# Orlando Magic vs New Jersey Nets



## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

LINK

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New Jersey Nets and Orlando Magic hope to help their playoff chances when they meet on Saturday. 

In a pivotal Friday filled with games that held playoff implications, New Jersey made some significant progress. The Nets pulled out a 93-91 victory over the New York Knicks, breaking its ninth-place tie with Orlando and pulling within one-half game of eighth-place Philadelphia. 

Vince Carter scored 31 points in New Jersey's third straight win and eighth in 10 games. 

Saturday's contest is the Nets' last against the Magic. They face Philadelphia on April 17. 

The Magic have fallen on hard times and lost at home on Friday - 111-102 to the Washington Wizards. It was Orlando's 11th loss in 14 games. 

Rookie Dwight Howard scored 22 points and Steve Francis added 21 but Orlando was unable to come all the way back after allowing the Wizards to take a 93-69 lead after three quarters. 

After Saturday's game, the Magic play eight of their final nine games against teams that currently hold a winning record. 

Orlando won the first two meetings between the teams this season before Carter scored 33 in New Jersey's 98-82 win on March 13.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

This is the season right here. If we lose, we're done.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

With Nelson, Hedo, and Christie already out with injuries - it looks like Grant Hill may not play tonight as well. Hill has injured his left shin again and says he might need some rest.

It is gonna be tough to win if Hill is out as well. At G/F we'd have only Francis, Barrett, Stevenson, and Augmon. With maybe Garrity playing some SF. 

Francis and Dwight will *have* to have bigtime nights for us to be able to win.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

I think Hill understands the importance of this game. He'll gut it out.


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## WhoRocks (Feb 24, 2005)

Captain Obvious is right on both counts. This is truly the last chance saloon; although i'm sure we'll all support the Magic and hope they win all the games after tonight, in reality if they don't win tonight it's over. I hope Grant realises there would be no point resting for tomorrow in those circumstances. GO MAGIC!  :cbanana:


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

WhoRocks said:


> Captain Obvious is right on both counts. This is truly the last chance saloon; although i'm sure we'll all support the Magic and hope they win all the games after tonight, in reality if they don't win tonight it's over. I hope Grant realises there would be no point resting for tomorrow in those circumstances. GO MAGIC!  :cbanana:


There is a point to Hill resting *if* his injury could increase the possibility of re-injuring that left ankle. I guess only Hill knows that one.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

..

Hill *will not* play tonight. We're screwed.


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## WhoRocks (Feb 24, 2005)

JNice said:


> ..
> 
> Hill *will not* play tonight. We're screwed.


Don't be so negative (realistic :wink: ), we still may pull it out, stranger things have happened :biggrin: Although if this goes to form i'm sure you understand when i say sometimes it's better i don't get to see the games


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

JNice said:


> ..
> 
> Hill *will not* play tonight. We're screwed.


****.

I'd like to see some Garrity at the 3 tonight. The less we see of Augmon, the better.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Damn it, I just realized I'm not getting this game :curse:.

Why is Battie starting?


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Note sure why Cato isn't starting. He hasn't gotten into the game yet either. Kasun came off the bench before him.

Maybe injured?

Dwight is having a very good first quarter.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

They're playing with the lights off, WTF?


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Captain Obvious said:


> They're playing with the lights off, WTF?


Some of them are off or dimmed ... I thought it was my TV when it happened. :laugh:


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Dwight picks up a really stupid 2nd foul with 20 seconds left in the first quarter.

Cato in now.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Scary, NJ still winning and Vince has been very quiet so far.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

..

Dwight picks up his third on a crappy offensive foul. We're screwed.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

DeShawn with the three and the foul!


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Nice run by the Magic at the end of the half.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Captain Obvious said:


> Nice run by the Magic at the end of the half.


 Yep, I turned it on and saw them down 12 in the second quarter but the guys that are actually out there and not injured are playing well. At least they're trying hard, what more can you ask for when you're playing on the road against a team playing very well of late and we have DeShawn Stevenson and Stacey Augmon in our starting lineup?


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

When did Krstic become Shaq?


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Captain Obvious said:


> When did Krstic become Shaq?



We tend to make guys like him look really good.

Stevenson is a good looking player when he attacks the basket instead of jacking up jumpers.


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## YoYoYoWasup (Nov 14, 2004)

Krstic is a good player, BUT, the Magic have played absolutely horrible defense on him.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

..

