The Magic will most likely be using tonight's game to experiment with some new rotations since Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu, and Keith Bogans will all be missing this game due to injuries. The one positive for Orlando is that Bosh didn't make the trip out to Florida because of a bone bruise in his left knee. Expect Dwight Howard to put up a monster game with no Bosh stopping him in the paint. Dwight was very frustrated after his horrible game against the Suns on Monday so I think he will be driven tonight. I'm predicting a 20 point, 15 rebound outing for Dwight. Carlos Arroyo will make his first start this season most likely alongside Keyon Dooling and Grant Hill. Expect JJ Redick, Travis Diener, and Trevor Ariza to all get big minutes off the bench because of all the injuries to the backcourt. This is the first game of a back to back for Orlando (tomorrow night they play Charlotte at home) so I'm hoping we can get out of here with an easy win and avoid any more injuries. My game prediction is a Magic win 99-94.
Well we sucked pretty bad in the first quarter. We can't make anything and can't stop the Raptors. We are fortunate to only be down 8 after shooting 33.3% and allowing the Raptors to shoot 64.7%. Dwight has stayed out of foul trouble, but he had a possession where he got blocked, then got 2 offensive boards and missed 2 dunks.
The only question is, when will Pat Garrity come in. Is there any better trio then Diener, Redick, and Garrity?
I don't understand why you don't bring Dwight back in right here with these 2 shooters in the game. It would help him get some confidence a lot and we are going right back into Darko and setting the offense through him.
3rd quarter we looked absolutely awful. Grant Hill is out of breath and hurting and just hasn't gotten into the game. We can't hit a shot and we are settling on Dooling/Arroyo jump shots. We also can't get an entry pass, we just had 3 entry passes stolen. We are gonna lose tonight if we keep playing like the crap that we are bringing tonight.
This game is over. Raptors, especially Bargiani, can't miss and we can't buy a bucket. Can someone please tell Keyon Dooling that he can't make a jump shot?
<div class="quote_poster">GatorsowntheNCAA Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Can someone please tell Keyon Dooling that he can't make a jump shot?</div> Seriously, he takes way too many shots.
Well the game is over, we just lost at home to a Chris Bosh-less Raptors team. Tomorrow night is going to be even more ugly. We really need to get back to where we normally are with the ball movement. JJ was 0-3 (with 27 secs left) with 2 airballs and 1 really awful looking shot. Diener couldn't hit anything either.
You really needed Nelson tonight. Arroyo brought some nice offense, but you needed someone to control the tempo and initiate ball movement. Also, you guys still would've won if Bargnani wasn't shooting so well.
I was hoping that this would be the game that JJ Redick could finally show off why he was drafted with a lottery pick, but he managed to make an absolute fool out of himself, especially during the play where the ball squirted out of his hands as he was shooting. Oh well, it was a win-win situation for me. I would have been happy if either the Magic or the Raptors won.
Anyone else scratching their heads at Brian Hill's substitutions tonight? He didn't get the starters in quick enough at the end of the game and when we brought in the shooters to spread the floor, we took Dwight out. Wouldn't it be smart to give Dwight the room, rather than sending the offense through Darko and Battie? I hope tonight when Diener and Redick are in that Dwight stays in the game.
