Florida Today MIAMI - For the Orlando Magic, it will be their second game in as many nights and just another meaningless exhibition game. That won't be the case for European powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv. The three-time Euroleague champions play in Orlando tonight for the Magic's preseason home opener. Head coach Brian Hill is worried his team could run into an emotional trap of a game. "We'd like to win the game, but we're going to be coming off a back-to-back and I don't know who we'll have available to play," Hill said. "I'm sure subconsciously our guys will look at the game like we're not playing a NBA team. But we know they are really good." Maccabi defeated the Toronto Raptors 105-103 in an exhibition game Sunday. It was the first time since 1978 that a NBA team had lost an exhibition to a non-NBA outfit. Maccabi features shooting guard Anthony Parker, who played 16 games with the Magic in 1999-00. He had 24 points against the Raptors on Sunday, including the game-winner with 0.8 of a second remaining. Orlando native Derrick Sharp is the team captain, while former Michigan star Maceo Baston starts at center. "I'm not sure if they'll come out and play a lot of zone, but we haven't even discussed our zone principles," Hill said. Sitting stars. The Magic were without Steve Francis, DeShawn Stevenson and Mario Kasun on Tuesday night, while the Heat did not play Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Doleac and Shandon Anderson. O'Neal and Doleac, both former Magic centers, didn't play because of mild calf strains. Anderson was out with back spasms. Source
Well according to nba.com we won 93-79, haven't had any chance to see the boxscore yet though. This is a good win, since Toronto lost to them earlier in the week, so they are a good team that can compete with NBA teams. Steve Francis wasn't supposed to play. I'm wondering who stepped up for us today.
