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  1. <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101</id><updated>2024-03-23T14:35:50.835-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Orlando Magic Blog</title><subtitle type='html'>Group Blog talking about the NBA 2009 Eastern Conference Champions.  Due to the amazing success of the 2009 playoff run comments are now frequently deleted to kill offensive comments, incoherence, or asininity.  Comments can no longer be anonymous and require either a Blogger or OpenID account.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25'/><author><name>WeRDevos</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02337373511620464325</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>1410</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-2203348826276569330</id><published>2010-06-30T00:00:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2012-02-22T01:45:29.814-05:00</updated><title type='text'>For the best Orlando Magic coverage, log onto Orlando Pinstriped Post at orlandopinstripedpost.com</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://sportslogos.net/team.php?id=217&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic Logos&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/wd9ic7qafgfb0yxs7tem7n5g4.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/2203348826276569330'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/2203348826276569330'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/07/orlando-magic-logo-magic-in-blue-arched.html' title='For the best Orlando Magic coverage, log onto Orlando Pinstriped Post at orlandopinstripedpost.com'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-4859721730237401743</id><published>2010-06-25T03:15:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-28T04:00:36.845-04:00</updated><title type='text'>The Magic 2010 draft</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/team.php?id=217&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic Logos&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/wd9ic7qafgfb0yxs7tem7n5g4.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From the Orlando Magic press release Thursday night:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size:12;&quot;&gt;             &lt;div align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;strong style=&quot;font-size: 10pt;&quot;&gt;MAGIC SELECT DANIEL ORTON IN FIRST ROUND OF 2010 NBA DRAFT&lt;br /&gt;           &lt;em&gt;Orlando also picks Stanley Robinson during the second round&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;           &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;             &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;           The Orlando Magic selected center Daniel Orton in the first round (29th overall) of the 2010 NBA Draft.  Orlando also chose Stanley Robinson during the second round (59th overall).&lt;br /&gt;          &lt;br /&gt;           Orton (6’10”, 255, 8/6/90) played in all 38 games during his freshman season at the University of Kentucky, averaging 3.4 ppg., 3.3 rpg. and 1.39 blkpg. in 13.4 minpg.  He helped the Wildcats reach the Elite Eight during the 2010 NCAA Tournament.&lt;br /&gt;          &lt;br /&gt;           Orton recorded 16 games with two-or-more blocked shots, including four games with four rejections, the last time on Mar. 7 vs. Florida.  He netted a season-high 14 points on Nov. 21 vs. Rider.  Orton attended Bishop McGuiness High School in Oklahoma City, OK and participated in the 2009 Jordan Brand Classic.&lt;br /&gt;          &lt;br /&gt;           Robinson (6’9”, 210, 7/14/88) appeared in 126 career games (103 starts) at the University of Connecticut, averaging 9.8 ppg., 6.2 rpg., 1.0 apg. and 1.03 blkpg. during his four-year collegiate career.  As a senior (2009-10), he averaged 14.5 ppg., a team-high 7.6 rpg., 1.0 apg. and 1.21 blkpg. for the Huskies.  Robinson helped UConn reach the NCAA Final Four in 2009.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For complete Magic draft coverage, log onto &lt;a href=&quot;http://orlandopinstripedpost.com/&quot;&gt;Orlando Pinstriped Post.&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/4859721730237401743/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=4859721730237401743' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/4859721730237401743'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/4859721730237401743'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/06/magic-2010-draft.html' title='The Magic 2010 draft'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-4030418023594256507</id><published>2010-06-19T03:30:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-22T04:37:15.030-04:00</updated><title type='text'>The future of this blog</title><content type='html'>Since we have lost several contributors from the blog since its beginning in January of 2006, including blog moderator WeRDevos, I am seriously thinking about not continuing our blog any more, since it no longer is thriving like it was when we had more contributors.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Orlando Pinstriped Post provides the best Magic coverage on the internet, and is the best Magic blog without question,  and members there are free to comment on any of the posts or even make posts themselves.  Matt, I know you read OPP on a regular basis; Big Figure, you should check it out if you haven&#39;t already.  I&#39;ve been a member for over two years.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Matt and Big Figure, I appreciate you guys still reading and contributing to this blog, and if you have any comments about this, I&#39;d be interested in hearing (or anyone else for that matter) what you think.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/4030418023594256507/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=4030418023594256507' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/4030418023594256507'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/4030418023594256507'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/06/future-of-this-blog.html' title='The future of this blog'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-7081696743867029564</id><published>2010-06-13T05:30:00.005-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-15T04:44:22.157-04:00</updated><title type='text'>The upcoming draft for the Magic</title><content type='html'>Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://bleacherreport.com/articles/401577-orlando-magic-draft-2010-the-short-list&quot;&gt;an article from bleacherreport.com correspondent Wil Bradley &lt;/a&gt;on what the Magic might be looking for in the 2010 draft coming up in a few weeks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Some excerpts:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith believes his team needs only an “eighth of an inch” improvement to be an NBA champion.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;He told fans finding ball handlers, and adding one or two pieces to the “puzzle” would be the priority.&lt;/p&gt;Orlando&#39;s lack of cap space, and multiple high-dollar contracts limit what can be accomplished via free-agency. The Magic do have a trade-exception and mid-level exception, giving them some slack.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The draft will provide the only other means of improving the team. Again Smith says he&#39;s looking for the best player available. At the 29th position, most draft analysts predict quite a few guards available.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/7081696743867029564/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=7081696743867029564' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/7081696743867029564'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/7081696743867029564'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/06/upcoming-draft-for-magic.html' title='The upcoming draft for the Magic'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-8832889145265171136</id><published>2010-06-10T05:15:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-10T17:23:31.726-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Will the Magic keep J.J. Redick?