We are closing in. Man this is a huge game. We gotta pull this out somehow.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

JNice said:


> We tend to make guys like him look really good.
> 
> Stevenson is a good looking player when he attacks the basket instead of jacking up jumpers.


That Schub guy's like "bump the Krstic-Howard thread". I felt like saying "when Krstic is a better rebounder than Eddy Curry get back to me" but I don't want to hijack their thread. Where'd all those Nets fans come from anyway?


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Captain Obvious said:


> That Schub guy's like "bump the Krstic-Howard thread". I felt like saying "when Krstic is a better rebounder than Eddy Curry get back to me" but I don't want to hijack their thread. Where'd all those Nets fans come from anyway?


That is the typical single game - big game reaction. Anybody who actually thinks Krstic will be on the same level as Dwight is coo-koo for coco puffs.


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## YoYoYoWasup (Nov 14, 2004)

Krstic is a woman.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Krstic passes Ginobili as my most hated player. What a punk and a flopper. Gets away with murder, finally gets called for the foul and picks up a tech for shoving Augmon. This after they eject Lawrence Frank, Francis hits the free throw then they take back the point and leave Frank in the game. 

Anyhow...Barrett!!! Magic up 4!


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Holy crap are we going to win this game?


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Awesome. I've disliked Krstic ever since people conveniently forgot that he was the one who started the confrontation in the last game by shoving Howard.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Magic up 1 with 25 seconds to go.

They seriously need to protest this if they lose by 1 point. You can't call a tech, shoot the free throw and then take it away. That's bull ****.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Captain Obvious said:


> Awesome. I've disliked Krstic ever since people conveniently forgot that he was the one who started the confrontation in the last game by shoving Howard.



Krstic is the type of player you love if he is on your team and hate if he isn't.

He certainly has an attitude.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Damn you Carter. Luckily, we'll get the ball back. They're going to Carter again, so key on him and get a stop. We NEED this game, this win could turn the season around.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Magic Win!!!!!!!!


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## X-Factor (Aug 24, 2004)

Yep, Magic get much needed road victory against a borderline playoff team. Pretty impressive.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

..

Woo, that was close. Big, big win. Only big though if we win some more.

We were lucky, Kidd had a *wide* open shot.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Talk about a huge road win. This moves the Magic back past the Nets and half a game behind the Sixers.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

hobojoe said:


> Magic Win!!!!!!!!


Really? Computer hasn't been updated. What a HUGE win. Not only are we back ahead of NJ, we now hold the tiebreaker. Hats off to Francis for carrying us to the win.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Geez, Nenad with 28 and 11. That is embarassing.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Are you as shocked as I am that Carter passed up that shot? Sure it was contested and Kidd was wide open, but I thought for sure that if there was any possible way he could get a shot off he would let it loose. It was a nice look by him though, Kidd just can't shoot -- never could.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Garrity and Barrett with 11 each off the bench. 

I turned the game on and saw Barrett in there and said to myself "I thought Nelson was still out with a rib injury"? It took me a couple seconds to realize it was Barrett, you have to admit they kind of look similar at first glance. Barrett's jumper also looks almost identical to Jameer's. He had a nice game, those two jumpers he hit in the last couple minutes were huge.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

hobojoe said:


> Garrity and Barrett with 11 each off the bench.
> 
> I turned the game on and saw Barrett in there and said to myself "I thought Nelson was still out with a rib injury"? It took me a couple seconds to realize it was Barrett, you have to admit they kind of look similar at first glance. Barrett's jumper also looks almost identical to Jameer's. He had a nice game, those two jumpers he hit in the last couple minutes were huge.


It is nice for us to actually have a couple unexpected guys step up big. Seems like it happens for other teams all the time, but rarely for our team.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

hobojoe said:


> Garrity and Barrett with 11 each off the bench.
> 
> I turned the game on and saw Barrett in there and said to myself "I thought Nelson was still out with a rib injury"? It took me a couple seconds to realize it was Barrett, you have to admit they kind of look similar at first glance. Barrett's jumper also looks almost identical to Jameer's. He had a nice game, those two jumpers he hit in the last couple minutes were huge.


Agreed about Nelson and Barrett. Once again, this is a huge win! Hopefully Hill comes back and we can use the positive momentum to knock off Dallas on Tuesday.

Nets fans are blaming the refs for the loss :laugh:.


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## Babir (Jan 10, 2005)

We won without Hedo, Jameer and Hill...Great win. What happened to Cato? he played only 4 minutes...


