New York @ Orlando

Mr. J · Mar 3, 2005

<div align="center">
^made by Knicks Analyst

@
Knicks 23-33 / Magic 28-28</div>

Date: 3/4/05
Time 7:00 (Eastern Time)
TV: MSG, Sun Sports, NBALP

Season Stats

Previous Games:
Knicks: 117-115OT W vs. Lakers
Magic: 106-82L vs. Sacramento

Knicks:
Record: 23-33 (.421)
Standings: Fourth, Atlantic
At Home: 17-12
On Road: 7-21

PPG: 96.7 Opp PPG: 99.5
FG%: .450 Opp FG%: .466
RPG: 40.9 Opp RPG: 42.0

Magic:
Record: 28-28 (.500)
Standings: Third, Southeast
At Home: 19-8
On Road: 9-19

PPG: 92.8 Opp PPG: 93.1
FG%: .438 Opp FG%: .441
RPG: 39.5 Opp RPG: 42.0

*BOLD leader in particular stat.
Maurice Taylor and Malik Rose?s stats are when they became Knicks

Knicks Starters
PG: Stephon Marbury
39.8pg 21.1ppg 3.0rpg 8.2apg

Jamal Crawford
36.4mpg 18.2ppg 2.8rpg 3.8apg

SF: Tim Thomas
27.0mpg 11.2ppg 3.4rpg 1.3apg

PF: Mike Sweetney
18.3ppg 8.2ppg 5.2rpg 0.5apg

C: Kurt Thomas
36.8mpg 11.9ppg 10.2rpg 2.1apg

Knicks Bench:
Jerome Williams
16.0mpg 4.6ppg 3.5rpg 0.6apg

Trevor Ariza
18.1mpg 6.2ppg 2.9rpg 1.3apg

Penny Hardaway
25.4mpg 8.0ppg 2.5rpg 2.2apg

Maurice Taylor
23.1mpg 7.6ppg 4.2rpg 1.4apg

Malike Rose
17.0mpg 6.1ppg 4.5rpg 0.8apg

Bruno Sundov
4.7mpg 1.6ppg 0.9rpg 0.1apg

Complete Knicks Stats


Magic Starters

PG: Jameer Nelson
14.4mpg 6.0ppg 1.9rpg 2.3apg

SG: Steve Francis
37.5mpg 21.5ppg 6.1rpg 6.9apg

SF: Grant Hill
34.6mpg 19.3ppg 4.6rpg 3.5apg

PF: Dwight Howard
32.0mpg 10.4ppg9.6rpg 0.9apg

C: Kelvin Cato
25.1mpg 7.4ppg 7.5rpg 0.6apg

Magic Bench
Doug Christie
26.2mpg 6.0ppg 2.7pg 2.3apg

Hedo Turkoglu
25.9mpg 14.1ppg 2.1rpg 3.6apg

Tony Battie
24.4mpg 5.0ppg 3.5rpg 0.5apg

Pat Garrity
14.2mpg 4.9ppg 1.9pg 0.4apg

DeShawn Stevenson
12.8mpg 4.1ppg 1.4pg 0.5apg

Stacey Augmon
10.7mpg 2.5ppg 1.6pg 0.4apg

Brandon Hunter
5.3mpg 2.0ppg 1.4pg 0.0apg

Complete Magic Stats

Injuries:[/SIZE]
NYK:

Allan Houston

ORL:
and

Andrew Declerq Mario and Mario Kasun


Matchups:
vs.
PG: Steve and Steph is a good matchup. Last time it was a very good one as well. Steve Francis started off slowly but quickly got into it afterwards. I even remember one acrobatic move he did in the air, and after he landed he finished it off with a somersault?I?m serious! It was obvious Marbury got the best of him as he finished off with 34 points. Now against one of the NBA?s best scorers at his position, he?ll look to have a good game and outmatch him yet again. He hasn?t been the same since he lost his partner in crime Cuttino Mobley though.

vs.
In this matchup at the 2, we have Crawford and Christie. It?s a matchup of Crawford?s great offense against Christie?s great defense. Who will get the best? Everyone has been knocking the trade that was made between the Kings and the Magic sending Mobley to the Kings for Doug Christie. To tell you the truth, I think the Magic got robbed in the deal. Sure Christie gave them some more defense, but Mobley gave them pretty good defense as well but the only thing is he could score and brought tremendous intangibles to the table. He gave Steve space so he can do his thing and when they focused too much on him, a simple ?swing to the wing? taught them their lesson. Christie however, is a good defender, but his perimeter presence alone can not stop down the Knicks. If Crawford plays smart basketball and doesn?t get intimidated by a constant hand in his face, he should be able to have a positive impact on the game. Hopefully Crawford will respect Doug?s defensive prowess and doesn?t try those dipsy-doo playground moves. Even when I?m at the park I don?t try those moves (mostly because I can?t do them lol) but he really should play smart basketball which we have been doing as of late. Christie is looking to breakout and with a winnable game for them at home, after this losing streak, I think he will try extra hard. Defense as we have seen can make or break games (especially if you?re the Knicks), so taking Chrsitie out of it can be the difference maker in who wins.

