# Orlando Magic @ Washington Wizards Game Thread



## hobojoe

Orlando Magic @ Washington Wizards, 7:00 PM ET










Projected Starting Lineup:




































S. Francis  | D. Christie | Grant Hill  | D. Howard  | T. Battie 

Key Reserves:






















Turkoglu | J. Nelson | P. Garrity 












Projected Starting Lineup:




































G. Arenas | J. Hayes | J. Jeffries | A. Jamison | B. Haywood

Key Reserves:






















J. Dixon  | E. Thomas | A. Peeler 


Key Matchup:















Steve Francis vs. Gilbert Arenas


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## Shanghai Kid

I said in the other thread, but the Wizards roleplayers usually play better at home which is usually the difference. Juan Dixon who was a non factor last night will probably be a factor tonight. Jeffries/Hayes/Haywood, they all have more energy at home. Francis always plays good at MCI, but the key for the Wiz is not letting Hedo go off again.


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## Shanghai Kid

I said in the other thread, but the Wizards roleplayers usually play better at home which is usually the difference. Juan Dixon who was a non factor last night will probably be a factor tonight. Jeffries/Hayes/Haywood, they all have more energy at home. Francis always plays good at MCI, but the key for the Wiz is not letting Hedo go off again.

It should be another good game but I wonder if the two teams will be tired and will still be able to play at a fast pace.


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## hobojoe

The key for the Magic tonight is going to be getting Hedo going again. He needs to be involved offensively, not just catching and shooting. They need to let him run some plays taking his man off the dribble and either popping that jumper from around the free throw line or taking it all the way to the hole. Either way, I think Hedo's at his best when he's putting the ball on the floor, not settling for that long range shot.


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## Shanghai Kid

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> The key for the Magic tonight is going to be getting Hedo going again. He needs to be involved offensively, not just catching and shooting. They need to let him run some plays taking his man off the dribble and either popping that jumper from around the free throw line or taking it all the way to the hole. Either way, I think Hedo's at his best when he's putting the ball on the floor, not settling for that long range shot.


I'm hoping the coach pays more attention to Hedo this time, someone at least needs to put a hand in his face for every shot.


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## hobojoe

> Originally posted by <b>Shanghai Kid</b>!
> 
> 
> I'm hoping the coach pays more attention to Hedo this time, someone at least needs to put a hand in his face for every shot.


The Wizards played some awful defense on him, especially late in the game. That 5th 3-pointer he hit amazed me. How someone as lethal from behind the arc as Hedo is, who is having one of the best shooting nights of his career can be left _so_ wide open at a critical point in the game behind the 3-point arc is beyond me. But hey, I'll take it.


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## Shanghai Kid

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> 
> 
> The Wizards played some awful defense on him, especially late in the game. That 5th 3-pointer he hit amazed me. How someone as lethal from behind the arc as Hedo is, who is having one of the best shooting nights of his career can be left _so_ wide open at a critical point in the game behind the 3-point arc is beyond me. But hey, I'll take it.


Larry Hughes was our best perimeter defender but 3-point shooters always kill the Wiz. That's why Miami killed us, cause Damon Jones/Eddie Jones kept getting open 3s. 

Eddie Jordan is the opposite of a defensive coach, that's why I don't buy him as a good coach yet. It seems like the Wizards don't even have a defensive system put in place, he just tells the guards to gamble for steals and the big men have to overcompensate. You noticed that all the Magic had to do is set one pick and suddenly Turk would be guarded by Arenas? That's how it's been all year. Hopefully he puts Jeffries on Turk tonight.

I think the Francis/Arenas matchup will be a little bit less one sided tonight. Christie did do a great job on Arenas, he scored most of his points on Nelson/Francis.


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## JNice

Orlando got a little lucky in the last one. They still could have won it regardless, but Arenas missing those free throws was big. I really hope we can steal this one tonight.


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## X-Factor

Francis needs to contain Arenas in this game in order for the Magic to win. He also needs to take smart shots (and know 'em down). That would guarentee a Magic win in my mind.


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## JNice

> Originally posted by <b>Minnesota Magician</b>!
> Francis needs to contain Arenas in this game in order for the Magic to win. He also needs to take smart shots (and know 'em down). That would guarentee a Magic win in my mind.


Well, Francis hasn't really contained much of anyone this year at PG. His D hasn't been terrible, but it hasn't been real great either. But he should score some more tonight. I don't see Francis having another scoring night like he did last night.