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## Rollydog (Jan 24, 2004)

Captain Obvious said:


> That Schub guy's like "bump the Krstic-Howard thread". I felt like saying "when Krstic is a better rebounder than Eddy Curry get back to me" but I don't want to hijack their thread. Where'd all those Nets fans come from anyway?


Krstic is a better rebounder than Curry. Look at his numbers as a starter 6 rpg.

He's averaging 14 ppg (pretty good for a center) since the all-star break so its not like this game was a fluke.


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## JNice (Jul 13, 2002)

Rollydog said:


> Krstic is a better rebounder than Curry. Look at his numbers as a starter 6 rpg.
> 
> He's averaging 14 ppg (pretty good for a center) since the all-star break so its not like this game was a fluke.



Maybe not a fluke, but not something Orlando's big men should have allowed to happen. He has only gotten over 20 points twice this year. 

For whatever reason, I recall Orlando giving a lot of guys their career nights over the last 5 or 6 years.


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## Captain Obvious (Jun 15, 2003)

Rollydog said:


> Krstic is a better rebounder than Curry. Look at his numbers as a starter 6 rpg.
> 
> He's averaging 14 ppg (pretty good for a center) since the all-star break so its not like this game was a fluke.


I know perfectly well what he's doing. Curry's getting 5 and a half boards this year and he got over 6 last year. For a guy getting 11 ppg and 6 rpg as a starter yes, 28 pts and 11 reb is a fluke. I'm not saying he sucks because he doesn't, he'll be a pretty good center. But he's not in Howard's league. He's 2 and a half years older and Howard's already significantly better.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Captain Obvious said:


> Nets fans are blaming the refs for the loss :laugh:.


That's insane. Krstic got away with so much flopping it's not even funny. Lawrence Frank got ejected then let back in the game, got his tech taken away and a point taken away from the Magic. Give me a freakin break, how you say the refs blew the game for the Nets is beyond me.


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## Rollydog (Jan 24, 2004)

Captain Obvious said:


> I know perfectly well what he's doing. Curry's getting 5 and a half boards this year and he got over 6 last year. For a guy getting 11 ppg and 6 rpg as a starter yes, 28 pts and 11 reb is a fluke. I'm not saying he sucks because he doesn't, he'll be a pretty good center. But he's not in Howard's league. He's 2 and a half years older and Howard's already significantly better.


I won't say that Howard will not be the superior player in the future, because he easily will- but right now you can make the case that Nenad is the better player, just because of the extra experience and refinement he brings to the table. 

His rebounding is mostly inconsistent, some games he is agressive on the boards (had 15 rebounds against Bobcats last game). Post all-star he's averaging 14 ppg so a 28 point game is not a fluke. But this hasn't even been close to his best offensive performance. If the Magic played defense he wouldn't have gotten more than 20.


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## Rollydog (Jan 24, 2004)

hobojoe said:


> That's insane. Krstic got away with so much flopping it's not even funny. Lawrence Frank got ejected then let back in the game, got his tech taken away and a point taken away from the Magic. Give me a freakin break, how you say the refs blew the game for the Nets is beyond me.


When Krstic went down you could HEAR the thud. If he went down hard. If you're flopping, you make sure you don't get hurt, and he could have on that play. 

You can't blame the refs for the loss though, its part of the game. Calls come and go just as players get hot and cold.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Rollydog said:


> When Krstic went down you could HEAR the thud. If he went down hard. If you're flopping, you make sure you don't get hurt, and he could have on that play.
> 
> You can't blame the refs for the loss though, its part of the game. Calls come and go just as players get hot and cold.


 I wasn't referring to that call, I was mostly referring to the next foul where Nenad flopped when he got caught on the baseline with nowhere to go and the shotclock running down. That, and the play you mentioned certainly was not a flagrant. Krstic and Augmon got locked up and it ended up with both of them on the ground. Foul on Augmon, fine. Flagrant? Hell no. A flagrant is based on the intent, not the result of the play. A loud thud doesn't mean anything. It was blatantly obvious that it was not a flagrant foul.


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## Rollydog (Jan 24, 2004)

hobojoe said:


> I wasn't referring to that call, I was mostly referring to the next foul where Nenad flopped when he got caught on the baseline with nowhere to go and the shotclock running down. That, and the play you mentioned certainly was not a flagrant. Krstic and Augmon got locked up and it ended up with both of them on the ground. Foul on Augmon, fine. Flagrant? Hell no. A flagrant is based on the intent, not the result of the play. A loud thud doesn't mean anything. It was blatantly obvious that it was not a flagrant foul.


