Miami is a statement game for the Magic

[RookieStar]

Gooduck guys, just don't unleash Shabazz on us. Much appreciate.

Well we magic fans have urban legends about "Magic Killers." Scrubs that for some reason channels their inner MJ/Wilt against teams that they used to belong to or just plain hate. We gotta give him the chance to see against his former team right?

[Maroko]

Gooduck guys, just don't unleash Shabazz on us. Much appreciate.

You should be banned from that pathetic troll attempt. Excuse him.
He is mad because he won a contest here in RealGM but got rejected by our boss : Howie, so he is trying every way to get him...SMH

[MagicFan32]

tough loss...i put alot of it on skiles. when you need stops you cannot have your frontcourt be frye and vooch, this is exactly the type of spot aaron gordon should be put in because he can switch anything you could put him on bosh or wade. wade was torching fournier and he did not make any changes.

miami also shot uncharacteristically well, i feel like skiles sticks with certain guys too long, but doesn't play others enough, remember how well aaron started the season? now he gets spot duty, he has to be integrated more, period.

[Magic_Kingdom]

I would like to see AG play more, but I don't think he would have made a difference last night. The defensive problems were primarily in the backcourt. Elf was allowing way too much penetration off the dribble, and Evan couldn't stop Wade (although Wade was mostly just shooting lights-out, the D wasn't that bad).

This loss really hurt. This was a Measuring Stick game for sure, and the Magic came up way short. We're still a team that can beat bad teams, but not good teams. This was the chance to take that next step. And it shows once again what the team's biggest shortcoming is -- no All-Star on the roster. When Miami tightened its D in the second half, there was no All-Star to shoulder the burden and break them down. And then on the other side, the Heat had 2 All-Stars, and look what they did in crunch time. In the NBA, you can't take that next step and become a contender without at least 1 All-Star, and usually 2. We have zero.

[Bensational]

And it shows once again what the team's biggest shortcoming is -- no All-Star on the roster. When Miami tightened its D in the second half, there was no All-Star to shoulder the burden and break them down. And then on the other side, the Heat had 2 All-Stars, and look what they did in crunch time. In the NBA, you can't take that next step and become a contender without at least 1 All-Star, and usually 2. We have zero.

I dunno, Vuc and Payton looked great offensively in the 4th. Both those guys were playing almost as unstoppably as Wade and Bosh. We just weren't getting stops because of Wade going God-mode and because Payton and Vuc (mostly Payton) not having Dragic covered.

Right now we've got 3-6 guys who could still potentially become that unstoppable scoring force in the 4th for us, but because we're playing that role by committee nobody is really taking full ownership of that role on a nightly basis. Oladipo has tried, but he's too unreliable and inconsistent. Fournier has made some massive shots, but he's also had games like last night when he shies away from them. Harris has had some big nights but mostly he's a workhorse guy who just consistently provides throughout a game, he's not a crunch time guy in my eyes. Then there's Hezonja who's still a rookie so he won't get that shot for another season or two.

That leaves us with Payton and Vuc. When Payton gets mad and determined, he looks superstar good. I think he needs to take charge more often.

[zelenooq]

#freeHezonja

[ORLMagicGirl15]

So what was the statement we made in this game?

[tooler]

So what was the statement we made in this game?

"Stop making threads like this."

[Furinkazan]

seems more like Miami made a statement

[Optimus_Steel]

I would like to see AG play more, but I don't think he would have made a difference last night. The defensive problems were primarily in the backcourt. Elf was allowing way too much penetration off the dribble, and Evan couldn't stop Wade (although Wade was mostly just shooting lights-out, the D wasn't that bad).

This loss really hurt. This was a Measuring Stick game for sure, and the Magic came up way short. We're still a team that can beat bad teams, but not good teams. This was the chance to take that next step. And it shows once again what the team's biggest shortcoming is -- no All-Star on the roster. When Miami tightened its D in the second half, there was no All-Star to shoulder the burden and break them down. And then on the other side, the Heat had 2 All-Stars, and look what they did in crunch time. In the NBA, you can't take that next step and become a contender without at least 1 All-Star, and usually 2. We have zero.

Lets not get carried away, this team is very young, practically 2nd youngest when you consider the players that get significant minutes so to expect all the sudden to start beating veteran playoff teams on a consistent basis is unrealistic. We will win some but we will lose more than that win those most likely. We still have a lot to learn on how to close out games versus those veteran teams. Its a mental hump they haven't gotten over yet.

Also Vuc has been playing like an allstar.