<div align="center"> <font color=""Green"">Seattle Sonics</font> at <font color=""Blue"">Orlando Magic</font> Game Time: Wednesday, November 8, 2006, 7:00 PM ET TV: Sun Sports Radio: 580-AM WDBO and 1030-AM WONQ</div> The Orlando Magic are sitting at 2-2 after winning a very exciting game at home against the Wizards on Monday night. Meanwhile, the Sonics are coming off a tough loss against the Miami Heat and will try to keep up with Orlando during their first back to back game of the season. This season, the Magic are 2-1 at home and will be looking to add another W to their record at the T.D. Waterhouse Centre tomorrow night. Luckily for the Magic, the Sonics have yet to win a game on the road this season. [div=50%] <font color=""Blue"">Orlando Magic</font> <font size=""1"">(Jameer Nelson, Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu, Tony Battie, Dwight Howard)</font> Brian Hill Keys To The Game <font color=""Blue"">*Get Dwight Involved Offensively</font> Dwight Howard has scored less than 15 points in the past three games. His only good offensive game this season came against the Bulls when he erupted for 27 points and showed a plethora of post moves that proved to be effective againt Ben Wallace. The Magic need to try to get Howard the ball early and let him establish a consistent offensive attack early. When Dwight is hot, not only does it put points on the board, it opens up looks for our other players. <font color=""Blue"">*Protect The Ball</font> The Magic have been one of the worst teams in the league this season when it comes to turnovers. Our turnover to takeaways ratio is horrible and if we want to stay in games, we need to hold onto the basketball. Against Washington, we looked a little bit better but we need to can't slack off. Our two main threats, Jameer and Dwight, have been very sloppy with the ball this season and each average over four turnovers per game. They need to hold onto the ball or the Sonics will take advantage of our mistakes. <font color=""Blue"">*Slow Down Seattle's Wings</font> Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis are Seattle's best scorers. They each have the ability to drop 20 points any given night and are both threats from anywhere on the court. Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu, and Keyon Dooling (from the bench), will have to slow these guys down and make other players beat us. The Sonics don't have any low post threat so if we can keep their wing players in check then we should be able to secure a win tomorrow night. [/div] <font color=""Green"">Seattle Sonics</font> <font size=""1"">(Luke Ridnour, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Chris Wilcox, Johan Petro)</font> Bob Hill Keys To The Game <font color=""Green"">*Contain Dwight Howard</font> Against the Bulls, Dwight Howard played very well offensively and the Magic looked very scary. In the other three games this season, Howard has almost been a nonfactor on offense and the Magic have struggled. Since the Sonics' frontline is pretty weak, they need to double team Dwight and find some way to limit his offensive production. If they can't find a way to slow him down, the Magic could pull ahead early. <font color=""Green"">*Take Advantage of Hedo Turkoglu</font> Rashard Lewis is a very good scorer and can put the ball in the basket from both inside and out. Hedo Turkoglu isn't the best defender in the world and look for the Sonics to take advantage of this matchup. At 6-10, Lewis is also a postup threat because of his size. Last night against the Heat, Rashard led the Sonics in scoring with 23 points and he needs to come out strong against the Magic. <font color=""Green"">*Good Production From Bench</font> The Magic bench is very good and was huge in Orlando's win on Monday night. Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling combined for nearly 40 points and led the Magic to victory when the game was on the wire. The Sonics need good production from their bench to match the scoring coming from Orlando's second unit. Damien Wilkins and Nick Collison will need to have decent outings in tomorrow's game. <div align="center">Key Matchup </div> <div align="center">Ray Allen vs. Grant Hill</div> Grant Hill has been our most consistent starter this season and his game looks a lot like it did when he was in All-Star form in 2004. Ray Allen has been the superstar and franchise player for the Seattle Sonics for the last several seasons and his performance largely affects the outcome of this game. These two players will most likely be matched up for the majority of the night and it should be interesting to see who gets the edge. <div align="center"></div> The Magic looked a lot better on Monday night against the Wizards. Their turnovers were down and we had five players in double digits. We shot a high field goal percentage and our team didn't play as sloppy at we had the previous two games. We need to continue this and I think Brian Hill will keep us focused. I predict a Magic win, 105-101. I think Darko Milicic will have a big game. Something tells me he will abuse the Sonic big men and have a big night. Post your predictions below and go Magic!
this can be an easy win if we hold rashard lewis..grant hill is to busy guarding whoever has the hot hand..and reshard will easily get his touches just like jamison did last game..if we slow him down i think this will be a blow out...just do the basic things we do and this will be a solid win
Rashard Lewis is the man!! He should get like 30pts but hopefully the Magic can contain Ray Allen. Dwight should dominate Chris Wilcox and Johan Petro down low. The Sonics will have to double team Dwight so hopefully players get open. I also wanna see J.Nelson step up.
If the sonics are cold tonight the magic should win easily. but the key to doing that is to slow down at least ray allen, or rashard lewis, and thats not a very easy thing to do. Dwight really needs to insert HIMSELF in the game and take control. i think what this team needs is for him and darko to step up and demand the ball, while converting on postups.
great game thread man, you beat me to it...my prediction: Magic 107 Sonics 95 simply because they are tired from last night...the played the heat and only lost by 3 which tells you their starters played most of the game and the fourth qtr
After a quick 13-0 start, we have been really really bad. all it's been is turnovers and 2nd chances. Seattle just took a 29-27 lead and are on a 29-14 run.
garrity played...sonics fans can put one in the win coulmn...if i see him in the second half, im turning off my TV...no joke
There is absolutely no reason when you shoot 50% against one of the worst defensive teams in the first half that you only have 42 points. Absolutely pathetic. We just flat out don't want it. I guess Brian Hill doesn't consider Dwight Howard a superstar, since Dwight has only gotten 7 shots in the last 6 quarters. 1-1 tonight on the very first play of the game. I don't mind Garrity being in IF HE DOESN'T HESITATE EVERY SINGLE TIME HE TOUCHES IT. If he goes straight up, he can make it. When he hesitates, there is no chance.
Wow. Turkoglu with the game winning clutchness. Sonics had the lead in the 3rd quarter but the Magic had a run going into the 4th quarter, and then from there it was really close... 3.7 seconds left... Hill inbounds to Turkoglu, Turkoglu shoots with Rashard's hand in his face.. and... SWISH.
What an unbelievable shot. That would have been a huge choke. We were up 9 and Sonics scored 10 straight points before Hedo's shot. Whew.
