<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">PHILADELPHIA, March 24 (Ticker) -- All things considered, the Orlando Magic would rather be in Philadelphia. The Magic ended a 16-game road losing streak at the site of their last road win, riding big games from Dwight Howard and their bench to a 102-86 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Howard had 15 points, 19 rebounds and four blocks and the reserves scored 50 points for the Magic, who don't seem to experience any of their road woes at the Wachovia Center. Orlando's last road win was a 119-115 victory here on January 26. This one was a lot easier as the Magic shot 56 percent (40-of-71) from the field and showed way more energy than the Sixers, who are in a playoff race. Philadelphia played hard at the outset of both halves but otherwise looked lethargic as it lost for the eighth time in 10 games. The 76ers (32-36) saw their lead over Chicago reduced to three games in the race for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot. Howard dominated the defensive backboard with his rebounding and shot-blocking. A handful of his blocks came on Sixers superstar Allen Iverson, who repeatedly had his drives turned away, settled for jumpers and was held to 17 points on 4-of-19 shooting. Carlos Arroyo scored 16 points, Keyon Dooling added 12 and Trevor Ariza and Darko Milicic 11 apiece for the Magic. All four provided a spark off the bench in both the second and fourth quarters and Ariza swept 11 boards, helping the Magic to 47-33 advantage on the glass. Philadelphia native Jameer Nelson scored 19 points for Orlando (26-43), which led by as many as 20 points in the final period and won for the sixth time in nine games. The Magic surrendered 33 points off 21 turnovers and still won easily. The Sixers raced to an 11-1 lead in the first 3 1/2 minutes, then took most of the first half off. The Magic stormed back to take a 25-19 lead after one period and used a 15-0 run - fueled by six points from Arroyo - to open a 46-32 advantage. Trailing, 50-41, at halftime, Philadelphia fought back for a 53-53 tie on a 3-pointer by Kyle Korver, who scored 18 points. Howard answered with two straight baskets to trigger a 12-3 run that rebuilt the lead. Orlando held a 73-62 advantage entering the fourth quarter, when Iverson did not score and Philadelphia got no closer. Chris Webber had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Sixers, who shot just 38 percent.</div> Recap - http://www.nba.com/games/20060324/ORLPHI/recap.html Box Score - http://www.nba.com/games/20060324/ORLPHI/boxscore.html It's good to finally get a win on the road. For awhile there, we were playing terribly anywhere but home and our team was performing inconsistently. Hopefully we can build off of this win and put together a nice run that could possibly push us into the eighth seed in the playoffs.
8th seed in the playoffs? Don't hold your breath. This year is over for the Magic as far as making the playoffs. At this point, you get the feeling they're trying to evaluate talent and see who they should keep or let go. Playoffs are something we can hope for next year. But right now it's about trying to find chemistry and seeing which players we need to make sure are here for the future.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting explosive:</div><div class="quote_post">8th seed in the playoffs? Don't hold your breath. This year is over for the Magic as far as making the playoffs. At this point, you get the feeling they're trying to evaluate talent and see who they should keep or let go. Playoffs are something we can hope for next year. But right now it's about trying to find chemistry and seeing which players we need to make sure are here for the future.</div> If the Raptors forum can hope for a playoff run, than so can we!
The bench looks good, Ariza is one of my favorite players in the NBA, I was really sad when Isiah traded him away, cause he was our only defender. Oh well, Isiah will probably trade David Lee when he gets the chance to trade for a 35 year old Iverson or someone like that.
We aren't goin' to make it, I guess we can hope though. I was really surpised that we won this! we've been sucking lately on the road. That win right there was big, IMO. Maybe this can get their confidence up? We're startin' to play well together now. Magic is going to be good next year. Play-offs here we come!!!
We are 6-1 at home and 1-8 on the road since the Francis trade, so we are 7-9, but if we can start winning on the road, we can be a dangerous team next year.
This year is left to evaluate the talent we have. The playoffs are long gone and its about getting confidence in the young talent we have. I think Ariza has made a strong case for getting resigned and damn I like the kid. I see him doing good things here. I think we have one of the best bench situations in the league right now, we have a completely new unit coming in and we are not losing to much in terms of speed, strength and shooting. The best part is everyone is playing for each other not against each other. That what makes a team a TEAM. I see good things in our future here with this young core group. This is def a team that will contend in a couple years. Till then they should be very fun to watch.
Yeah, you guys are right. We aren't actually a playoff calibur team. I think we just need to let our young guys gain experience and chemistry and prepare for the future.
i say by the end of next year we can be a playoff team. We need time for these guys to play together. I think the pick and roll between howard and jameer and howard and arroyo is going to be something else. This will be a winning franchise in 2 years, maybe less.
ariza had a great double double....ive always liked him..keeping ariza would be a great choice.. if he can work on his shot he can def prosper as great player in this league....the game was played very well.. we let them come back a little bit but because we kept hitting our shots we were able to pull away again...i wish we could of played this way all year...i cant wait till next year... i except big defensive blocks and steals... and big slams...nice mid range shots and crucial 3s...dang i cant wait
In three or four years, how many of you guys see us contending for a championship? The goal for next season is obviously make the playoffs but in a few years who knows how good we could be. When Dwight, Jameer, Darko, Ariza and the rest of our team is in their prime, could we be a team that nobody wants to play and a team that could possibly go all the way in the postseason?
