<div align="center"> Atlanta Hawks @ Orlando Magic Record:14 - 26 (.350) | 23 - 20 (.535) Standings: Fourth, Southeast | Second, Southeast At Home: 7 - 11 | 14 - 8 On Road: 7 - 15 | 9 - 12 Streak: W 1 | L 1</div> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Orlando Magic have been plagued by poor defense lately. They rarely have that problem at home against the low-scoring Atlanta Hawks. After one of their worst defensive games of the season, the Magic look to continue their home dominance of the Hawks as the Southeast Division rivals continue their season series Friday. Orlando (23-20) has lost six of seven, allowing 100.7 points per game and 45 percent shooting from beyond the arc. The Magic's slide comes following a five-game winning streak. Defense has been Orlando's biggest strength, though. The Magic are currently fourth in scoring defense, allowing 92.8 points per game, and are 21-9 when holding opponents to less than 100 points. Orlando now begins a home-and-home series against the Atlanta (14-26), starting with a matchup at Amway Arena. The Magic have beaten the Hawks five straight times at home since a 95-87 loss on April 2, 2004. Atlanta has lost 13 of its last 14 games in Orlando, averaging 91.6 points and shooting 41 percent from the field. The Hawks are 29th in the NBA in scoring at 91.5 points per game, ahead of only the New Orleans Hornets (90.6 ppg). Orlando lost 111-95 to Dallas on Tuesday as the Mavericks shot 55 percent from the field. "We saw a pretty good team," Magic coach Brian Hill said. "Obviously, we can't spot a team a 16-point first quarter, especially a good team like that, and win the game." Jameer Nelson, who is third on Orlando with 13.5 points per game, had 23. Hedo Turkoglu scored 17, Grant Hill had 15 points and Dwight Howard finished with 15 and 14 rebounds. The 21-year-old Howard set Orlando's franchise mark for consecutive games played, passing Darrell Armstrong's record of 206. Howard is also in the running to become the youngest rebounding champion in league history. The third-year forward is averaging 12.5 boards, barely trailing Kevin Garnett and Marcus Camby. Yet Howard is more worried about ending the team's slump. "All I care about is winning, and going to the playoffs," said Howard, who has yet to taste the postseason.</div> Source
for some reason im feelin a high scoring game maybe like 91-113. i cant wait to see the pre game show 2 c if they interview dennis scott. Also atlanta has lost 13 of the last 14 in orlando so hopefully they follow that trend
We're playing pretty good right now. We're losing 25-24 but we're working the ball to Dwight on offense. We need to get our defense together but overall we're playing decent.
Tony Battie is playing great right now. 10 points and 4 rebounds in the second quarter. Those are like Dwight numbers for the veteran. He knocked down a long jumper early on and since then has thrown down two monster dunks. He's doing awesome.
the magic suck fucking balls ^infinity this is why dwight doesn't deserve to start at the all-star game, and is a bit overrated this year
<div class="quote_poster">Chuck Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">the magic suck fucking balls ^infinity this is why dwight doesn't deserve to start at the all-star game, and is a bit overrated this year</div> Damn, this is just pathetic. How do we lose to the horrible Hawks? Dwight is somewhat overrated but I still think he deserved to start in the All-Star game just because of the lack of big men in the East. Dwight has without question contributed more to the Magic than Shaq has to the Heat. Still, we shouldn't lose games like this and it's so frustrating to watch the Magic on nights like this.
dwight showed he is nothing more than a future shaq. I did like how we pounded inside the last 5 mins though..it would of been a good stradegy if d12 didnt choke at the line, why are we not pounding it inside everytime?? Also why is the hot hand covered by hedo?? u cant be serious with that brian hill. Then one more thing...redick comes in the last 30 secs of the game stone cold and brian hill expects him to do something? i hope he was just used as giving fouls..the magic are gonna give me a heart attack i swear..I think gators is right..the magic are like the jaguars of the nba..they play to there competetion and lose to the teams that they should steamroll
We definitely play down to our competition and that disgusts me. Brian Hill needs to keep this team focused and our players need to play with some heart. Our players haven't shown the same kind of effort in these past couple of weeks that we showed at the end of last season and at the start of this season. We are so inconsistent and I think it's time for a trade to mix things up. Our current roster is decent but I can't see us getting anywhere come playoff time. Carlos Arroyo needs to be moved and I honestly wouldn't mind trading Darko Milicic at this point. He's decent but he's been disapointing and hasn't lived up to my expectations. Also, why can't we hit a damn free throw? I can hit more than half of my free throw attempts in a game, you'd think somebody getting paid to play basketball could do it too. Just a frustrating night overall for the Magic and we better turn this around soon or we could end up in the lottery again.
<div class="quote_poster">Swish Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">We are so inconsistent and I think it's time for a trade to mix things up.</div> cosign bigtime
I agree with trading Arroyo but not Darko. The man hasn't even started to my knowledge. The problem tonight was us giving up easy offensive rebounds(Ariza could have helped here), and us not being able to defend Joe Johnson(Dooling with the D). The main problem here wasn't Arroyo, or Darko. It was Dwight missing his free throws(he still shot fairly well imo.), and us not having two of our better defenders and hustle/energy guys out there. Another problem was, we couldn't finish. Jameer had a chance, but blew it, shooting a freaking two pointer no less.