</title><content type='html'>Columnist Wil Bradley of bleacherreport.com examines the question &lt;a href=&quot;http://bleacherreport.com/articles/402131-will-the-orlando-magic-keep-jj-redick&quot;&gt;in this article. &lt;/a&gt; Here are excerpts:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Orlando Magic shooting guard J.J. Redick enters restricted free agency on July 1.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Many think Redick will play elsewhere next season. Those same analysts believe Redick will command too high a salary for the Magic to match.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;Others foresee Redick staying with Orlando, maybe even for a smaller salary, to remain on a contending team. Redick has stated that winning meant more than money.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;If other front offices value Redick more than the Magic, Orlando possesses options. They could trade him by July 8, or they could just let him walk.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Based upon forecasts that Redick will be highly sought after, the Magic could already be thinking trade.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Could Orlando replace what he brings?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;No player on the Magic, maybe even in the NBA, works harder than J.J. He brings a competitiveness that many of his teammates clearly lacked.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The argument could be made that trading JJ for an additional first round draft pick could be more valuable than keeping Redick.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whether the Magic want to replace him remains to be seen. &lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt; &lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/8832889145265171136/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=8832889145265171136' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/8832889145265171136'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/8832889145265171136'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/06/will-magic-keep-jj-redick.html' title='Will the Magic keep J.J. Redick?'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-9201819850559340162</id><published>2010-06-08T05:00:00.005-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-10T04:06:58.027-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Magic players under contract for next season</title><content type='html'>Here&#39;s a listing of Magic players under contract for the 2010-11 season, and how much they will earn.  All salary information is from &lt;a href=&quot;http://hoopshype.com/salaries/orlando.htm&quot;&gt;hoopshype.com.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rashard Lewis... $20,514,000&lt;br /&gt;Vince Carter... $17,300,000&lt;br /&gt;Dwight Howard... $16,509,600&lt;br /&gt;Jameer Nelson... $6,722,222&lt;br /&gt;Marcin Gortat... $6,322,220&lt;br /&gt;Mickael Pietrus... $5,300,000&lt;br /&gt;Brandon Bass... $4,000,000&lt;br /&gt;Ryan Anderson... $1,409,040&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;J.J. Redick will be a restricted free agent and has a qualifying offer of $3,887,150.  The Magic can match any other offer he receives from another team.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Matt Barnes will probably become an unrestricted free agent, as he has a player option next season of $1,600,000.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This leaves the Magic with a payroll for next season currently at around $74.2 million, and if the Magic re-sign Redick, this figure probably goes to around $80 million, with the Magic having nine players under contract (assuming they can re-sign Redick).  That leaves four to five players that will need to be signed to fill out the roster.  How far over the salary cap would the Magic be willing to go for next season to fill out their roster.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jason Williams, Anthony Johnson, and Adonal Foyle all will be unrestricted free agents.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/9201819850559340162/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=9201819850559340162' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/9201819850559340162'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/9201819850559340162'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/06/magic-players-under-contract-for-next.html' title='Magic players under contract for next season'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-2298592599505135778</id><published>2010-06-04T01:35:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-04T01:50:47.897-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Magic GM Smith Answers Fans&#39; Burning Questions</title><content type='html'>Here are some excerpts from an article from correspondent Wil Bradley of The Bleacher Report about what Otis Smith may do this off-season to improve the Magic:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Magic general manager Otis Smith described the season as a &quot;failure.&quot; As an organization, the bar has been raised.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;We set the bar,&quot; stated Smith. &quot;And the bar is a championship. Anything less than that, rests on my head.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Smith believes the Magic need to make up an &quot;eighth of an inch&quot; between themselves and the NBA&#39;s best teams.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What holes need to be filled?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;Orlando only has one point guard, with Jason Williams and Anthony Johnson having expiring contracts. Smith described both players as being “long in the tooth.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;Turnovers hurt the Magic throughout the season. The effect of Orlando&#39;s occasional sloppy play became magnified against the Celtics. More ball handlers would alleviate pressure on Nelson to keep the ball moving.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;How much will the roster change?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;Smith clearly believes the Magic can compete as is. That said, Smith predicts only minor roster adjustments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;Simply put, the Magic will be looking to get better at the wing and point guard position. Somehow, I can still see Smith performing his NBA Jedi magic, and adding a true power forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Will the team keep J.J. Redick?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;My rock solid pick for NBA free-agency, J.J. Redick stays in Orlando.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;The organization values Redick.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt; Smith indicated as such, &quot;We&#39;ll do what we can to keep him.&quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;What are the Magic&#39;s draft plans?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt; Smith did a great job finding Courtney Lee two years ago. Orlando has the 29th pick in the first round, and the 59th pick in the second.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt; Orlando hopes to get better via the draft—but if they can&#39;t, expect a deal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;Orlando&#39;s approach—make the team better—could mean that Smith trades the picks, getting more seasoned talent in return.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://bleacherreport.com/articles/400771-orlandos-otis-smith-answers-magic-fans-burning-questions&quot;&gt;the complete article &lt;/a&gt;from bleacherreport.com.