@ Where : Orlando, Florida TD Waterhouse Center Date: 11/27/04 7:00 P.M Coaches Probable Starters * * * May be replaced by Kenny Thomas. *Cuttino Mobely may possibly sitout due to a strained groin in which case he would be replaced by Stevenson in the starting lineup. Key Matchup Magic Keys * Take away the three point shot currently the 76ers are ranked 6th in the league in three point field goal percentage with Kyle Korver being there best three point shooter. Playing a zone 3-2 defense may help stop the open three point shot if the Magic react quickly enough, and there big men can get to the corners. * Hold on to the ball we will be facing Allen iverson who is ranked 8th in the league in steals per game. With Steve Francis averaging 4 turnovers a game our best bet is to play a little like new jersey does, and let our small forward handle the ball more often. * Force AI to shoot from perimeter. he is shooting 41% from the field this season. If we can keep him out of the lane and have a hand in his face we could shut him out of the game, and take out Philadelphias main scoring option. Side Notes *The Sixers won the last contest versus the Magic earlier this season at Philadelphia Allen Iverson had 29 points, 12 assists, and 7 turnovers. <div align="center">" target="_blank">http://slam3.com/aionline/images/iverson_170_041114.jpg"></a></div> Steve Francis made just 3-of-15 shots and shooters Pat Garrity and Hedo Turkoglu were held to a combined 8-of-26. * Stacey Augman, Andrew Declerq, and Michael Bradely are on Injury Reserve for the Magic *Aaron Mckie, Glenn Robinson, and Kedrick Brown on Injury Reserve for 76ers Prediction It will be a tight game through out biggest lead will be five points by both teams. It will also be a fast break game with turnovers every where. In the end though I see it coming down to the last two minutes, and if we can sink our free throws and control the pace we will win 89-85. I also thik that we will take advantage of Philly in the Power forward spot with Howard if we can setup some offensive plays for him I think he can use his skill to score easily on davis.
Nice Preview. Hopefully we can win this one against the Sixers. They played us great last time and Iverson had an awesome game. We need to contain him and we can win.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MagicFan3:</div><div class="quote_post">Nice Preview. Hopefully we can win this one against the Sixers. They played us great last time and Iverson had an awesome game. We need to contain him and we can win.</div> I think what we need to do is contain Kyle Korver he has been hot lately and some are even saying he may finally be the second option that the Sixers have always been looking for to complement AI. This will be a exciting game I like both team so I do not really mind who wins. If the Sixers win they will finally be over .500 the only team in the Atlantic over .500 if the Magic win they will be one game closer to Miami, but if the Sixers lose there back under .500 and in a tie for the lead of the Atlantic division again. While if the Magic lose they are in a tie for second place with the wiz so each team has a lot riding on this.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting OrlandoMagicFan:</div><div class="quote_post">If the Magic win they will lead the SE division (for a day because Heat play tomorrow)</div> They will be more or less in a tie the Heat would have one more win, but one mroe lose as well which would possibly put the Magic ahead by percentage points.
Thanks for the preview. This is going to be an interesting match, i hope we can revenge this time and get another solid home winning streak again. It seems like we're going to miss mobley again. Hopefully he can come back soon and at the moment, hope that Stevenson can play like last night and Hedo and Pat come out strongly from the bench! Again...we need to make more FTs and cut down the turnovers. I predict Magic will lead 9 at the end of 3rd quarter and finish the game with a 2 point win. Hill will register a triple double today
Orlando Magic Half Time Summary @ 76ers 56 Magic 49 Well as far as containing Allen Iverson we have been doing a very poor job. He has a game high 17 points a thalf time, but we have kept him from creating much for anyone else he only has one assists and the entire Sixers team adds up to 8 assists. Steve Francis is in some serious foul trouble he has 3 fouls at half time because of this it has limited him to 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists. Mean while Grant Hill has been keeping us in it with a team high 13 points he also has 1 rebound and 2 assists. Howard is well on his way to a double double night he has 7 points 4 rebounds at half time taking some what advantage of the Sixers size. Pat Garriety has 5 points and Nelson, Stevenson, and Hedo are having relatively quite nights each tied with 4 points a piece. Something we need to do to take control of this game in the second half is STAY OUT OF FOUL TROUBLE Cato, Battie, and Francis all have three fouls which have limited there play tonight. That applies more to Cato and Battie who add up for a total of 3 points and 2 rebounds. We have to come out ready to play in the second half or the Sixers may open this game up. Expect Francis to come out hot hoping to help his team back in it.
