GAME THREAD Magic-Wizards... 3 game win streak, here we come

ErikChowbay023 · Post #1 » by **ErikChowbay023** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 9:15 pm

The Orlando Magic are the only NBA team this season to defeat every other club in the league. Winning against the lowly Washington Wizards, however, has been surprisingly difficult for the Southeast Division champs.
One night after clinching their third straight division title, the Magic continue their three-game homestand Wednesday when they face a Wizards team trying to win three straight for the first time in almost exactly two years.

Led by Vince Carter - who scored 26 points - and sparked by Matt Barnes' scuffle with Hasheem Thabeet, Orlando (54-23) defeated Memphis 107-92 on Sunday.
"We didn't have a whole lot of fight until everything went down," said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy of a third-quarter shoving match that started when Barnes was called for an offensive foul on the Grizzlies' rookie center. "And then we got a little bit of fight."
With the victory, Orlando became the only club to defeat each opponent in the NBA this season. If Dallas loses to Portland on Friday, the Magic will remain the only team to accomplish that feat. Orlando also clinched its third straight Southeast crown Tuesday when second-place Atlanta lost 109-100 in Charlotte.

"Everybody thinks that they can beat everybody in this league, and they'll talk about it," Van Gundy said. "We've literally done it."

Washington nearly prevented Van Gundy from making that statement. After dropping the first two meetings with the Wizards, Orlando needed to rally from a 15-point first-half deficit to post a 109-95 victory in the nation's capital March 13. On Wednesday, Washington has a chance to win the season series with Orlando for the first time since 1996-97.
Looking to salvage a split of the season series and win their fifth straight overall at Amway Arena, the

Magic will try to prevent Washington (24-53) from its first consecutive road wins since Nov. 27-Dec. 1.
With four players scoring 20 points or more for the first time since December 2007, the Wizards capped off a 2-1 homestand Tuesday with their second straight victory, 112-94 over Golden State. Washington - 3-1 since a 16-game slide - now has a chance to win three in a row for the first time since April 4-9, 2008.

"What's that? We've won three out of four is it?" Andray Blatche said after scoring 21 points. "It feels good to win three out of four, I ain't going to lie, man, to go out there and play with energy, effort. We're all playing with a meaning now."
In Washington's last visit to Orlando on Feb. 5, Caron Butler hit a 19-foot jumper over Barnes with 0.5 seconds left for a 92-91 Wizards victory. Butler has since been traded to Dallas.
Orlando star Dwight Howard, who had 20 points and 18 rebounds in the Feb. 5 matchup, is averaging 22.0 points, 16.7 boards and 2.3 blocks in the Magic's last three home games versus the Wizards.

I really want to see how this new offense, and our recently improved play will work out against a top team...

dlts20 · Post #2 » by **dlts20** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 10:23 pm

I really want to see how McGee plays this game. Howard always kills him but McGee has been crazy good since we switched the O and started bringing him off the bench. In his 5 games since the benching he's been 15.2pts, 8.4brb, and 1.8blks in just 19.2mpg. Its insane right now and I want to see if he can keep it up against Howard, Gortat, and Bass.

Post #3 » by **LyricalRico** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 11:01 pm

Didn't Orlando just clinch both the division and the #2 seed? I expect them to rest some guys tonight.

hands11 · Post #4 » by **hands11** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 11:12 pm

http://www.chatzy.com/217650181857

hands11 · Post #5 » by **hands11** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 11:17 pm

Ahh, how about the fact howard was out of bounds on that rebound :roll:

dlts20 · Post #6 » by **dlts20** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 11:22 pm

Dray isnt focused. 2 dumb turnovers on basic plays, gets blocked, and then takes a dumb shot. Ever since his injury he has never fully found his groove. He's had flashes but he cant recognize what he's supposed to do. Like last night against GS he starts off hot against those small guys and then starts shooting all jumpers when all he had to do was post up and back them down. Even when he did, he shot fadeaways instead of going towards the basket or straight up. Then he has Howard on him just now and pulls up for a lazy J that Howard times perfect instead of taking him off the dribble. He has to play smarter. I wont kill him all the way because I think he's hit a wall but next year I wont cut him any breaks

Hoopalotta · Post #7 » by **Hoopalotta** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 11:30 pm

McGee's really come a long way.