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/2298592599505135778/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=2298592599505135778' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/2298592599505135778'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/2298592599505135778'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/06/magic-gm-smith-answers-fans-burning.html' title='Magic GM Smith Answers Fans&#39; Burning Questions'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-5825215207429864719</id><published>2010-06-03T02:58:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-04T02:18:22.878-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Bleacher Report:  Orlando Magic&#39;s Secret Top 5 Free Agent Wish List</title><content type='html'>Here is an article from correspondent Wil Bradley of bleacherreport.com about how the Magic could get better during the off-season:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Winning an NBA Championship remains the goal in the City Beautiful.  &lt;p&gt;Outside of the disappointment that comes with losing a playoff series, fans still hold on to hope. A hope based upon All-Star center Dwight Howard&#39;s showing in the playoffs. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;We now know he can carry the team—not just defensively—but on both sides of the ball. His offense still needs work, but even in its present state, not many teams can handle Superman.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;General manager Otis Smith enters the off-season at a disadvantage. He made major moves last summer to make his team a true contender. The moves put the Magic about $27 million over the salary cap.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;So many high priced players have created repercussions for this off-season. Orlando now has very little room to sign players outright in free-agency. Any big moves will most likely require sign—and—trade deals.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;In order to make such deals happen, the Magic will need to find big name players. The big names make matching salaries in the trade easier. &lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Smith comes in with a big advantage—a team everyone believes to be a contender. This year&#39;s free-agency theme for players has become “I want to win”.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;Smart money would bet the Magic are closer than all but two or three teams to a title.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;If the Magic do make any quality moves, expect to see Marcin Gortat and Rashard Lewis as part of what Orlando gives up. Getting some of the names on this list might mean sacrificing even more.&lt;/p&gt;  &lt;p&gt;At this point, that&#39;s fine, Orlando possesses most of what it needs to contend: Dwight Howard.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bleacherreport.com/articles/399041-orlandos-secret-top-5-free-agent-wish-list&quot;&gt;Here are the free agents &lt;/a&gt;Bradley believes the Magic should go after, which comes after the article.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/5825215207429864719/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=5825215207429864719' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/5825215207429864719'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/5825215207429864719'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/06/bleacher-report-orlando-magics-secret.html' title='Bleacher Report:  Orlando Magic&#39;s Secret Top 5 Free Agent Wish List'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-6325613011689659124</id><published>2010-06-02T01:50:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-03T18:16:13.515-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Kelly Dwyer thinks Magic will be a top team next season</title><content type='html'>Here are some excerpts from a column Tuesday by Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports&#39; Ball Don&#39;t Lie:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You&#39;re the Orlando Magic. You just won 59 games, you probably should have beaten the &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/bos/;_ylt=Aj9h9nckzToN6NIiZvx_4hjYrYZ4&quot;&gt;Boston Celtics&lt;/a&gt;, you were designed to win a championship, and your best feature involves a 24-year-old, 6-11 center who can slap the top of the backboard while leading the NBA in blocks and rebounds at the same time. &lt;p&gt;Could you start things over, if you wanted to, Mr. Orlando Magic? No, you couldn&#39;t. Because you&#39;ve already spent the money. You bought the tickets, and you&#39;re on the cruise. It doesn&#39;t matter if you don&#39;t like the buffet, if you can&#39;t stand the MC, or if you forget to pack your good slacks. You&#39;re on the boat. You&#39;re going to be there, with this crew, until at least 2012.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Orlando Magic are stuck, but the Orlando Magic are stacked. I had them coming out of the East, all season. I had them offering all the answers, too quick for the Celtics, too sturdy for the Cavaliers, too good for Atlanta. I thought they were going to defend their crown, and I told anyone that would listen that the finals were to start in Florida two days from now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I was wrong, obviously. The Magic leaned too hard on people, not players, who shouldn&#39;t be leaned upon. People who cannot be trusted. Respect the hell out of &lt;span class=&quot;ysp-player&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3837/;_ylt=AlblI0.A1j7V7gtDMKCKXUHYrYZ4&quot;&gt;Jameer Nelson&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;as a person, I implore you, but at times he&#39;s too unaware of his own talent. His own gifts. The same can be said for &lt;span class=&quot;ysp-player&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3248/;_ylt=AgioRLRrMlvnf2zoquDdl3zYrYZ4&quot;&gt;Vince Carter&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;/span&gt; who could be an absolute demon in the triple-threat position in a playoff game. The exact same for &lt;span class=&quot;ysp-player&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3275/;_ylt=An0rTosaCt.EbAuirS57.P7YrYZ4&quot;&gt;Rashard Lewis&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;  All three failed Orlando, in May.&lt;/p&gt;...a team that&#39;s probably going to return just about everyone next season, and a team that should probably have the best chance (with Boston possibly fading, and &lt;span class=&quot;ysp-player&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3704/;_ylt=AsQQNitXGe5Y8I8G7j4WKeHYrYZ4&quot;&gt;LeBron James&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; going or staying or who the heck knows?) at taking the Eastern crown in 2010-11.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You bring everyone back, and you try again. The Magic are a championship-level team. If only they knew.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/The-Orlando-Magic-Gone-Till-November;_ylt=AnWjgtfPN7BnOHv7sDXljaS8vLYF?urn=nba,244939&quot;&gt;the complete column from Kelly Dwyer &lt;/a&gt;from Ball Don&#39;t Lie.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/6325613011689659124/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=6325613011689659124' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/6325613011689659124'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/6325613011689659124'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/06/kelly-dwyer-thinks-magic-will-be-top.html' title='Kelly Dwyer thinks Magic will be a top team next season'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-6594549441501208438</id><published>2010-05-31T03:11:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-03T02:58:39.645-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Magic Must Now Deal With the Future</title><content type='html'>Here is an excerpt from an article from Wil Bradley of the Bleacher Report, which details what he thinks the Magic must do in the off-season:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Orlando Magic&#39;s Game 3 nose-dive pushed the countdown button on looking forward to the upcoming summer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;In the recesses of general manager Otis Smith&#39;s mind, games four through six became an on-the-job tryout.