# Orlando Magic @ Minnesota Timberwolves Game Thread



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Wednesday January 12, 2005
Orlando Magic @ Boston Celtics, 8:00 p.m. ET









Orlando Magic 
Coached by: Johnny Davis 

Projected Starting Lineup:




































S. Francis  | S. Augmon  | Grant Hill  | D. Howard  | K. Cato 

Key Reserves:






















T. Battie  | H. Turkoglu | P. Garrity 












Minnesota Timberwolves 
Coached by: Flip Saunders 

Projected Starting Lineup:




































S. Cassell  |L. Sprewell | Szczerbiak  | K. Garnett | M. Olowokandi

Key Reserves:






















E. Griffin  | F. Hoiberg | T. Hudson  



Key Matchup:
Battle of the Small Forwards-















Grant Hill vs. Wally Szczerbiak


----------



## Babir (Jan 10, 2005)

Is Doug Christie playing tonight?


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Babir</b>!
> Is Doug Christie playing tonight?


We shall see. I haven't read anything on it. If he is in uniform, I would expect he'd probably come off the bench since he probably doesn't know anything that Orlando will be running.


----------



## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

I'm pretty sure Christie will be playing but it's doubtful he'll start. This will be a tough game, even though Minnesota has been playing like a pile of crap. Knowing our luck they'll get back on track against us.


----------



## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

christie wont play i heard..


btw..i see francis dropping 30 tonight in frustration..


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

I'm watching the NBA.com game tracker. I don't see him having played yet, although they have him on the roster.

I do see Grant Hill looks like he came out hot.


----------



## Pan Mengtu (Jun 18, 2004)

Stacey Augmon is starting? :laugh: Good lord, put Turkoglu in the lineup, please.


----------



## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Pan Mengtu</b>!
> Stacey Augmon is starting? :laugh: Good lord, put Turkoglu in the lineup, please.


Turkoglu started. Magic winning 37-33. They actually got off to a decent start, so I think they'll hold on and win this game.

EDIT: For the love of god, put Dwight in the game :upset:. He should be playing close to 35 minutes a game at this point. Even with the early foul trouble he should have been back in by now.


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

I'm not sure if i'm reading this right, but did we really only give up 23 points in the first quarter? A miracle! See, the trade worked, our defense is better already. :laugh: 

And we are up a few points rather than down 15 ... what is going on?


----------



## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

To people who are watching the game, is Francis playing like a ***** again?


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Nice first half by the Magic. Kevin Garnett had a great first half for the Wolves as expected, but really no one else did much for them. 

8 minutes in the first half for Howard. :nonono:

Turkoglu with a nice statline in his first start of the year: 13 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds at the half.


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Captain Obvious</b>!
> To people who are watching the game, is Francis playing like a ***** again?


Not really. He's still taking more lazy jumpers instead of driving than he normally does, but he's playing *much* better than he did against Boston. Hill and Turkoglu are carrying the offensive load though.


----------



## Idunkonyou (Feb 23, 2003)

It was been two days ago that we made the trade for Christie and he isn't even in uniform tonight. WTH?

Also the reason Howard only got 8 minutes was because he got back to back bullcrap fouls called on him. Really ticky tacky. The funny thing about those fouls was that two plays later, Hill is getting mugged going to the hole and there is no call. :upset: 

I swear the NBA refs are the worst pieces of pond scum when it comes to pro officials. They will get ticky tacky on one end, while on the other they'll swallow their whistles. 

Any way it was a good half for the Magic defensively. It seems to me when the Magic play D, they are nearly impossible to beat.


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Idunkonyou</b>!
> Any way it was a good half for the Magic defensively. It seems to me when the Magic play D, they are nearly impossible to beat.


Very true. When we defend and rebound, we fastbreak, and we basically win. When we don't defend and rebound, then not only are we giving up more points, but we can't score nearly as well in the half-court.

And we won't be a decent half-court team until we start feeding Dwight and until he can start commanding double-teams. Which likely won't happen this year.


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

A couple horrible offensive possessions, a couple Sprewell jumpers, an awful foul call on Cato(there literally was not ANY contact between him and Szczerbiak) and suddenly the lead goes from 11 to 3. :sigh:


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Man, Hedo always plays better without Mobley. Seriously, he started out the season hot when Mobley was injured, and it seems he started slumping around when Cuttino came back. Hopefully now that he's gone, Hedo will play like this every night. He's playing a very good game tonight, and his shot is on.


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

What a huge 3 that was by Turkoglu to quiet the crowd and stop the run. The lead goes from 4 back up to 9 in about a minute to end the third quarter, almost single-handedly Turkoglu's doing. Hedo has 24 points tonight through 3; his season-high is 27 and career-high is 31, both are within reach tonight.


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

What ****. Griffin gets the ball out on the break, Augmon fouls him and he makes the shot. The officials call it a flagrant, so Griffin's basket counts, he gets two free throws and the T'Wolves get the ball (results in two more points). A ****ing 6 point possession to cut the lead from 12 to 6. :upset:


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> What ****. Griffin gets the ball out on the break, Augmon fouls him and he makes the shot. The officials call it a flagrant, so Griffin's basket counts, he gets two free throws and the T'Wolves get the ball (results in two more points). A ****ing 6 point possession to cut the lead from 12 to 6. :upset:


That sucks. Was it a flagrant 2? Did he get tossed?


