<div align="center"><font color="Blue">Magic (2-0) at Bobcats (0-1) </font> vs. When: November 6, 2004 Where: Charlotte (N.C.) Coliseum TV: WRBW-Ch. 65 Time: 7:00</div> Probable Starters Center Kelvin Cato / Primoz Brezec Power Foward Dwight Howard / Emeka Okafor Small Foward Grant Hill / Gerald Wallace Shooting Guard Cuttino Mobley / Jason Kapono Point Guard Steve Francis / Brevin Knight Key Matchup This game will be a battle between the number one and number two draft picks. Dwight has been put on a team that already has the talent and he just needs to contribute. Okafor on the other hand has a terrible team who will be lucky to win any game. These two will go head to head to prove which one was worthy of the number one draft pick. Orlando's Outlook: Currently riding a two game winning streak, Orlando is looking to bring it to three. Even though they are playing the lowly Bobcats, the Magic still need to bring it like they did in the previous games. Francis has played amazing these past two games, and Grant Hill is looking like his old self. Dwight has had double digits rebounds in both games, and has become a great defender. Charlotte's Outlook: Wallace and Okafor are the bright spots on this young roster. Gerald Wallace needs to get hot early and attack the basket to even stand a chance in this game. Okafor needs to outscore and overall outplay Dwight to give his backcourt a boost. My Prediction Unlike the other games, I doubt this game will be as close as the others. If Orlando sets the tempo early, they should be able to take it. Orlando by double digits.
Francis and Hill are going to show up for this game, no doubt. I wish I could watch this one...but oh well. Mobley will do well, also. I'd like to see Emeka and Howard throwing each other around and making the game really interesting...I just wish that both rookies would get more physical. Nice preview...and I agree, this one won't even be close. Magic 104, Bobcats 77.
Nice preview Ice. I can't wait to see the box score lol, I hope Dwight has a lot of blocks but I was going for Okafor in the draft so nah.. I hope both have a good game lol, fun, relaxed game it should be. Magic by 11.
Francis won't have to make the game-winning shot for this one, that's for sure. The Magic just has to play their game and let things come to them naturally. Easy win for the Magic this time. Orlando: 102 Charlotte: 88
I'll probably end up watching this game tonight a little bit before I go out. If I don't, I'll probably get to watch the whole game. I agree with Dwight Howard/Okafor being the big matchup tonight, but I think that one guy that is going to come out and play hard for the Bobcats is Keith Bogans. You just know that he is going to want to come out and have a great game against his former team. I don't think that he's going to be able to do it though since he'll have either Hill or Turkoglu on him most of the night and they seem to be rather solid, veteran defenders. Should be interesting to see how this plays out and if the Magic can spark a small rivalry with this team seeing how they are in the same division. I don't think that the Magic are going to have a hard time controlling the tempo of this game though and therefore I am picking the Magic to win this one tonight.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting explosive:</div><div class="quote_post">but I think that one guy that is going to come out and play hard for the Bobcats is Keith Bogans.</div> is bogans on the active list? i don't think he is available to play. (maybe my mistakes?) well, bobcats lost the wizards at the last 5 minutes due to (lack of experience?) but magic is not wizards, if they have a good strong start at the first quarter as many said here, and hold the lead, this will be an easy win and this might be the chance for nelson to play more part at the last quarter. i predict MAGIC win by 12 points
I was waiting for this game, Dwight versus Emeka, should be a good game to watch just because those two are on the court at the same time. Magic should take this one easily, it may be a blowout if they get a lead early and hold and build onto it. Hill should be pretty good tonight, I'm also looking forward to watch out bench play some pretty good minutes. Magic take home the W. BTW nice preview Ice.
Im going to catch the highlights of this one for sure but I think the Magic are going to take there third in a row and Hill will score this game but thats my prediction and I dont think Stevey is going to pull his buzzer beater once again this game because he wont need to. My prediction Magic 104-88
49-42 for the Bobcats at halftime. Both rookies struggling and in foul trouble. Howard: 0-2, 2 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 3 Fouls Okafor: 1-7, 3 Points, 7 Rebounds, 3 Fouls
As a type this Orlando is down by 22 points in the third quarter.I havent been keeping up with this game,but Dwight and company arent scoring down low,I think Dwight and Cato have combined for a total of three points. This game is far from over,but wow!Primo Brezec has 18 points while OKafor has 7,the Magic better get it together down low.This just proves anyteam vcan get beat anytime in the NBA.
79-63 for the Bobcats at the end of 3. Primoz Brezec and Jason Hart are having great games. Emeka and Dwight both in foul trouble with 4. Hopefully the 'Cats can hang on.
100-111 first lost of the season magic didnt play well as a team, too many turnovers, too many missed shots, gave up too many rebounds... hope they can recover and get a win at the next game. go magic!
w00t! Book it, first ever win for the Bobcats 111-110. Jason Hart, Gerald Wallace, Primoz Brezec, and Emeka Okafor all had double doubles for the Bobcats. As for the Rookies.... Emeka Okafor: 5-14, 12 Points, 14 Rebounds, 2 Blocked Shots, 2 Turnover's Dwight Howard: 2-5, 5 Points, 12 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 3 Blocked Shots, 3 Turnover's
I watched tonight's game and ended up getting pissed off at the horrible play on defense by Orlando. Had they played better defense, there would be no way in the world that the Bobcats could have kept up with them in a shootout. But tonight was just not Orlando's night. Francis and Howard both got in early foul trouble and when they were on the floor, they weren't really that productive. Everyone else gave it a good shot, but they weren't enough in the end to pull the Magic through. However, I think that this is where we will see the true character of this new Orlando team. If you go back a couple months, Weisbrod brought in the players that he did for the simple fact that these were all guys that would lose a game like this, take personal responsibility, get hungry and come out the next game ready to play harder. I see no reason why the whole team won't display the above characteristics after this game. I have a feeling that the Magic team that you see go up against Dallas on Monday is going to look like a completely different team. Also, this is where Johnny Davis is going to find his real test. Can he motivate this team after coming off of a loss that really never should have happened? Can he get these guys playing better defense and executing more cleanly in the halfcourt offense? We'll see. Any good coach will be able to do this and I have a good bit of faith in JD at this point. I'm not really all that worried. I think that the important thing for the Magic and their fans to realize is that this is a loss that we can use to exhibit the strength in this team. If we come out on Monday and beat the Mavericks, we'll have shown that we exhibit one characteristic that all great teams possess: being able to put a loss in the past and come out the next game ready to win.
OUCH!!! Sorry Magic fans, had to say that. As a Rockets fan, I gotta say the feeling of teh 1st 2 losses felt bad (even if it wasn't to an expansion team). For you magic fans, just remeber that your team is also struggling with team chemistry. Your 1st 2 wins were extremely close, and a loss for you guys is a good thing in terms of team growth. With the loss, your coach can point out what you have to work on.
From the boxscore, it looks like Francis had a poor game. Reminiscent of his play from last year. Hopefully he can turn it around.
wow..Bobcats get their first win in team history against the Magic... I just didn't want that headline on NBA.com.. Well yea I agree a loss is good for the team, but against the Bobcats lol. No.. I'm not saying they suck I actually defend them a lot against all the people that say expansion teams should win 5-15 games, they have a pretty decent team to win at least 20. I hope this helps the team, it can help in a lot of different ways. Go Magic!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting dakeem1:</div><div class="quote_post">OUCH!!! Sorry Magic fans, had to say that. </div> I'll say it again. Ouch! We looked pathetic.