&lt;/p&gt;            &lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;The tryouts ended Friday night, and now the off-season officially launches.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Smith made drastic roster changes last off-season. Six new names joined the Magic roster at the beginning of 2009.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The make-up of the franchise had shifted to emphasize the inside aspect, of the team&#39;s inside-out offensive approach.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic worked through some early season growing pains, to find their stride the last third of the season. The Magic continued to dominate in the post-season, sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds of the playoffs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then the Magic faced the test of defeating a championship team. Literally the same starting five that won the 2008 NBA Championship.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Orlando failed the test.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://bleacherreport.com/articles/398667-orlando-magic-must-now-deal-with-the-future&quot;&gt;the complete article&lt;/a&gt; from the Bleacher Report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;Here are the final playoff statistics for key Magic players:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;Jameer Nelson:  19.0 ppg... 47.9% FG... 39.3% 3 PT FG... 4.8 asts... 1.0 stls... 2.5 tos&lt;br /&gt;Dwight Howard:  18.1 ppg... 61.4% FG... 11.1 rebs... 3.5 blks... 3.6 to&lt;br /&gt;Vince Carter:  15.5 ppg... 40.2% FG... 23.5% 3 PT FG... 4.2 rebs... 2.3 asts&lt;br /&gt;Rashard Lewis:  12.9 ppg... 46.2% FG... 37.3% 3 PT FG... 5.6 rebs... 1.1 stls&lt;br /&gt;Mickael Pietrus:  8.4 ppg... 43.8% FG... 45.9% 3 PT FG&lt;br /&gt;J.J. Redick:  7.5 ppg... 42.3% FG... 42.9% 3 PT FG&lt;br /&gt;Matt Barnes:  6.4 ppg... 40.0 FG... 37.5% 3 PT FG... 4.7 rebs&lt;br /&gt;Marcin Gortat:  3.0 ppg... 65.4% FG... 4.4 rebs&lt;br /&gt;Brandon Bass... 2.7 ppg... 53.8% FG... 1.1 rebs&lt;br /&gt;Ryan Anderson:  2.6 ppg... 31.0% FG... 28.6% 3 PT FG... 3.4 rebs&lt;br /&gt;Jason Williams:  2.6 ppg... 34.2% FG... 25.0% 3 PT FG... 1.6 asts&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin-bottom: 0in;&quot;&gt;                                                                &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/6594549441501208438/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=6594549441501208438' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/6594549441501208438'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/6594549441501208438'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/magic-must-now-deal-with-future.html' title='Magic Must Now Deal With the Future'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-5008716156393694148</id><published>2010-05-29T04:23:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-29T04:23:56.725-04:00</updated><title type='text'>ECF Game 6:  Celtics 96, Magic 84... Celtics win series 4 -2</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/team.php?id=213&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics Logos&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/slhg02hbef3j1ov4lsnwyol5o.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=nzluyptlwczf3ks24chjx3fnr&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics logo - Celtics in green script with a cloverleaf above it&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/nzluyptlwczf3ks24chjx3fnr.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The pressure was squarely on Boston in Game 6, and they responded in resounding fashion, as the Magic had the lead for only 11 seconds in the game, 12-11 in the first. The game was not as close as the final score might indicate, as the Celtics jumped out to a 21 point second quarter lead, thanks to backup PG Nate Robinson&#39;s 13 second quarter points.  The Magic managed to cut their deficit to 13 points at halftime, 55-42, but the Celtics extended their lead to as much as 80-56 late in the third and led by a commanding 82-61 margin heading into the fourth.  The Celtics went back up by 24 points early in the fourth 85-61, but the Magic went on a 13-3 run over the next 7:01 to cut their deficit to 88-74 with 4:40 remaining.  The Celtics then scored the 8 of the next 12 points to put the game away, as the Magic scored the last 6 points in garbage time. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Congratulations to the Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics.  They truly earned it, as they beat the top two teams (in terms of record) in the NBA, Cleveland and Orlando, 4 games to 2 in each series.  The Magic made the series very interesting after falling behind 3 games to none, but their season ends in disappointment.  They will have to watch the NBA Finals this year instead of participating like last year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Magic leading scorers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dwight Howard:  28 points (11 of 17 FGs, 6 of 12 FTs), 12 rebounds, 2 steals&lt;br /&gt;Vince Carter:  17 points (6 of 15 FGs, 1 of 4 3 PT FGs), 7 rebounds&lt;br /&gt;Jameer Nelson:  11 points (5 of 14 FGs, 1 of 5 3 PT FGs), 4 assists, 5 turnovers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Overall Game Statistics&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FG%:  ORL 43.1% (31 of 72)  BOS 42.7% (32 of 75)&lt;br /&gt;3 PT FG%:  BOS 45.5% (10 of 22)  ORL 27.3% (6 of 22)&lt;br /&gt;FT%:  BOS 81.5% (22 of 27)  ORL 59.3% (16 of 27)&lt;br /&gt;REB:  BOS 45 (11 offensive)  ORL 35 (9 offensive)&lt;br /&gt;AST/TO:  BOS 19/17  ORL 14/12&lt;br /&gt;BENCH:  ORL 20  BOS 19&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other game notes and stats:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-In addition to Nate Robinson, four other Celtics scored in double figures, led by Paul Pierce with 31 points (9 of 15 FGs, 4 of 5 3 PT FGs, 9 of 10 FTs), 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals; Ray Allen added 20 points; Rajon Rondo 14 points, 6 assists, and Kevin Garnett 10 points&lt;br /&gt;-Rashard Lewis (7 points) and Matt Barnes (1 point) combined for just 8 points on 3 of 11 FGs as Barnes did not attempt a FG&lt;br /&gt;-J.J. Redick and Mickael Pietrus each scored 7 points to lead the Magic reserves&lt;br /&gt;-Glen Davis, coming off a concussion in Game 5, scored 6 points with 7 rebounds off the Celtics&#39; bench&lt;br /&gt;-After leading Boston in scoring in Game 5, Rasheed Wallace went scoreless on 0 for 5 FGs off the Celtics&#39; bench in Game 6&lt;br /&gt;-The Celtics missed 12 of 13 FGs with 2 turnovers in the 7:01 span of the fourth quarter when the Magic outscored the Celtics 13-3, but the Magic shot just 4 of 9 from the field and 4 of 8 from the free throw line with 2 turnovers during that same span&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nba.com/games/20100528/ORLBOS/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0040900306#nbaGllive&quot;&gt;the complete recap and box score&lt;/a&gt; from nba.com.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/5008716156393694148/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=5008716156393694148' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/5008716156393694148'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/5008716156393694148'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/ecf-game-6-celtics-96-magic-84-celtics.html' title='ECF Game 6:  Celtics 96, Magic 84... Celtics win series 4 -2'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-4173659941308218967</id><published>2010-05-28T04:42:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-28T04:58:26.426-04:00</updated><title type='text'>ECF Game 6 Preview</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=h2k5cbia6m8e1dbdcfxfgre84&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - A blue and silver basketball arched and followed by a trail of stars&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/h2k5cbia6m8e1dbdcfxfgre84.