You could clearly see that Garrity pushed him as the two were going for the ball. 

I agree that it was not a flagrant, I just thought you were saying that Nenad flopped on that play. 

One questionable call on the Nets side was Francis going towards the basket with less than a minute left and Krstic getting called for a foul when he clearly did not touch him. But again, I'm not blaming the refs. Its about 50/50 on whether or not you're going to get calls, and usually law of averages means that a team gets its fair share over the course of a season.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Rollydog said:


> You could clearly see that Garrity pushed him as the two were going for the ball.
> 
> I agree that it was not a flagrant, I just thought you were saying that Nenad flopped on that play.
> 
> One questionable call on the Nets side was Francis going towards the basket with less than a minute left and Krstic getting called for a foul when he clearly did not touch him. But again, I'm not blaming the refs. Its about 50/50 on whether or not you're going to get calls, and usually law of averages means that a team gets its fair share over the course of a season.


 Fair enough, I wasn't saying Krstic flopped on that "flagrant".

On the Francis play you're referring to, I'd say it was a borderline foul. Krstic got him across the arm as he went up for the shot. Like it or not, Steve Francis is going to get that call over a rookie 99% of the time.


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## BallBiologist (Mar 29, 2003)

Rollydog said:


> I won't say that Howard will not be the superior player in the future, because he easily will- but right now you can make the case that Nenad is the better player, just because of the extra experience and refinement he brings to the table.
> 
> His rebounding is mostly inconsistent, some games he is agressive on the boards (had 15 rebounds against Bobcats last game). Post all-star he's averaging 14 ppg so a 28 point game is not a fluke. But this hasn't even been close to his best offensive performance. If the Magic played defense he wouldn't have gotten more than 20.


Don't ever compare Nenad to a legend EVER. Just because the Magic let other team's scrubs/average players to have career nights doesn't make that player better than another player.


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## Rollydog (Jan 24, 2004)

BallBiologist said:


> Don't ever compare Nenad to a legend EVER. Just because the Magic let other team's scrubs/average players to have career nights doesn't make that player better than another player.


Is Howard a legend yet? No. He's still a rookie, and even more so of a rookie than Krstic, who has had 4 years of pro basketball in Europe.


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## Rollydog (Jan 24, 2004)

hobojoe said:


> Fair enough, I wasn't saying Krstic flopped on that "flagrant".
> 
> On the Francis play you're referring to, I'd say it was a borderline foul. Krstic got him across the arm as he went up for the shot. Like it or not, Steve Francis is going to get that call over a rookie 99% of the time.


They showed that on the Nets show and I can attest that Krstic didn't touch him. He was about an inch away, but I agree it is understandable when a ref makes that call, just as it is understandable when someone is seemingly ripped to the ground and hits with a loud thud.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Rollydog said:


> They showed that on the Nets show and I can attest that Krstic didn't touch him. He was about an inch away, but I agree it is understandable when a ref makes that call, just as it is understandable when someone is seemingly ripped to the ground and hits with a loud thud.


 Again, fair enough. Just like you see stars get calls like Francis did all the time, you see flagrants called based on the result of the play rather than the intent.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

*Magic secure tiebreaker with win over Nets*

The bus bringing the Magic to the arena took nearly two hours to make the 8-mile journey, and that was only the start of Orlando's problems. 

Two starters were out. A player on a 10-day contract was taking big shots in the fourth quarter. The officials called a technical foul on Nets coach Lawrence Frank, then rescinded it after the free throw was made. 

"It was hard, man. I fought through an uphill battle all game," Orlando guard Steve Francis said after the Magic refused to succumb to all sorts of adversity and defeated the New Jersey Nets 103-102 Saturday night to clinch the tiebreaker between the teams. 

Francis had 33 points, five assists and seven rebounds for Orlando, which won the season series 3-1 with a gutty performance befitting of a team fighting to make the playoffs. 

The Magic, missing starters Grant Hill and Jameer Nelson, had lost 11 of 14 coming in and were at risk of falling two games behind Philadelphia for eighth place in the East. Instead, Orlando passed New Jersey in the conference standings and sent the Nets to a crushing loss. 

LINK


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## DwyaneWade4MVP (Apr 1, 2004)

Very important win! only a half game behind the playoffs!


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