<u><div align="center"><font size="6">Battle For 1st Place In Southeast</font></u> vs. <font color="blue">Memphis Grizzlies (17-13)</font> vs. <font color="black">Washington Wizards(16-12)</font> Date: December 29th, 2006 Time: 7:00 P.M. Eastern TV: CSN and WRBW Place: Verizon Center</div> [div=50%]<div align="center"><font color="black"><font size="3">Wizards Starting Lineup</font></font> <font size="1">(G. Arenas, D. Stevenson, C. Butler, A. Jamison, B. Haywood)</font></div> <font color="black">2006-07 Wizards Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Gilbert Arenas - 30.5 PPG Leading Rebounder: Antawn Jamison - 8.2 RPG Leading Assist Man: Gilbert Arenas - 6.4 APG Points Per Game: 107.8 Field Goal Percentage: 46.0% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 38.1% Rebounds Per Game: 41.1 Assists Per Game: 19.8 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/gilbert_arenas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Gilbert Arenas</font> PPG: 305., RPG: 4.2, APG: 6.4 [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/deshawn_stevenson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Deshawn Stevenson </font> PPG: 10.1, RPG: 2.7 APG: 2.5 <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/caron_butler.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Caron Butler</font> PPG: 20.2, RPG: 8.1, APG: 3.6 [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/antawn_jamison.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Antawn Jamison</font> PPG: 19.3, RPG: 8.2, APG: 1.8 [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/brendan_haywood.jpg[/imgl]<font color="black">Brendan Haywood</font> PPG: 6.1, RPG: 6.5, APG:0.5 [/div]<font size="3"><div align="center"><font color="blue">Magic Starting Lineups</font></div></font> <div align="center"> <font size="1">(J. Nelson, G. Hill, H. Turkoglu, T. Battie, D. Howard)</font></div> <font color="blue">2006-07 Magic Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Dwight Howard - 16.8 PPG Leading Rebounder: Dwight Howard - 12.6 RPG Leading Assist Man: Jameer Nelson - 4.0 APG Points Per Game: 92.7 Field Goal Percentage: 46.8% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 32.6% Rebounds Per Game: 30.9 Assists Per Game: 17.4 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jameer_nelson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Jameer Nelson</font> PPG: 12.9, RPG: 3.0, APG: 4.0 [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/grant_hill.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Grant Hill</font> PPG: 15.5 RPG: 3.8, APG: 2.5 <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/hedo_turkoglu.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Hedo Turkoglu</font> PPG: 9.9, RPG: 2.3, APG: 3.1 [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/tony_battie.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Tony Battie</font> PPG: 4.9, RPG: 5.0, APG: 0.4 [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/dwight_howard.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Dwight Howard</font> PPG: 16.8, RPG: 12.6, APG: 1.6 <div align="center"><font size="3"><u>Keys To The Game</u></font><ul></div>[*]<font color="blue">Shoot Efficiently</font> ? In the last meeting, Carlos Arroyo and Hedo Turkoglu shot efficiently behind the arc combining for 7-12 for 3 pointers. Orlando are one of the worst teams in the NBA in terms of scoring so they won't be able to trade buckets with the Wizards throughout the game, and if they don't show up defensively against the 3rd highest scoring team in the NBA, they will get beat.[*]<font color="blue">Attack The Paint</font> ? Dwight Howard wasn't a force in the paint like he is known for in the last meeting only shooting 2-6 on the court, but if the Magic watched the Wizards/Bobcats game, they'll want to study how Gerald Wallace made his way in the paint as he went on for 40 points.[*]<font color="blue">Bench Production</font> ? The Magic will want key shooters like Dooling and Arroyo to come in the game and contribute being able to slow down the Wizards and protect the 3. The Wizards are last in the league in bench points and with Coach Eddie Jordan only going with a 7 man rotation, Orlando will want to pounce on it.[*]<font color="black">Quality Shots!</font> ? Gilbert Arenas shot a miserable 6-24 in the first meeting in Orlando, but since last month, there has been no such thing as home and road games as he has been scoring efficiently and consistently in every game anywhere on the court. If he gets it going, no one will be able to stop him.[*]<font color="black">Defend The Perimeter</font> ? The Wizards now are the worst team when it comes to defending the perimeter. They cannot allow Hedo Turkoglu to have a solid start scoring 4 three's in the first quarter or let Arroyo take over the team and beat the Wizards. They'll focus on containing Dwight Howard in the paint, but they can't forget leaving guys open on the 3.[*]<font color="black">Protecting Leads</font>The Wizards cannot get caught up with the refereering or slow down their energy if they want to win. They blew a 30 point lead against Memphis allowing them to score from downtown often in the 4th quarter, and the Wizards were caught up with the bad officiating against the Bobcats nearly costing them the win, so they'll need to stay positive and play all 48 minutes strong if they want to win.[/list] <font size="3">Prediction:</font> The Wizards will be playing another back-to-back set with Orlando being the first game, and coming off a days rest, they should be ready and prepared to win with the game being at Verizon Center. Wizards over Magic 121-115. Will's Prediction Record: 9-7 (Wizards over Grizzlies, 118-106)
with smush putting up 18 in 1 quarter last game and the magic's undersized, no defense point guards.. shh arenas might go for 100 well no but being serious maybe 65
I can't see the Magic putting up over 90, much less close to 115. I think this will be a huge blowout by the Wizards.
Man, was this an exciting matchup. My heart almost stopped when Dooling shot the ball to try to win it, I thought they would just dump it into Dwight Howard and at least draw the foul with that much time on the clock. I was suprised with Caron Butler missing those 2 free-throws to increase the lead to 3 with him being our best free-throw shooter, but I'm happy we took lead of the Southeast at the end. I was happy with the start of the 2nd half where our energy was a lot faster getting a lot of fastbreak points and creating turnovers. Where was Hedo Turkoglu in the second half anyway? He was such a key shooter in the first, that they almost abandoned him just like the last game. Well, once again their bench dominated ours, and we need hit our free-throws in the 4th quarter. We should've been up by 5-6 in that last minute. Overall, good win for us, we just need to keep up play at a higher level energy at Milwaukee playing the 2nd game of the back-to-back set.
I can't believe a Dooling jumper was the best shot we could get off when we were only down by 1.....what a joke.
i dont care anymore...as long as we make the playoffs...we're still young...deshawn cut his hair, i dont like him anymore (that much) his tattoos are still raw