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=dpgefter6bc54kekjna7tgm1h&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics logo - Celtic in gold and black twirling a basketball&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/dpgefter6bc54kekjna7tgm1h.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;8:30 PM  ESPN&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=bos&quot;&gt;Boston&lt;/a&gt; center &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=3200&quot;&gt;Glen Davis&lt;/a&gt; will be a game-time decision for Friday&#39;s Game 6 against the &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=orl&quot;&gt;Orlando Magic&lt;/a&gt;, but Celtics coach Doc Rivers was encouraged by what he saw of his valuable sub Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&quot;Baby looked fine, but he still has to go through a couple of tests this evening,&quot; Rivers said of Davis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=5226966&quot;&gt;the rest of the article&lt;/a&gt; from espn.com&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010052802&quot;&gt;the complete preview of Game 6&lt;/a&gt; from Yahoo! Sports.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Celtics are &lt;a href=&quot;http:///www.sportsbook.com/livesports/indexmember.php?sportsname=basketball&quot;&gt;3 1/2 point favorites at -160 odds&lt;/a&gt; to win Game 6.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the series, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsbook.com/livesports/indexmember.php?sportsname=basketball&quot;&gt;the Celtics are a -300 favorite to win, while the Magic are a +220 underdog.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/4173659941308218967/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=4173659941308218967' title='11 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/4173659941308218967'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/4173659941308218967'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/ecf-game-6-preview.html' title='ECF Game 6 Preview'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>11</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-1829335982511268036</id><published>2010-05-27T18:00:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-27T18:02:32.691-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Boston&#39;s Perkins to play in Game 6</title><content type='html'>The NBA on Thursday rescinded one of the two technical fouls assessed to Celtics center &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=2018&quot;&gt;Kendrick Perkins&lt;/a&gt; in Boston&#39;s loss to Orlando in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals Wednesday night, meaning Perkins will be available to play in Friday&#39;s Game 6.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=5225994&quot;&gt;the rest of the article&lt;/a&gt; from espn.com.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/1829335982511268036/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=1829335982511268036' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/1829335982511268036'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/1829335982511268036'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/bostons-perkins-to-play-in-game-6.html' title='Boston&#39;s Perkins to play in Game 6'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-612831210785254836</id><published>2010-05-27T04:23:00.006-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-27T17:57:42.102-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Game 5 ECF:  Magic 113, Celtics 92... Celtics lead the series 3-2</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=h2k5cbia6m8e1dbdcfxfgre84&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - A blue and silver basketball arched and followed by a trail of stars&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/h2k5cbia6m8e1dbdcfxfgre84.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=mhi39v4xpbbimfry2fe57ebh2&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - Magic in blue with silver and black trim, worn on Orlando Magic home uniforms&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/mhi39v4xpbbimfry2fe57ebh2.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Orlando Magic are now halfway to making NBA history, thanks to a dominating effort that saw them break the game open in the fourth quarter.  Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson led the way again for the Magic, with Howard scoring 21 points along with 10 rebounds and 5 blocks; Nelson led all scorers with 24 points along with 5 assists and 5 rebounds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Gregg Doyel of cbssports.com writes how&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13445115/dirty-no-way-enraged-howard-returns-physical-favor-to-celtics?tag=coverlist_active;coverlist_footer&quot;&gt; the physical play of Dwight Howard &lt;/a&gt;changed the game drastically in the Magic&#39;s favor.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Chris Sheridan of espn.com writes&lt;a href=&quot;http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100526/daily-dime&quot;&gt; that it&#39;s a whole new series now.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes that &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ao7lRaGAlXsbtnXj.tkq.h.8vLYF?slug=aw-celticsmagic052710&quot;&gt;the tone of the series has changed dramatically&lt;/a&gt; because Boston is battered, beleaguered, and no longer playing peerless ball.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Boston&#39;s Kendrick Perkins was hit &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=5224200&quot;&gt;with two technical fouls in the first half,&lt;/a&gt; and will be suspended for Game 6 unless one of the technicals is rescinded.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Boston&#39;s Glen &quot;Big Baby&quot; Davis &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=5224374&quot;&gt;suffered a concussion &lt;/a&gt;when hit with an accidental elbow from Howard late in the third quarter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nba.com/games/20100526/BOSORL/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0040900305#nbaGllive&quot;&gt;the complete recap and box score&lt;/a&gt; from nba.com.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=h2k5cbia6m8e1dbdcfxfgre84&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - A blue and silver basketball arched and followed by a trail of stars&quot;&gt; &lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/612831210785254836/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=612831210785254836' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/612831210785254836'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/612831210785254836'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/game-5-ecf-magic.html' title='Game 5 ECF:  Magic 113, Celtics 92... Celtics lead the series 3-2'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-5526159193730909525</id><published>2010-05-26T14:27:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-27T05:03:00.486-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Viral infection hampering Lewis</title><content type='html'>&quot;Overall it effects you,&quot; Lewis said after Orlando&#39;s shootaround Wednesday. &quot;I&#39;ve been throwing up. I haven&#39;t been at full strength. I&#39;ve been feeling weak, my legs been feeling weak. I find myself getting tired very fast in the first quarter. You know, when you can&#39;t hold food down you have no energy in your body to go out there and perform.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/news/story?id=5222650&quot;&gt;the complete article&lt;/a&gt; from espn.com.