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## JNice

Magic at Wizards, 7

WHERE: MCI Center, Washington.

RECORDS: Magic 23-19; Wizards 26-16.

BROADCAST : TV -- Sun Sports. Radio -- 580 AM (WDBO); Spanish language: 1030 AM (WONQ).

MAGIC UPDATE: The Magic are playing their second of four consecutive back-to-backs. . . . C Kelvin Cato (sinus infection) missed the game Friday night against the Wizards and will not accompany the team on its road trip to Washington and Atlanta. Tony Battie (11 points, 6 rebounds Friday) will start in his spot. . . . G Doug Christie made his second start of the season against the Wizards, replacing F Hedo Turkoglu, and will remain the starter until further notice -- even though Turkoglu poured in 31 points in Friday's 108-101 victory and the defensive-minded Christie had seven points and two assists.

WIZARDS UPDATE: C Brendan Haywood was originally acquired by the Magic in the 2001 draft from Cleveland in exchange for C Michael Doleac. The Magic then shipped Haywood to the Wizards for a future first-round pick and Laron Profit. Orlando shipped the pick to the Denver Nuggets for Jameer Nelson. . . . G Larry Hughes, averaging 21.2 points, is on the injured list with a broken thumb.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Magic are playing the same team for the second consecutive night, and will have a chance to make immediate adjustments. Obviously, they'll have to find some energy to play defense and control G Gilbert Arenas and F Antawn Jamison. Arenas scored 30 points Friday and Jamison had 28.


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## hobojoe

> Originally posted by <b>Minnesota Magician</b>!
> Francis needs to contain Arenas in this game in order for the Magic to win. He also needs to take smart shots (and know 'em down). That would guarentee a Magic win in my mind.


Francis barely even guarded Arenas yesterday. It was Christie that was on him and shutting him down for most of the game. Arenas scored almost all of his points in the 4th quarter (a lot on Nelson) when he froze out his teammates.


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## hobojoe

Cato's officially out for the game tonight. Battie's going to need to step up again like he did last night. He hit quite a few tough shots yesterday.


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## hobojoe

Francis starts out slow again. :sigh: 

Magic's offense is awful so far, good thing they've played some great defense.

Do the officials have whistles tonight? There have been at least 2 or 3 fouls on each end that they haven't called. Looks like they're going to let the boys play tonight.


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## hobojoe

Sluggish start by both teams, but both seemed to pick it up at the end of the quarter. 

Huge 3-pointer by Steve-O at the end of the period. He played a much better overall 1st quarter than anything he did last night.

Great defensive quarter by the Magic, the only reason the Wizards have more than 15 or 16 points is because Arenas is on fire, which is also the only reason the Magic aren't winning. Howard has 2 blocks and 2 steals by himself already to go along with his 3 points and 2 boards.


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## hobojoe

Sluggish start by both teams, but both seemed to pick it up at the end of the quarter. 

Huge 3-pointer by Steve-O at the end of the period. He played a much better overall 1st quarter than anything he did last night.

Great defensive quarter by the Magic, the only reason the Wizards have more than 15 or 16 points is because Arenas is on fire, which is also the only reason the Magic aren't winning. Howard has 2 blocks and 2 steals by himself already to go along with his 3 points and 2 boards.


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## hobojoe

Magic playing some very good basketball, building a 5 point lead and Francis will be on the line for 2. 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Francis gets his first triple-double in an Orlando uniform tonight. That'd be a nice bounce back from last night's game.


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## hobojoe

Wizards can't hit anything, Magic open up 11 point lead.

Don't forget though, Washington can make up 11 points in a matter of a couple minutes. This one isn't over until the clock shows 0.0 in the 4th quarter.


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## JNice

The way the Wiz are shooting, Orlando should be up 20, but I'll take the lead as it is for now.

Arenas throwing up some really bad shots.


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## JNice

Francis playing *much* better than last night.


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## hobojoe

Damn, the only player on the Wizards shooting better than 40% from the floor tonight is Jared Jeffries, and he's 1-1. :laugh: 

Francis has himself a nice game in the first half alone, 21-6-4 on 8-14 shooting. 8 points, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 rebounds for Dwight Howard. A strong first half from Grant Hill offensively as well, 6-9 shooting for 14 points. The reason the Magic are up 10 at the half though is their defense and Washington's inability to make a shot.


