Game Thread: Knicks @ Magic (12/28) <div align="center"> <font color=""Orange"">New York Knicks (7-19)</font> @ <font color=""Blue"">Orlando Magic (10-15)</font> </div> Wednesday, December 28, 2005 | 7:00 PM | TD Waterhouse Centre TV: WRBW | Radio: WDBO | Spanish Radio: AM 1030 WONQ The Orlando Magic will square off against yet another Eastern Conference rival on Wednesday night as they face the New York Knicks. Last season, both Orlando and New York missed the playoffs and each find themselves under .500 at this point in the season. After losing to the Raptors at home, many people thought the Magic were the worst team in the league. Then on Monday, we crushed the Bucks who hadn't lost an Eastern Conference road game this season. If we can use that game and build from it, we should be able to put together a nice string of wins starting tonight against the Knicks. If we lose tonight, our team is officially going to be known as the Jeckle and Hyde of the NBA. [DIV=50%]<div align="center"><font color=""Blue"">Orlando Magic Projected Starters</font> (Steve Francis, DeShawn Stevenson, Grant Hill, Dwight Howard, Tony Battie)</div> [/div]<div align="center"><font color=""Orange"">New York Knicks Projected Starters</font> (Stephon Marbury, Quentin Richardson, Trevor Ariza, Antonio Davis, Jerome James) Key Matchup Steve Francis vs. Jason Kidd</div> These are two of the best point guards in the NBA and they each have the ability to take over a game whether it's with their explosive scoring or accurate passing. Both of these players are top court generals and are the leaders of their respective teams. The performances of these two playmakers could determine the outcome of this game. My Prediction The Magic are coming off a huge win against a very good Bucks team and I think that momentum will carry over into tonights game. Last time the Magic played the Knicks, they won by 15 points and dominated the entire game. I have a feeling we will have a similar situation tonight as the Magic finish up their home stand at the T.D. Waterhouse Centre with two consectutive wins.
I like that preview Swish, one problem though you put jasan kidd instead of Stephon Marbury for the key matchups. Im also predicting a win for the Magic. UPDATE: The Magic are up 86-72 and the 4th has just gotten underway. yeah this is going to be a win.
Orlando Magic win their second consecutive game tonight, 105-95. Grant Hill scored a game high 26 points while racking up 5 steals. Steve Francis also added 17 points and 6 assists. Dwight Howard didn't have great stats in this game but he chipped in 11 points and 8 rebounds before fouling out with about two minutes left in the fourth quarter. The Knicks had two 20 point scorers off their bench in Eddy Curry (29) and Jamal Crawford (24). I think some credit should also be given to Tony Battie who had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. This was a good game and I think we have been showing a lot of improvement lately. Recently, the Magic have been shying away from their normal Princeton type offense. Brian Hill said it now only makes up about "15 to 20 percent of the playbook." We've been using the fast break more and the players have been given a little bit of leeway in the half court offense as well. Tonight we scored 20 points off of the fast break. Another interesting note about tonight's game is that the Knicks grabbed 27 offensive rebounds, a Magic opponent record. Despite there great rebounding efforts, the Knicks still struggled throughout this entire game; similar to the Knicks-Magic game earlier this month.
POSTGAME NOTES • With the 105-95 win against New York the Magic recorded their second consecutive game scoring 100+ points. They are now 4-2 when hitting 100 or more points. • Six Magic players scored double-figures. Grant Hill recorded back-to-back 20+ point games pouring in a team-leading 26 tonight. Steve Francis tallied 17, DeShawn Stevenson notched 14, Tony Battie 13, and Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu scored 11 points apiece. Orlando improves to a 3-4 record when this occurs. • New York dominated the glass grabbing an opponent season-high 27 offensive rebounds. The franchise record for opponent offensive rebounds is 29. This happened twice in franchise history, the last occurring at Dallas on 1-18-01. The Knicks pulled down 17 of their offensive boards in the first half marking a new opponent season-high. • Tony Battie recorded his third double-double of the season with his 13 points and grabbing 10 boards. • Eddy Curry came off the bench to score a season-high 29 points for the Knicks. He was one rebound shy of a double-double pulling down nine boards. • The Magic defense held New York's starters to a combined 20 points. DeShawn Stevenson has been a big defensive help for Orlando. He held Stephon Marbury to just five points all coming from the free-throw line. Marbury took just seven shots all night. Stevenson guarded Michael Redd in the previous game against the Bucks and held him to just 17 points on 4-for-16 shooting. • The Knicks recorded zero steals against the Magic. This was the first time in franchise history that an opponent has failed to steal the ball. The previous record was one, most recently occurring against Portland on 2-24-04. • On the season the Magic are averaging 15.92 turnovers. In the past three games they are averaging just 11 turnovers, giving the ball up a combined 33 times.
POSTGAME NOTES • With the 105-95 win against New York the Magic recorded their second consecutive game scoring 100+ points. They are now 4-2 when hitting 100 or more points. • Six Magic players scored double-figures. Grant Hill recorded back-to-back 20+ point games pouring in a team-leading 26 tonight. Steve Francis tallied 17, DeShawn Stevenson notched 14, Tony Battie 13, and Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu scored 11 points apiece. Orlando improves to a 3-4 record when this occurs. • New York dominated the glass grabbing an opponent season-high 27 offensive rebounds. The franchise record for opponent offensive rebounds is 29. This happened twice in franchise history, the last occurring at Dallas on 1-18-01. The Knicks pulled down 17 of their offensive boards in the first half marking a new opponent season-high. • Tony Battie recorded his third double-double of the season with his 13 points and grabbing 10 boards. • Eddy Curry came off the bench to score a season-high 29 points for the Knicks. He was one rebound shy of a double-double pulling down nine boards. • The Magic defense held New York's starters to a combined 20 points. DeShawn Stevenson has been a big defensive help for Orlando. He held Stephon Marbury to just five points all coming from the free-throw line. Marbury took just seven shots all night. Stevenson guarded Michael Redd in the previous game against the Bucks and held him to just 17 points on 4-for-16 shooting. • The Knicks recorded zero steals against the Magic. This was the first time in franchise history that an opponent has failed to steal the ball. The previous record was one, most recently occurring against Portland on 2-24-04. • On the season the Magic are averaging 15.92 turnovers. In the past three games they are averaging just 11 turnovers, giving the ball up a combined 33 times. Compliments of Orlando Magic "Email Insider".
its so sad marbury is 0-7, he played like 40 minutes but only took 7 shot attempts, and he had 3 assts.... this is just sadd
