Magic survive scare, beat Knicks

The good news was that Rashard Lewis got reacquainted with his jump-shot. The better news for Orlando Magic fans was they needed every one of Lewis' points to stave off the New York Knicks 110-103 on Saturday night at Amway Arena.

[NoFish]

Tough victory, but a win is a win. Would like to see Rashard get some more rest before the playoffs though.

Go Magic!

[Stan the Man]

Close game but we finished it. Good teams know how to win close games.

[Jim]

Defensive rebounding was horrific tonight. Turnovers were a major problem once again. Also missed free throws. Most of this can be attributed to a lack of focus and intensity tonight. Simply put, this is not gonna get it done folks.

Dwight Howard took tonight off I guess. Did he even play at all ? All I saw most of the game was Wilcox and Jeffries gobbling up offensive rebounds like they were picking fruit. It was that easy for them tonight.

When the playoffs start the effort has to be a whole lot better than it was tonight, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

[Magic Fan Mark]

"The good news was that Rashard Lewis got reacquainted with his jump-shot."

The good news to me is when our PF gives us more than 4 rebounds per game. He has to do more than sit outside and launch 3s if we are ever going deep in the playoffs. 4 rebounds from our PF won't get it done. Especially when our center fouls out.

Rashard needs to take more responsibility being our highest paid guy. We have set the bar to low for him if all we expect are jump shots. The guy is 6'10". Compete for boards Rashard!

[Jim]

At halftime when Lewis had 21 points a buddy of mine said "he will easily have like 35 tonight".

I made a bet with him that Lewis would not even reach 30. He put a fiddy on the table, and when the game was over I used it to line my back pocket with.

Of course it helped that the Magic..as I predicted they would... went away from Rashard for a good part of the second half. He could never get back into any kind of rhythmn after that.

[Jim]

Rumor has it that the bottom 3 teams are all lining up to play the Magic in the first round of the playoffs. The Pistons are first in line. Hopefully the Magic can use this as bulletin board material.

[Magic Fan Mark]

At halftime I noticed that our 6'10" power forward had ZERO rebounds.

[nanningbob]

We won. Next.

[Jim]

Where was Battie tonight ? Alston quite frequently gets to the rack and then does not finish the play. Once again another shooting guard goes off for a big night.

[Jim is retarded]

Jim who cares what you think

[Jim]

Boston has won tonight. KG is back. More than likely the Celtics will hold off the Magic for the number two playoff spot in the East.

Hopefully the Pistons will stay at 7 or even drop to 8. I am not fully convinced that the Magic can beat Detroit in the playoffs. Even with homecourt advantage.

Like I have said all along folks it will either be the Pistons or the Celtics who will knock the Magic from the playoffs this year.

It's just a shame that a .500 team will knock the Magic out of the first round of the playoffs.

I would much rather have them avoid the Pistons and atleast make it to the second round again.

Atleast then when the Celtics beat them it will be in round two.

[Stan the Man]

Magic Fan Mark wrote:

At halftime I noticed that our 6'10" power forward had ZERO rebounds.

Yeah, it's pretty pathetic that Dwyane Wade averages nearly the same amount boards per game and averages even more blocks per game than him and D-Wade is a SG.

[Magic Fan Mark]

Yeah we really are getting beaten up by the opposing SGs lately. I don't know what we can do about that at this point. Lee and Pietrus are good defenders but for some reason we still give up major points at that position.

[Roberthenry]

nanningbob wrote:

We won. Next.

Well said that's all that matters.
lets see what happens Monday.
Boston is killing Memphis

[Jim]

My early playoff predictions: If the Magic face Detroit...it will be the Pistons winning the series in 5 or 6 games. If the Magic face the Celtics...it will be Boston winning the series in 5 or 6 games.

Should the Magic avoid both those teams...they will win the NBA Championship.

You heard it here first folks.

My reasoning for this is based on what I have seen all season long and what I saw in tonights game vs the Knicks.

The lack of focus. The unwillingness to get in there and battle for loose balls and rebounds. The turnovers.

All of these things add up to second chance scoring opportunities for the opposition. This really hurts when every possession is critical in the playoffs.

Both Detroit and Boston are very physical. They scramble and battle for loose balls and rebounds. They also know how to execute down the stretch.

[Roberthenry]

Jim wrote:

Where was Battie tonight ? Alston quite frequently gets to the rack and then does not finish the play. Once again another shooting guard goes off for a big night.

Yes Jim, but with the exception of Nate they did pretty could on the rest.

[Roberthenry]

GOOD

[Jim]

The Magic should be playing to try and reach 60 wins. That can be a goal to shoot for. Perhaps this can help them keep their focus and interest for the rest of the season.

[Jim]

Roberthenry wrote:

<quoted text>
Yes Jim, but with the exception of Nate they did pretty could on the rest.

What about Q Richardson ? He scored 33 tonight. He made J.J. look like a 5 year old kid out there tonight.

[Stan the Man]

Roberthenry wrote:

<quoted text>
Boston is killing Memphis

That's no surprise. Wednesday will give us an idea of who has the upper hand for the #2 seed. There's no way the Clippers are going to beat the Celtics on Monday.