I expect that he'll get killed a bit as the game goes on, but he's really answering the call against Howard with his physicality. He's really been tuned in and detail oriented in what I've seen (I must admit, my feed missed a few minutes).

Hoopalotta · Post #8 » by **Hoopalotta** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 11:38 pm

Of course three fouls in five minutes, well.....

Still, nice physical approach and denial of the entry passes.

Illuminaire · Post #9 » by **Illuminaire** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 12:24 am

Join the chat, Hoopalotta. I think we're outnumbered by Magic fans.

dlts20 · Post #10 » by **dlts20** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 12:36 am

2 things that really make me mad about Blatche and the rest of our team: 1 is that they always fall for pump fakes. How many times does someone have to do it to you before you to stop falling for it? All we do is run out hard at shooters, they pump, and go right by us. Or under the rim they pump, we jump, and then they get an and-1. The 2nd thing that makes me mad is our guys dont finish with the left hand enough. I hate it how NBA players dont finish with the left on the left side of the basket. Blatche lacks the explosion so all he does is a reverse every time that people have now caught onto but all him and others really have to do is stay on that left side and lay it in with the left hand. 9 times out of 10 you cant be blocked that way and if they do stop it, most likely its always a foul. If you are on the left side of the rim then finish with the left hand. Work on that in the offseason because you can finish way better that way.

closg00 · Post #11 » by **closg00** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:02 am

This is awesome, we will lose and GS is ahead at the half :clap:

Hoopalotta · Post #12 » by **Hoopalotta** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:03 am

Illuminaire wrote:Join the chat, Hoopalotta. I think we're outnumbered by Magic fans.

I've been trying to get into the chat room, but a multitude of botherations are waylaying that liaison.

I might well have to start a new membership account.

Next time.

Hoopalotta · Post #13 » by **Hoopalotta** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:05 am

Incidentally, I have the link to the old chatzy chat room that we were using early in the season and when I clicked on it, I got this:

Room Closed
This room has been closed due to the exchange of child pornography links or information in it. Such activity is illegal in the United States (where our server is located) and in most other countries.

If you are the owner of this room and believe this judgement to be incorrect, please contact antipode@hotmail.de - this email belongs to the trusted super user who made the decision to close the room.

If you do not get a valid response from antipode@hotmail.de, you may contact Chatzy via our feedback form. Be warned, however, that we log all IP addresses and collaborate with relevant law enforcement authorities

Dunno, seems a bit unlikely. Maybe someone posted a link to a pick of Earl Boykins after he threw his jersey into the crowd?

Here's the link to the old room, so that we can all get red flagged in the FBI mainframe:

http://www.chatzy.com/558512860594

hands11 · Post #14 » by **hands11** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:44 am

Wow, was LeBron out there ?

The refs were just terrible in that game.

Wiz 50 percent shooting. 12-14 from the line. 4-10 from 3.

Fouls 24-16 plus all the no calls Orlando got away with. The damage was done in the first quarter while the game was close. WIz up 25-24. I knew it was over after that.

Post #15 » by **Ruzious** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 12:37 pm

hands11 wrote:Wow, was LeBron out there ?

The refs were just terrible in that game.

Wiz 50 percent shooting. 12-14 from the line. 4-10 from 3.

Fouls 24-16 plus all the no calls Orlando got away with. The damage was done in the first quarter while the game was close. WIz up 25-24. I knew it was over after that.

I missed most of the game and don't like to whine about officiating, but yeah, there was a double standard last night. Howard blatantly hacked Livingston on what should have been a spectacular 3 point play, and there wasn't any call. Young got called on a bunch of really ticky tack fouls - though granted - when a defender gets turned sideways, he's not playing smart defense. Btw, despite the awful defense that Young and the ENTIRE Wiz team played, I was impressed with Young's offense last night. Jav used that wingspan for some loopers (Is there a word for those shots he takes?).