despite us being a good offensive team [~103 ppg] and our defense cleaning up a little bit past couple of games.

Keys to the Game:

- Win the rebounding battle SIZABLY
- Cut down TO's; GSW will convert easily otherwise.
- Keep Davis and Jackson from dictating the tempo; they can be the game changers.
- Use our size to our advantage.
- Throw Foyle into the fray, maybe they'll get confused.

The SL's

Nothing fancy here; but here we go:

Golden State Warriors:

PG - Baron Davis
SG - Monta Ellis
SF - Mickael Pietrus
SF - Stephen Jackson
C - Andris Biedrins

6th Man - Al Harrington
Yes I know I've listed 2 SF's but I really have a hard time listing either of the 2 as PF's!

Orlando Magic:

PG - Jameer Nelson
SG - Maurice Evans
SF - Hedo Turkoglu
PF - Rashard Lewis
C - Dwight Howard

6th Man - Keith Bogans [scored 22 in the last game, and also in there for his defensive capabilities.] If back - Keyon will be key aswell.

Depressing note

I have just watched my football team be shocked out of the FA Cup 1-0, and my international rugby team Ireland be denied a chance at the triple crown or 6 nations. In addition its been nearly 3 years since I have seen ANY of my teams win after 1 loses. Typically the pattern is set by Orlando losing on the Friday, but today Man Utd set the pace. Heres to us breaking a horrible 3 year streak!.

[Last Guardian]

Their guards scare me. Athletic, explosive and aggressive.

But we need to keep winning so maybe the whiners eventually shut the hell up.

[craig01]

I have a good feeling about tonight.

Magic win in a barn burner 112-108.

[Just Plain Mark]

The season is really starting to wind up, so the fact that the Warriors played last night (albeit against the JV Heat), should mean a little more fatigue than even a back to back earlier in the season.

That fatigue could play a factor in hampering GS from running on O, and doing their crazy swarm defense.

[drsd]

Tonight's guarantee comes from an up-scale version of the Magic dancers:

[Rick Rolled]

Man our last meeting with them was one of the best games of the season.

Even after Dwight's bogus technical, we still got the game into overtime and managed to pull it out in front of the best/loudest home crowd in basketball.

I expect another great game tonight.

[OrlandoMagic]

X-Factor of the game - Adonal

X-Factor stats of the game 2pts 2rebs 0ast 1stl 0blk 4fouls 16mins

Result Magic 122 GS 120

[Typhoon20]

Foyle with the game winning buzzer beater !!!

WE BELIEVE.

[theTHIEF]

man, this is a scary game...we have to completely focused tonight, defense first...and we cant have an off night shooting...

[AdamTheGreek]

Looks like some of our guys were busy coming back from Washington:





Stuff on his sex break:


James says Dwight goes for 30 and 15:



I will be pleasantly surprised if Marcin extens his game streak to 4.
Will be a very fun game to attend.
I have no doubts that if we can hold GSW to under 95, that we will win and extend that undefeated streak.

[bucsmagicfan]

I guarantee a victory, if Gortat plays that is.

[y 2 a B]

This game scares me, but has the potential to be a high scoring thrilling game. I can really see this game going either way.

We cannot come out flat however, especially with the way GS can score the ball and they are also coming off a 35 point win last night.

[happypedro12]

I think we'll win, we usually play GS pretty well, and Dwight usually does well as well. I was reading this story off of the sentinel, and WTF. can we not even get some love from our own writers?? They speak as though we're some feeble team thats never beaten these guys before. I hate our beat writers, no home-town advantage.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/orl-magic0808mar08,0,5760559.story

[mhectorgato]

Hopefully they are a bit tired from yesterday.

We need to slow down BDiddy and Monta. Perhaps we put Mo on Baron and Jameer on Ellis...

Regardless, we need to focus on our defense, as our offense should be able to come relatively (as compared to playing SA, Boston, Detroit, etc) freely.

[AdamTheGreek]

I blame Bianchi and BS for all their damn negativity wearing off on Povtak throughout the years.

[zuppafly]

We will win.
No defense shall be played.
Battie will play 6 minutes.
Live doesn't lie.

[Bucs80]

120 Points shall be scored

[SOUL]

Dwight had trouble with Harrington last game but still almost had 20/20.. then before that he had like 26 rebs 30 points.. 40/40!!

[DiplomaticMagic]

I believe his 30/25 game vs. Warriors was before the Jackson/Harrington trade.

[drsd]

The Magic are OMG favored at -7. OMG! Seven is a lot of points to lay on a quality team. If I was a betting man, not sure I could go with the Magic against this monster spread.

But what's even more amusing is the over/under. It's 230. Vegas predicts ZERO defense in this game. But 230! Wow.