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/5526159193730909525/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=5526159193730909525' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/5526159193730909525'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/5526159193730909525'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/viral-infection-hampering-lewis.html' title='Viral infection hampering Lewis'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-2827096078461346672</id><published>2010-05-26T03:44:00.005-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-27T05:03:14.749-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Game 4 ECF Preview</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=sh7ctp8aay1zud5dn6v7gqohh&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics logo - BOSTON in black letters, arched on green - worn on the Boston Celtics alternate jersey&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/sh7ctp8aay1zud5dn6v7gqohh.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href=&quot;http://sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=mhi39v4xpbbimfry2fe57ebh2&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - Magic in blue with silver and black trim, worn on Orlando Magic home uniforms&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/mhi39v4xpbbimfry2fe57ebh2.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;8:30 PM  ESPN&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Columnist Ian Thomsen of SI.com details how &lt;a href=&quot;http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/ian_thomsen/05/25/celtics.magic.game4/index.html?xid=cbssports&quot;&gt;Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson stepped up&lt;/a&gt; for the Magic in Game 4.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Adrian Wojnarowski believes&lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ah3Fglz0zaFwmZi6EqBbRDC8vLYF?slug=aw-magicceltics052510&quot;&gt; the Magic still have no chance&lt;/a&gt; of winning this series.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010052619&quot;&gt;the complete preview&lt;/a&gt; from Yahoo! Sports.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsbook.com/livesports/indexmember.php?sportsname=basketball&quot;&gt;4 point favorites at -175 odds.&lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/2827096078461346672/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=2827096078461346672' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/2827096078461346672'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/2827096078461346672'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/game-4-ecf-preview_26.html' title='Game 4 ECF Preview'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-602447840265427272</id><published>2010-05-25T02:38:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-26T04:05:40.923-04:00</updated><title type='text'>ECF Game 4:  Magic 96, Celtics 92  OT... Celtics lead series 3-1</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=2v0v25nl7f2rxro67eflrz0fu&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - Orlando in white with silver and black trim on blue, worn on Orlando Magic road uniforms&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/2v0v25nl7f2rxro67eflrz0fu.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Orlando Magic stave off elimination in a tense, exciting game, thanks to terrific efforts from Dwight Howard (32 points, 16 rebounds, 4 blocks) and Jameer Nelson (23 points, 9 assists, including two clutch threes in OT).  The Magic were able to overcome 13 missed free throws and 19 turnovers, along with a 31 point effort from Boston&#39;s Paul Pierce.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic finally got off to a good start, as the Celtics&#39; had a brief lead of 5-4 before the Magic turned it on, leading by as much as 23-15 in the opening quarter.  The Celtics went on a 7-1 run to cut the Magic lead to 24-22, but the Magic went into the second quarter with a 31-26 lead.  The Magic maintained their lead in the second quarter, leading by as much as 42-32, but the Celtics made the game close at the half, trailing just 51-47.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic led by as many as 8 points early in the third, but Boston cut the Magic lead to 56-55 with 8:06 remaining.  The Magic were able to maintain their slim lead the rest of the quarter, until Ray Allen&#39;s 2 free throws in the final minute made the score 68-67 Boston going into the fourth.  The Magic took the lead back right away to open the fourth, going ahead 74-70.  The Celtics countered with a 6-0 run to lead 76-74 with 5:33 remaining.  The Magic then went on a 11-2 run over the next 3:09 to seemingly take control of the game 85-78 with 2:24 remaining.  A Ray Allen three and two Paul Pierce buckets along with a free throw tied the game at 86 with 1:16 remaining.  There would be no more scoring the final 1:16, as Nelson missed a shot with 17.8 seconds remaining, and Boston could not even get a shot off in their final possession.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Both teams started slow in the OT, as the Magic missed a field goal attempt, two free throws, and committed two turnovers in the first two minutes of the OT, while the Celtics missed all  four shots during that span.  Nelson then made two clutch three pointers in 43 seconds, with the first three pointer banking in.  Two Allen three pointers got the Celtics to within 94-92 with 1:13 remaining, but the Celtics missed their final three shots and committed a turnover while Howard&#39;s layup for the Magic with 52.7 seconds remaining provided the final margin of victory.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Magic leading scorers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dwight Howard:  32 points (13 of 19 FGs, 6 of 14 FTs), 16 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 turnovers&lt;br /&gt;Jameer Nelson:  23 points (7 of 14 FGs, 3 of 6 3 PT FGs), 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 6 turnovers&lt;br /&gt;Rashard Lewis:  13 points (4 of 10 FGs, 2 of 3 3 PT FGs), 5 rebounds, 2 steals&lt;br /&gt;J.J. Redick:  12 points (3 of 5 3 PT FGs), 4 turnovers&lt;br /&gt;Matt Barnes:  10 points (4 of 8 FGs, 2 of 6 3 PT FGs), 7 rebounds&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Overall Game Statistics&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FG%:  ORL 44.6% (33 of 74)  BOS 42.1% (32 of 76)&lt;br /&gt;3 PT FG%:  ORL 35.7% (10 of 28)  BOS 27.8% (5 of 18)&lt;br /&gt;FT%:  BOS 76.7% (23 of 30)  ORL 60.6% (20 of 33)&lt;br /&gt;REB:  BOS 47 (10 offensive)  ORL 43 (11 offensive)&lt;br /&gt;AST/TO:  BOS 19/16  ORL 19/19&lt;br /&gt;BENCH:  ORL 15  BOS 12&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other game notes and stats:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Three Celtics scored in double figures, led by Pierce&#39;s 32 points, but shot just 11 of 25 FGs,  including 0 for 6 on threes; Ray Allen scored 22 points and shot 5 of 7 from long range, and Kevin Garnett added 14 points and 12 rebounds, but shot just 5 of 12&lt;br /&gt;-Rajon Rondo of the Celtics was held to 9 points on 3 of 10 shooting and 8 assists; Glen Davis added 6 points and 7 rebounds off the bench, while Rasheed Wallace was held to 4 points on 2 of 7 shooting&lt;br /&gt;-The Magic&#39;s Vince Carter scored just 3 points on 1 of 9 FGs, including 0 for 3 on threes&lt;br /&gt;-Carter and Mickael Pietrus combined to shoot 1 of 13, including 0 for 6 on threes&lt;br /&gt;-The &quot;Big Three&quot; of the Celtics (Pierce, Allen, and Garnett) scored 68 of the Celtics&#39; 93 points&lt;br /&gt;-The Celtics shot just 2 of 10 in the OT with 1 turnover, while the Magic shot 4 of 7 despite 4 OT turnovers and 3 missed free throws&lt;br /&gt;-Brandon Bass finally saw action as the primary PF backup for the Magic, playing 11 minutes with 3 points and 2 rebounds, and also altered a Celtics&#39; shot&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nba.com/games/20100524/ORLBOS/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0040900304#nbaGllive&quot;&gt;the complete recap and box score&lt;/a&gt; from nba.com.