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Orlando with only 10 turnovers with 5 mins left. That is a good sign.

KG ith 19 pts and 21 rebs. Dude puts up some nutso stats.


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Francis is doing everything he can possibly do to blow this game in the second half it seems. Stupid shot after stupid shot, and none of them are falling. Luckily the rest of the team is doing just enough to hopefully pull out the victory.


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Looks like it is over. Good win, even if Minny is struggling. 

Francis 7-24? That sucks. But he did have 7 asts and 7 boards. I'll chalk this one up as just a bad shooting night for him.

Great game by Hedo. MVP of this game shouldn't be tough to pick.


----------



## heyitsme (Feb 20, 2004)

Howard played amazing defense on KG when he was in the game. What's up with the 16 minutes though? **** Johnny Davis.


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> 
> 
> That sucks. Was it a flagrant 2? Did he get tossed?


No, Griffin didn't even hit the deck on the play but it was a flagrant. The guy didn't even get knocked to the ground, and he was able to make the shot yet it was hard enough to be called a flagrant? I don't think so. Anyway, the Magic probably would've been better off if they had gone ahead and tossed Augmon. Absolutely worthless.


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>heyitsme</b>!
> Howard played amazing defense on KG when he was in the game. What's up with the 16 minutes though? **** Johnny Davis.


I know he was in foul trouble early.


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Boxscore 

Final Score: Magic 87, T'Wolves 80


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> 
> 
> I know he was in foul trouble early.


He picked up 2 in the first 4 minutes, but after that only picked up one the rest of the game. The foul trouble can't be used as an excuse in my opinion. Instead Davis had Garrity out there. I wouldn't have even noticed Garrity was playing if I didn't look at the boxscore and see that he logged 14 minutes. He did next to nothing tonight, but still he got minutes over Howard.


----------



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Hill played an excellent game defensively. He played great defense on his man all night long, and read the passing lanes perfectly. He caused several turnovers (5 steals) and was responsible for even more than that. One of his steals came at a critical point in the game, with just under a minute to play in the game. The Magic were up 4, T'Wolves ball with a chance to cut it to a one possession game, but Hill stripped the ball right from under Sprewell's nose then dove on the ground and got the ball and the Magic called timeout. That pretty much iced the game.


----------



## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Solid win on the road. After another win against the West I think we need to petition the league to switch conferences :laugh:.


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Too bad Washington also won tonight.


----------



## Cap (Nov 5, 2003)

I guess the Magic had even better reason to trade Mobley than we thought; to get more use out of Hedo and his big contract. Now that I think about it, the Magic made a real smart move if they're putting Hedo at the 2 permanently, as it allows Christie to come fresh off the bench which improves his energy and defense by default. Best way to make use of a good old player is to reduce his minutes a little so his physical limitations aren't as glaring.

Good game by the Magic. Howard is going to be a top 5 player someday.


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

MAGIC 87, TIMBERWOLVES 80 
Magic defense shows mettle

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...gicgamer011305,1,6469906.story?coll=orl-magic

Can't believe we actually held somebody to 80 points. We must have cheated.


----------



## DwyaneWade4MVP (Apr 1, 2004)

is christie gonna play the next game for the magic???


----------



## Babir (Jan 10, 2005)

Congratulations to all Magic fans, that was a nice win, defence impressed...Its interesting if Hedo returns to the bench with Doug's arrival...


----------



## whizKIDD (Dec 23, 2004)

*Great Win*

Hi Guys! 

It was a great win yesterday against the Wolves. Ok, the wolves were without Cassel, but we were without Doug.

Steve played not so bad - behind is really bad FG%. 7 assist and 7 boards looks fine - good to see he`s coming down  

Hedo was unbelievable. He hit a lot of shot`s and plays really well. Dwight was "locked" by KG - ok KG is the current MVP. Dwight will be better at the next matchup. Our bench was solid - thx Jameer - he played well lately. Grant Hill was great. He passed well, steal the ball and scores. Grant thx for coming back so good :clap: :clap: 

Ok Guys - see ya on Friday Night/Saturday to talk about Doug`s Debut and the game vs the pistons.

Have a great Day.

Bye Whizzy


----------



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

*Re: Great Win*



> Originally posted by <b>whizKIDD</b>!
> Hi Guys!
> 
> It was a great win yesterday against the Wolves. Ok, the wolves were without Cassel, but we were without Doug.
> ...



Can't wait to see how Dougie plays. Although I hope Johnny Davis decides to keep the lineup of Francis, Hill, and Turkoglu starting. Hedo has been playing too well this year to be playing irregular minutes off the bench. He has earned the right to start and get 30 mins a night if he wants it. Plus, even if the plan is to start Christie, he is gonna need some time to adjust.

Funny thing is, everything I hear on TV when they talked about this trade is they pretty much talked only about Sacramento, at least as far as improving. I hope Doug is healthy because I really think Orlando could come out on top, team-wise, in this deal.


----------