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## YoYoYoWasup

Newsflash: Pat Garrity still can't hit a shot.


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## JNice

> Originally posted by <b>YoYoYoWasup</b>!
> Newsflash: Pat Garrity still can't hit a shot.


He scored a bunch of points a few nights ago. He'll be throwing up bricks for a couple weeks again before he gets his next "big night" ...


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## JNice

:laugh: 

There goes half that lead in a jiffy.


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## hobojoe

Could they have started the 2nd half any worse? Idiots...:upset:


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## hobojoe

Perhaps someone needs to remind them of how explosive Washington is offensively.


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## X-Factor

The team was sleeping on them and is blowing there big lead.


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## JNice

5 point lead is better than being down 15... :grinning:


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## JNice

Orlando has a good shot at stealing this one. We've done a great job of hitting shots every time the Wiz make a run. We are gonna need to keep doing that and also keep Arenas from going bananas.


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## X-Factor

The Magic are going into the third with a 76-72 lead I'm not comfortable at all, especially if they shoot 8-19 in the fourth like they did in the third. They need to knock down their wide open attempts like the type Christie missed a couple of.


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## JNice

Dwight grabbing some big rebounds in the 2nd half.


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## X-Factor

What a jam by Francis!


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## HKF

Steve Francis is the definition of a schizophrenic basketball player. One day you hate his guts and then tonight he goes off like he has something to prove. How about some consistency Stevie?


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## hobojoe

All I have to say is the Magic better not blow this game. What a ****ty no-call on the other end with Francis getting mugged, they better not call that a flagrant.


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## X-Factor

What is going on out there? Doug Christie running the offense? So many turnovers leading to fast breaks, fouls and made free-throws against the Magic.


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## Captain Obvious

Stevie and Grant are coming up huge late. Now, we need to hold on and win this one.


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## Captain Obvious

Nothing but air, thank you Haywood :laugh: :laugh: !


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## hobojoe

Haywood!!!! AHAHAHHHAAHAAHH! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:


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## X-Factor

AIR BALL!!! What a choke-job.


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## JNice

With Francis you take the good and the bad. Tonight was the very good. Awesome night and some huge shots by Stevie tonight. Big shots by Hill as well and some big rebounds by Dwight.

Great matchup tonight of Arenas vs Stevie.


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## JNice

Doug E Fresh with 2 big ones.


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## X-Factor

With the game all but over, the Magic are on top. A two-day sweep of the Wizz. Huge wins for the Magic and a lot of momentum headed into their next game.


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## hobojoe

Magic win!!!!!!!!!!


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## hobojoe

Great clutch performence by Hill and Francis tonight. They've got to be two of the most clutch players in the league. Seems every time the Magic are in a close game at least one of those two will hit a huge shot to lift the Magic to victory.


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## JNice

Box Score 

Steve 32-9-7 ... nice game.

Dwight with 13 pts, 10 rebs, 2 blocks (I thought he had at least 3)

Hill with 27. 

Nice all-around effort. Big win getting only 9 from Turk.


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## hobojoe

Boxscore 

Francis finishes with 32-9-7 and also 6 turnovers, but like JNice said, you take the good with the bad with Francis. I think I said this a couple weeks ago, but Steve's turnover numbers don't bother me much because he always seems to have 5 or 6 TO's in his best games.


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## YoYoYoWasup

As for that rookie wall for Dwight? He shattered it these past two games.


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## JNice

3 steals as well for Dwight. He seems to have played with a lot more energy the last couple games. He was bigger than the stats show tonight. He grabbed some big rebounds in traffic in the second half tonight. Rebounds that the Wiz probably would have gotten if not for Dwight.


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## hobojoe

> Originally posted by <b>YoYoYoWasup</b>!
> As for that rookie wall for Dwight? He shattered it these past two games.


Dwight played a very crucial role for the Magic defensively and rebounding in the 2nd half. More importantly, I think Johnny Davis is finally realizing that he needs to be on the court in the 4th quarter.


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## JNice

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> Boxscore
> 
> Francis finishes with 32-9-7 and also 6 turnovers, but like JNice said, you take the good with the bad with Francis. I think I said this a couple weeks ago, but Steve's turnover numbers don't bother me much because he always seems to have 5 or 6 TO's in his best games.