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/602447840265427272/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=602447840265427272' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/602447840265427272'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/602447840265427272'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/ecf-game-4-magic-96-celtics-92-ot.html' title='ECF Game 4:  Magic 96, Celtics 92  OT... Celtics lead series 3-1'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-6433362795530696575</id><published>2010-05-24T04:58:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-24T05:13:11.631-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Game 4 ECF Preview</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=2v0v25nl7f2rxro67eflrz0fu&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - Orlando in white with silver and black trim on blue, worn on Orlando Magic road uniforms&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/2v0v25nl7f2rxro67eflrz0fu.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=efanypa3xc41fh4f0w2pgy7fp&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics logo - Celtics and clover in white on a green circle&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/efanypa3xc41fh4f0w2pgy7fp.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;8:30 PM ESPN&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic have been getting roasted in the national media for their Game 3 performance, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13428484/inside-and-out-boston-outplays-heartless-orlando-in-game-3?tag=headlines;nba&quot;&gt;this column by Mike Freeman of cbssports.com&lt;/a&gt; being an example.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;John Hollinger of espn.com details &lt;a href=&quot;http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100522/daily-dime&quot;&gt;how the Celtics have been able to frustrate the Magic,&lt;/a&gt; and the outstanding play of Boston&#39;s Rajon Rondo.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010052402&quot;&gt;the complete Game 4 preview&lt;/a&gt; from Yahoo! Sports.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Celtics are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsbook.com/livesports/indexmember.php&quot;&gt;7 point favorites at -350 odds&lt;/a&gt; to win Game 4.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=2v0v25nl7f2rxro67eflrz0fu&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - Orlando in white with silver and black trim on blue, worn on Orlando Magic road uniforms&quot;&gt; &lt;/a&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/6433362795530696575/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=6433362795530696575' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/6433362795530696575'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/6433362795530696575'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/game-4-ecf-preview.html' title='Game 4 ECF Preview'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-4796661980247703759</id><published>2010-05-23T01:47:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-23T01:47:38.627-04:00</updated><title type='text'>ECF Game 3:  Celtics 94, Magic 71... Boston leads series 3-0</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=nzluyptlwczf3ks24chjx3fnr&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics logo - Celtics in green script with a cloverleaf above it&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/nzluyptlwczf3ks24chjx3fnr.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Boston dominated every facet of the game from start to finish as the Orlando Magic turned in an inexplicably abysmal performance in a game they had to win if they had any hopes of advancing to the NBA Finals; instead, the game was over after the third quarter as the Celtics had a staggering 28 point lead heading into the fourth.  Six Celtics players scored between 10 and 17 points.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Boston jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, as the Magic did not score their first points until they were 3:43 into the game.  The Magic then scored the next six points to make it 7-6, as it appeared they weathered the early Boston storm.  The Celtics then surged ahead with a 14-0 run to go ahead 21-6, and had a solid 27-12 lead going into the second quarter, as the Magic shot a pitiful 4 of 17 in the first.  The Celtics kept adding onto their lead in the second, with their largest lead of the half coming at 43-19 with 6:39 remaining.  The Magic went on a brief 8-0 run to cut their deficit to 16 points and give their fans hope they had a big comeback left in them, but the Celtics quickly built their lead back up to 50-29.  The Magic scored the last 5 points of the half, but still trailed big 51-34. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The closest the Magic came in the second half was when Rashard Lewis scored the first basket of the third quarter to make it 51-36.  The Celtics then scored 5 points in a row to move their lead back up to 20 points, and led 62-43 halfway through the third.  That was the last time the Magic were within 20 points as the Celtics outscored the Magic 13-4 the final six minutes of the third quarter and led by a stunning 75-47 going into the fourth.  The Celtic&#39;s largest lead of the game was 85-53 with 8:13 remaining.  Needless to say, the rest of the fourth quarter was garbage time for both teams, as the Magic wrapped up their worst offensive performance of the season on J.J. Redick&#39;s three pointer on their final possession.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Magic leading scorers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jameer Nelson:  15 points (5 of 14 FGs, 3 of 9 3 PT FGs), 4 rebounds, 4 turnovers&lt;br /&gt;Vince Carter:  15 points (5 of 12 FGs, 1 of 5 3 PT FGs), 5 rebounds, 2 steals&lt;br /&gt;Mickael Pietrus (bench):  12 points (3 of 6 FGs, 2 of 5 3 PT FGs)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Overall Game Statistics&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FG%:  BOS 46.6% (34 of 73)  ORL 36.9% (24 of 65)&lt;br /&gt;3 PT FG%:  BOS 54.5% (6 of 11)  ORL 26.7% (8 of 30)&lt;br /&gt;FT%:  ORL 83.3% (15 of 18)  BOS 71.4% (20 of 28)&lt;br /&gt;REB:  BOS 43 (7 offensive)  ORL 36 (3 offensive)&lt;br /&gt;AST/TO:  BOS 23/9  ORL 10/17&lt;br /&gt;BENCH:  BOS 38  ORL 28&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other game notes and stats:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Reserve Glen Davis led Boston with 17 points and 6 rebounds; Paul Pierce added 15 points; 9 rebounds, Ray Allen 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists; Rajon Rondo 11 points, 12 assists, 4 steals; Kevin Garnett 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals; and reserve Rasheed Wallace 10 points, 4 rebounds&lt;br /&gt;-The Magic starting frontline of Dwight Howard (7 points on 3 of 10 FGs), Rashard Lewis (4 points on 2 of 8 FGs), and Matt Barnes (2 points on 1 of 2 shooting) combined to score 13 points on 6 of 20 FGs with 13 rebounds&lt;br /&gt;-The Celtics&#39; starting frontline combined to score 31 points on 13 of 25 FGs with 21 rebounds and 5 steals&lt;br /&gt;-Nelson and Carter combined to shoot 10 of 26 FGs&lt;br /&gt;-Carter and Lewis combined to shoot 1 of 9 on three pointers&lt;br /&gt;-Howard went to the free throw line just four times, making one&lt;br /&gt;-Howard led the Magic with 7 rebounds and 3 blocks; reserve Marcin Gortat grabbed 6 boards&lt;br /&gt;-Three different Magic players (Barnes, Carter, Redick) had 2 assists to lead the team&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Game 4 will be Monday night in Boston, as the Magic try and avoid the sweep and will attempt to become the first NBA team to overcome a three games to none deficit in games in the playoffs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nba.com/games/20100522/ORLBOS/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0040900303#nbaGllive&quot;&gt;the complete recap and box score&lt;/a&gt; from nba.com.