We are shooting terrible and missing rebounds. We are in deep foul trouble and our team is being stupid on defense. We need to step up our game to the next level and win this game.
The Magic need to stop penetration Iggy is killing us 15 points right now, and the game still in the third quarter. We are just giving them a lane to the basket the defens eis playing horrible guess they must be a little timid not to pick up another foul only reason I see for this play.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Really, we didn't notice. At least we beat your sorry Laker squad.</div> Sorry trench, I was frustrated.
MF3 chillax, they arent a sorry squad, they are pretty good but we did beat them. Trench be quiet we can come back. go magggggggic WOW...howard with 2 blocks and turkoglu with a block within 1 minute...nice...70-73 now keep telling us we have are arses whooped
I have to say, the magic are playing excellent basketball right now. 76ers played well too but right now are getting outplayed. The magic have been getting some nice defensive stops.
Iverson is having a horrible shooting night tonight I dont know if it is bad shot selection or good defense or a little bit of both. We have done a good job of taking KK out of the game, but to no avail since Iggy has just come up big, and put up basically the same stats if not better. Grant Hill is over his season average of 20 points so he is doing pretty well Francis will probably reach or pass his average of 19 points. I think that we need to keep up the pressure because the game is far from over its been tight through out like I predicted it will come down to the last couple of minutes. Grant Hill now has 29 points shooting around 50% Magic are up by 2 points 99-97 with exactly one minute left up 104-99 with 14 seconds left. Francis has 26 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds by the way..
Magic 105 - 76ers 99 The Magic Played a superb 2nd half after falling behind by 7 at the half. The Magic ended with an 11-2 run led by Grant hill and Stevie Franchise. Franics ended with 27 points.
Game Recap @ The Magic pulled out a hard fought win today at home against the Philadelphia 76ers. In the third quarter the 76ers came out of the gate strong pulling ahead by 10 points, but the Magic answered back by making a run of there own, and exploiting Philly's biggest weakness the inability to play with a lead as they took the lead in the fourth the 76ers tied it up a couple of times, but the Magic never looked back as the game was decided in the final minute by some clutch free throw shooting from the franchise. Steve Francis finished the game with 26 points/5 ssists/5 rebounds and only 1 turnover. Francis came out strong in the second after foul trouble in the first half limited him to only 9 points. The Franchise shot 10-11 from the line for the game, and 7-15 from the field. The team was lead in scoring by Grant Hill who socred 29 points in a team high 35 minutes. With this win the Magic who had the worst record in the league last season take the lead in there division at least until tomorrow night when the Heat play again. Howard continued his great play by getting a double double 12 points 10 rebounds ( Howard has only failed to reach double digits on two occasion this year in the game against Portland and failed to reach it by one rebound in atlanta). Hedo and Nelson chipped in with 10 and 8 points as the Magic on back to back nights got back to back wins.
The Magic played a great second half. When the third quarter started, I turned the T.V. off because they were playing terrible. 20 minutes later, I turn on the T.V. and they are winning! Francis played outstanding especially in the final minutes. Grant Hill possibly played his best game of the season with 29 points and he also played great in the final minutes making a few clutch shots. I did notice one thing during the game and that was that Cato was playing terrible. He finished the game with 7 points. He hasn't looked right the last two games because he only scored 1 point. If he doesn't start playing better, we could see a lot more of Tony Battie. Anyways, great game for the Magic and we are now SE Division Leaders!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting OrlandoMagicFan:</div><div class="quote_post">Pure, i didnt think he reached double figure rebounds last night?</div> Yeah your right he had 9 rebounds against the hawks my fault thank you I will change it.