I remember researching that earlier this season when people were complaining about his TO's and I remember that of the games where he had his highest TO counts, Orlando won almost all of them, if not all... at least at the point I did the research.


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## hobojoe

A couple of huge wins for the Magic on back-to-back games against the Wizards to pull back within 2 games of them in the standings. I know the Wizards didn't have Hughes, but we didn't have Cato for either game either and he's an extremely vital and underrated part of our team. Without him we were forced to play DeClercq more than we'd like, which is never a good thing. Huge wins showing yet again that we can pull out tough games, especially tonight doing it on the road.


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## YoYoYoWasup

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> 
> 
> Dwight played a very crucial role for the Magic defensively and rebounding in the 2nd half. More importantly, I think Johnny Davis is finally realizing that he needs to be on the court in the 4th quarter.


You have to be happy with his FT progression as well. He's gone from 40% to about 68%.


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## JNice

> Originally posted by <b>YoYoYoWasup</b>!
> 
> 
> You have to be happy with his FT progression as well. He's gone from 40% to about 68%.


Yeah, he has been shooting them very well the last couple months. That will be key because he is very good at drawing fouls down low. If he can be a 75-80% free throw shooter, it will do wonders down the road for his PPG. He has got a pretty good stroke so I think 80% is possible. For a big man, that would be great.

And how about the Duncan-esque 15 footer off the glass again tonight with a hand in his face. 

Damn this kid is gonna be good.


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## YoYoYoWasup

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> 
> 
> Yeah, he has been shooting them very well the last couple months. That will be key because he is very good at drawing fouls down low. If he can be a 75-80% free throw shooter, it will do wonders down the road for his PPG. He has got a pretty good stroke so I think 80% is possible. For a big man, that would be great.
> 
> And how about the Duncan-esque 15 footer off the glass again tonight with a hand in his face.
> 
> Damn this kid is gonna be good.


If he ever gets the running sky hook down, watch out :laugh:


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## JNice

> Originally posted by <b>YoYoYoWasup</b>!
> 
> 
> If he ever gets the running sky hook down, watch out :laugh:


:laugh: 

true... his running sky hook needs some work. He almost cracked the backboard with one of those tonight.


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## hobojoe

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> 
> 
> I remember researching that earlier this season when people were complaining about his TO's and I remember that of the games where he had his highest TO counts, Orlando won almost all of them, if not all... at least at the point I did the research.


Check this out:

11/7 vs. UTA, Magic win: 33 pts, 11 ast, 9 reb, *7 TO* 
11/26 @ ATL, Magic win: 29 pts, 8 reb, 6 ast, *6 TO* 
12/4 vs. MEM, Magic win: 16 pts, 8 ast, 5 reb, 5 stl, *7 TO* 
1/5 vs. SEA, Magic win: 33 pts, 11 reb, 6 ast, *8 TO*
1/7 vs. CHA, Magic win: 10 pts, 13 ast, *7 TO* 
1/18 vs. DET, Magic win: 32 pts, 12 reb, 6 ast, *6 TO* 
1/29 @ WAS, Magic win: 32 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast, *6 TO* 

What do all these games have in common? Francis has played very well, Francis has high TO numbers, and most importantly the Magic have won all these games. Now obviously turnovers don't help the team, but I think Steve has high TO numbers when he's playing well because his TO are indicative of how he's playing. When he's playing well he's attacking the basket, drawing fouls, and consequently turning the ball over more. I'll take that though, because he's looking to attack the basket. He doesn't turn the ball over much when he sits out on the perimeter all day holding the ball then taking one dribble and falling away on the jumper. Doesn't mean he's playing well though.


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## hobojoe

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> 
> 
> Yeah, he has been shooting them very well the last couple months. That will be key because he is very good at drawing fouls down low. If he can be a 75-80% free throw shooter, it will do wonders down the road for his PPG. He has got a pretty good stroke so I think 80% is possible. For a big man, that would be great.
> 
> And how about the Duncan-esque 15 footer off the glass again tonight with a hand in his face.
> 
> Damn this kid is gonna be good.


That's part of the reason why his potential excites me so much. He's shown over the past couple months that he can be a very good FT shooting big man as long as he keeps working on it, which is great because of how good he is at getting to the line. 

Man that bank was beautiful. :drool:


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## JNice

Dwight has really shown the ability to adjust his game and learn. Remember back at the beginning of the year when he was seemingly in foul trouble almost every game. Now I can't remember the last time he was in serious foul trouble. Yet he doesn't seem to really be any less aggressive.