vs.
SF: Tim Thomas!!! Everyone it?s everyone?s favorite player TT! Tim Thomas who had a great game yesterday will have a big task against him. Hill is already a tough challenge, but even bigger is his consistency. Just when everyone gave him props saying you the man, we never abandoned you (liars!) and all of that. Now that he?s on the road playing a good player, we will see. Now I wouldn?t really care if he had another 35 point game. If he just gave a good effort taking smart shots and playing good basketball, it will be all good between me and Tim. Now with all eyes on Tim, we?ll see again if he can live up to expectations. The thing that makes it harder for him is that he?s playing an All-Star in Grant Hill who has been rejuvenated since his return in the beginning of the year. He knows how to deal with people with his experience over the years and I?m sure when you think of ?intimidating player? TT doesn?t come to mind. If Double T can surprise him and everyone else and have another great game like what he had yesterday, than we greatly increase our chances of wining. So many times we were used to having a starting lineup of 4 people and now when TT starts playing decently, we start wining. We were missing someone and that was a starting SF. Hopefully TT gains some confidence from this game and we can have a fair game. We?ll see how legit he is when he plays on the road, and against an all-star.

vs.
Tough matchup for Mike. He has a rookie of the year candidate facing him who at 6?11 is very quick and an athletic power forward/center. The first overall pick in last years draft, has been just as good as the expectations had him out to be. He is averaging almost a double-doule at roughly 10 points and 10 rebounds per contest. He is also a good shot blocker and has a good perimeter game. Sweetney?s overzealousness usually gets him into quick foul trouble. Hopefully he doesn?t see someone like Dwight Howard very intimidating so he can use his body on him. If Sweetney plays smart and to his potential, he can have a good game. Maybe give Dwight two early fouls and force another less capable defender on Sweetney for him to take advantage. The key for Sweetney is to stay out of foul trouble and draw fould like he is so capable of doing. For Dwight, he must take advantage of his size quickness and perimeter game. Good matchup nevertheless and this one will definitely show us a little more of Sweetney?s abilities and how he performs against the big boys.

vs.
C: I look forward to seeing this one. Kurt and Cato. Kelvin Cato is an excellent shot blocker who can get you some boards. His game on the offensive end is very limited therefore preventing easy put back dunks and of the sort is a must. The thing I like about this one is because Kurt is on him our best big man. Kurt is shooting with a great deal of confidence on his midrange jumper and is it just me, or has he extended his range even more! This will automatically force Kelvin to step out of the paint leaving it vulnerable and attend to Kurt?s jumper. Now that will give Crawford and Marbury room to penetrate without fear, it will give Sweetney more room to work in the post, and it will give Ariza some slashing room. Kurt?s jumper has to be on today because in essence, I guess we are kind of running a lot of our offense through Kurt?s jumper. Also, he will guard Howard from time to time and one of the best low posters in the league is just what we need for a pair of young legs.

Knicks Bench Summary
I like our bench much more. We get a worker, an energy provider, a hustler and a great defender, with an even better attitude with the experience and leadership the Knicks will need to snag a win against the Magic. Also the shooting game continues with Mo? Taylor?s jumper. The front court for Orlando has two great shot blocking and our penetrators only defense is to force them out with the jumper. Now with Mo? and Kurt on the perimeter it will open up things even more for the players. The Knicks also get even more energy with Jerome ?Junkyard dog? Williams. He can give the Knicks some hustling plays and a boost on defense along with rookie Trevor Ariza who can give a defensive lift and as we know, good defense leads to easy offense. Good bench by the orange and blue they?ve been playing well as of late, but we didn?t see them play?on the road.

Magic Bench Summary:
A great bench by Orlando as well. They have Hedo Turkoglu who comes off the bench with a spark giving them a perimeter threat, a mismatch and floor space for players like Steve Francis to do there thing especially with New York lacking a shot blocker. Garrity also does the same thing for them and them at the same time can really be a killer for the opponent. In addition to that, the Magic have another defensive monster in Tony Battie to lockup the paint for the Knicks forcing them to use their perimeter game which obviously isn?t the same without the benefits of a drive and kick. Overall, the Magic have a very capable bench that can give the Knicks trouble, or anyone for that matter on any given night.

<div align="center">Key Matchup:
Starbury vs. The Franchise
Starbury vs.The Franchise
Who will have the better handle on the game? This will definitely be able to decide a game or not. The two leading scorers of their teams are going head to head. Both exude a great deal of confidence and I expect to see them going at it similar to what we have witnessed in late December. They have some of their best games playing against each other and hopefully they can score in an exciting fashion while simultaneously getting everyone involved and fulfilling their duties as the floor general. It?s the most exciting matchup in the game and at the same time, the most important to both teams. We?ll see how this ends up whoever gets the better stats and even more important?the win!</div>

My Prediction:
The Knicks have been on a roll lately and won 3 in a row and 4 of their last 5. The only thing different about this game is they are playing on the road. If the Knicks are really legit, this game wouldn?t be such a big difference. Now we?ll see how they really respond and we?ll probably see more of Taylor and Rose now that they have had some practices. The Magic have been struggling as of late however, just finished beating the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday. They will exude a lot of confidence playing against an obvious less superior team. Currebtly as the 7th seed, the Magic are far from locking that spot up and anyone can take it. This prediction is a tough one. Call this bias, but I see the Knicks wining by 49. J/K of course but really, I see the Knicks wining 105-98 against them. They have demonstrated that they?re so confident that even Tim Thomas is playing well! I see it being a close one however, with the Knicks being on a recent tear and playoffs flashing near them, I see a win against an eastern conference team who has been struggling recently will be preached to them. Also Malik Rose and Taylor off of our bench will help our depth. I see this being a good game and close all throughout, but at the end I think the Knicks will want the victory more.
THIS GAME IS AT 7:00 EASTERN TIME!!!

Log in or Sign up

New York @ Orlando

Mr. J Triple Up

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

New York @ Orlando

Mr. J Triple Up

Share This Page

Useful Searches