# Orlando Magic vs. New Jersey Nets Game Thread



## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Saturday January 8, 2005
Orlando Magic vs. New Jersey Nets, 7:00 p.m. ET









Orlando Magic 
Coached by: Johnny Davis 

Projected Starting Lineup:




































S. Francis  | C. Mobley  | Grant Hill  | D. Howard  | T. Battie 

Key Reserves:






















J. Nelson  | H. Turkoglu | P. Garrity 












New Jersey Nets 
Coached by: Lawrence Frank  

Projected Starting Lineup:




































J. Kidd | V. Carter  | R. Jefferson  | J. Collins | N. Krstic 

Key Reserves:






















R. Buford | T. Best |J. Smith 



Key Matchup:
Battle of the Small Forwards-















Grant Hill vs. Richard Jefferson


Yahoo's Preview of Tonight's Game 

After struggling for much of the first half of the season, the New Jersey Nets hope to build on their best game as they visit the Orlando Magic. 
New Jersey has had trouble getting some consistency with a new mix of players following the offseason trades of Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles. Also, Jason Kidd's recovery after knee surgery caused him to out of the lineup until Dec. 6, leaving Richard Jefferson as the team's lone star. 

Looking for an offensive boost, general manager Rod Thorn dealt Alonzo Morning, Aaron Williams and Eddie Williams to Toronto for Vince Carter on Dec. 17. Carter's impact wasn't felt right away, as a strained Achilles' tendon prevented him from making his debut until Dec. 27. 

It took until Friday night for the Nets to put together a strong, all-around effort. 

Carter scored 22 points, Jefferson had 20 and Kidd narrowly missed his first triple-double of the season with 13 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists as the Nets bounced back from two bad road losses to beat the Golden State Warriors 82-72. 

``We've always taken pride in our offense being our defense,'' Kidd said. ``Right now we're in transition with new guys and we're trying to figure each other out. ``The one thing you can always do is play defense. I think coach's message got across to us.'' 

New Jersey was coming off 20-plus point losses at Washington and Milwaukee earlier in the week. 

``We stepped it up,'' Carter said. ``There wasn't any remedy. Guys just took the challenge individually and as a team to really guard the ball. It's not saying we weren't giving effort. We could have given a little more effort.'' 

Orlando is playing well coming into this game, winning two straight for the first time since Ddec. 8-10 after Friday's 111-91 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. Hedo Turkoglu scored 22 points to lead Orlando, which as a team shot 50.7 percent, 7-for-14 on 3-pointers. 

Grant Hill scored 16 points, Tony Battie added 13 on 6-for-6 shooting and Steve Francis had 10 points and tied his season high with 13 assists. 

The Magic have not enjoyed much success against the Nets of late, dropping six of the last 10 games between the two teams -- including six of the last seven matchups in Orlando.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Cato back available to play.

Jefferson has a bit of the flu.

Orlando *should* win this easily.

Although they probably let a guy like Krstic drop 15-20 pts this game.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Krstic 4 points already :uhoh:.

Magic playing okay, can't really complain even though they're down. Cato's also back, let's hope he stays in the lineup for a while.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

That was a monstrous putback by Dwight. I swear he gets some rebounds that he doesn't even appear to be in contention for. I can only imagine how many boards he'd get if he actually boxed out.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Mobley is the only guy on our team that consistently hits the three. I still think it would be a bad idea to trade him.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Howard with a nice jumper and gets another double-double. New Jersey still hanging around though.


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## WADELUNATIC (Dec 27, 2004)

It's time to put this game away. The longer they let the Nets stay in it the better chance New Jersey has.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Man, what a screwed up fast break that was. Just how Davis drew it up.  

Nice play by Howard though, he's having a very strong game tonight.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

> Originally posted by <b>Captain Obvious</b>!
> Howard with a nice jumper and gets another double-double. New Jersey still hanging around though.


That was a nice jumper. Nothing but net. I could see him being able to hit that shot with regularity in the future. I scoff at those who say Howard's offensive game is that raw. He is capable.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Nets starting to implode now. Man, they do not look very good. I was surprised Kidd had the numbers he did, but he definitely does not look like the old Kidd yet. Nets desperately need some big men.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Magic looking good right now. Hopefully this momentum carries over for the road trip because we'll really need it.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

:laugh: Guokas called Lawrence Frank "the little guy" ... :laugh:


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

:laugh: Lawrence Frank running onto the court and picking up a tech. I love it. Magic have this one in control, up 17.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Dwight having a great game but gets to warm the bench in the fourth :upset:. All of the other starters are out there. Last night is history, Garrity's back to his useless self.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Grant picks up a tech .


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

4 point game! Time for Stevie to shine.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Way to stick with Augmon in there when the undersized lineup obviously isn't working, Johnny.  
What the hell is his problem, is Howard not allowed to play in the 4th quarter or something?:upset:


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## The_Franchise (Mar 30, 2003)

Nets need to go for a trey on this posession. Mobley isn't missing.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

I hate Johnny right now.

I'm not concerned about losing the game, and I think we should make it clear that this game wasn't nearly as close as the score indicates.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Thank you, at least they couldn't find a way to blow that one.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

I don't understand why Johnny always refuses to play Dwight in the fourth whenever the other team even hints at going small. Let them go small and then give Dwight the damned ball. How does a guy with 14 pts and 13 rebs through 3 not touch the court in the 4th? Argh.

Johnny has got a lot to learn.


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## Idunkonyou (Feb 23, 2003)

Fire Davis now. I'm tired of seeing Howard not play in the 4th, especially when the kid is killing the other team in the low post. 

Sure we won the game, but it was pathetic seeing our best big man not in the game during the 4th.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

> Originally posted by <b>Idunkonyou</b>!
> Fire Davis now. I'm tired of seeing Howard not play in the 4th, especially when the kid is killing the other team in the low post.
> 
> Sure we won the game, but it was pathetic seeing our best big man not in the game during the 4th.


The worst part is that they were killing us in the 4th without Dwight out there, yet Davis refuses to put him back in despite the fact that the Nets had at least three uncontested layups because freakin Stacey Augmon was playing power forward and there was no help defense.


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## DwyaneWade4MVP (Apr 1, 2004)

> Originally posted by <b>Idunkonyou</b>!
> Fire Davis now. I'm tired of seeing Howard not play in the 4th, especially when the kid is killing the other team in the low post.
> 
> Sure we won the game, but it was pathetic seeing our best big man not in the game during the 4th.



Yeah, Dwight Howard had a 5 of 6 shooting night, so...


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

MAGIC 105, NETS 101 
Magic rolling again
Turkoglu sparks 3rd win in row

LINK


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Post-Game Quotes


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