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## hobojoe

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> Dwight has really shown the ability to adjust his game and learn. Remember back at the beginning of the year when he was seemingly in foul trouble almost every game. Now I can't remember the last time he was in serious foul trouble. Yet he doesn't seem to really be any less aggressive.


:yes: 

He's already improved in so many different areas since the beginning of the season. His footwork is much better in the post, his free throw shooting is like night and day and he's staying out of foul trouble. He just needs to develop that chemistry with Francis that Cato has and it's over. Francis will be throwing lobs to Howard every other time down the court.


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## JNice

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> 
> 
> :yes:
> 
> He's already improved in so many different areas since the beginning of the season. His footwork is much better in the post, his free throw shooting is like night and day and he's staying out of foul trouble. He just needs to develop that chemistry with Francis that Cato has and it's over. Francis will be throwing lobs to Howard every other time down the court.


True. Seems like there are a lot of opportunities every game for Francis to throw those up to Dwight like he does for Cato but he just doesn't recognize them. I still see Dwight getting frustrated at times not getting the ball. There were a couple times tonight where Dwight got down the court and established post position and they waved him off and ran a different play.


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## hobojoe

Honestly, I have never in my entire life of watching basketball laughed as hard as I laughed when Haywood air balled that free throw today. That just made my day. :laugh:


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## JNice

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> Honestly, I have never in my entire life of watching basketball laughed as hard as I laughed when Haywood air balled that free throw today. That just made my day. :laugh:


Nothing but net ... well, the bottom of the net. They said it hit the rim, but it sure didn't look like it.


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## hobojoe

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> 
> 
> True. Seems like there are a lot of opportunities every game for Francis to throw those up to Dwight like he does for Cato but he just doesn't recognize them. I still see Dwight getting frustrated at times not getting the ball. There were a couple times tonight where Dwight got down the court and established post position and they waved him off and ran a different play.


Do you think Francis doesn't trust Dwight enough yet to give him the same kind of feeds he gives Cato? It's evident by his play and the kind of passes he gives Cato that he trusts Kelvin after playing with him for 6 years.


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## JNice

> Originally posted by <b>hobojoe</b>!
> 
> 
> Do you think Francis doesn't trust Dwight enough yet to give him the same kind of feeds he gives Cato? It's evident by his play and the kind of passes he gives Cato that he trusts Kelvin after playing with him for 6 years.


I don't know. I don't think it could be a trust issue. Dwight has done nothing to make any of his teammates not trust his ability. I think it is just that Francis' court vision just isn't that great and he has been playing with Cato for so long, he just knows where he is gonna be. 

Me and my best friend used to play ball together all the time. And I mean all the time. It got to the point where we could play 2 on 2 against other guys and I could make passes behind my back, over my head, whatever without even looking to see where he was because I just knew where he was gonna be. Probably some of the same with Francis and Cato.


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## Babir

Nice win, unfortunately I can't see Magic games 



> Hill, a native of nearby Reston, Virginia, made 10-of-16 shots, including a couple of high-flying hoops that recalled his play before his ankle injury


 How was that?


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## JNice

MAGIC 103, WIZARDS 97  
Magic master Wizards again



> Notes: Both teams wore retro uniforms. The Wizards wore the orange getup from their 1970-71 season, when they were the Baltimore Bullets. The Magic went back just a decade to 1994-95. ... Magic center Kelvin Cato (sinus infection) did not make the trip. ... Wizards coach Eddie Jordan turned 50 Saturday. ... The game was a sellout, the Wizards' fourth of the season.


Was Orlando wearing Retro uniforms? I didn't even notice.


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## YoYoYoWasup

> Originally posted by <b>JNice</b>!
> MAGIC 103, WIZARDS 97
> Magic master Wizards again
> 
> 
> 
> Was Orlando wearing Retro uniforms? I didn't even notice.


No they weren't. The AP is just retarded.


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## JNice

> Originally posted by <b>YoYoYoWasup</b>!
> 
> 
> No they weren't. The AP is just retarded.


I didn't think so. Orlando doesnt have too many retros to go back to.


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## hobojoe

No, they weren't wearing retros. Although if I remember correctly they do seem to play better whenever they wear them, even last season I think they won most of the games when they wore them. Maybe they should bust them out on their 5 game road trip in March. :laugh:


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