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/4796661980247703759/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=4796661980247703759' title='8 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/4796661980247703759'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/4796661980247703759'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/ecf-game-3-celtics-94-magic-71-boston.html' title='ECF Game 3:  Celtics 94, Magic 71... Boston leads series 3-0'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-3562010218763373660</id><published>2010-05-22T04:57:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-22T05:12:31.357-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Game 3 ECF Preview</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=2v0v25nl7f2rxro67eflrz0fu&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - Orlando in white with silver and black trim on blue, worn on Orlando Magic road uniforms&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/2v0v25nl7f2rxro67eflrz0fu.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=e82dmdsklooo1fayutu4fcer9&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics logo - CELTICS in green letters, arched - worn on the Boston Celtics home jersey&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/e82dmdsklooo1fayutu4fcer9.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=2v0v25nl7f2rxro67eflrz0fu&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - Orlando in white with silver and black trim on blue, worn on Orlando Magic road uniforms&quot;&gt; &lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;8:30 ESPN&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is an excerpt from the Yahoo! Sports preview:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“We’ve won there before, and there’s no reason we can’t do it again,” forward &lt;span class=&quot;ysp-player&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3275/;_ylt=Am9Up6tBp.BSR.HMmW.mxiaPvLYF&quot;&gt;Rashard Lewis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;text-decoration: underline;&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;said Friday as the Magic prepared for Game 3. “Boston came to us and beat us twice on our home court, so it’s happened before. Why can’t we do it? Why can’t it happen again?”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Orlando was one of two teams—Atlanta was the other—to win twice in Boston this year. The Magic also remember coming to town in last year’s playoffs, when they beat Boston twice—including the Celtics’ first-ever loss at home in a seventh game—to advance to the conference finals. &lt;p&gt;“Last year, Boston never lost a Game 7 on their home floor. We went in and beat them,” Lewis said. “It can happen.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010052202&quot;&gt;the complete preview&lt;/a&gt; from Yahoo! Sports.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Celtics are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsbook.com/livesports/indexmember.php&quot;&gt;3 1/2 point favorites at -170 odds&lt;/a&gt; to win Game 3.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For the series, the Celtics &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsbook.com/livesports/indexmember.php&quot;&gt;are -500 odds to win,&lt;/a&gt; while the Magic are +375 underdogs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/3562010218763373660/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=3562010218763373660' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/3562010218763373660'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/3562010218763373660'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/game-3-ecf-preview.html' title='Game 3 ECF Preview'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-4435210111185369063</id><published>2010-05-21T05:07:00.005-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-22T06:17:52.975-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Denton:  Magic remain confident</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=qwvc6o2qzf2i75ygfibl1raj3&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - Orlando Magic in blue italics&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/qwvc6o2qzf2i75ygfibl1raj3.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;John Denton writes about the Magic on &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nba.com/magic&quot;&gt;the official team website.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is some of what he had to write after the Magic&#39;s Game 2 loss:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The second-seeded Magic, winners of 59 regular-season games and victors in the first eight games of the postseason, vowed that these Eastern Conference Finals are far from over. But before they can talk of getting back in the series they must first figure out how to win a game – and do so at Boston’s TD Garden on Saturday night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(Dwight) Howard brazenly said the Magic are far from dead in this series. And he told his teammates as much in the locker room on Wednesday, stressing that total belief was needed in order for the Magic to pull off a stunning turnaround.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nba.com/magic/news/denton_feature_051910.html&quot;&gt;the complete article&lt;/a&gt; from Denton.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/4435210111185369063/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=4435210111185369063' title='9 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/4435210111185369063'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/4435210111185369063'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/denton-magic-remain-confident.html' title='Denton:  Magic remain confident'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>9</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-3453263063919352363</id><published>2010-05-20T01:34:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-21T05:07:30.576-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Reactions on the Magic/Celtics series so far from the internet</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=qde7kytl4kafy9yvl1vowft7p&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics logo - Celtics in white script with a cloverleaf above it on green&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/qde7kytl4kafy9yvl1vowft7p.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=mhi39v4xpbbimfry2fe57ebh2&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic logo - Magic in blue with silver and black trim, worn on Orlando Magic home uniforms&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/mhi39v4xpbbimfry2fe57ebh2.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Henry Abbott of espn.com writes that &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2010/news/story?id=5202118&quot;&gt;Dwight Howard won&#39;t be suspended for Game 3 &lt;/a&gt;for his flagrant foul on Paul Pierce.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;John Hollinger of espn.con writes that &lt;a href=&quot;http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100518/daily-dime&quot;&gt;the Celtics are proving you can turn it on and off.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the same thread, Nick Friedell of ESPN Chicago writes about &lt;a href=&quot;http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-100518/daily-dime&quot;&gt;the Magic&#39;s critical miscues in the final minute &lt;/a&gt;of Game 2.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;CBSSports.com columnist Gregg Doyel, who was very critical of Dwight Howard in Game 1, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13409682/cant-hang-this-loss-on-howard-but-start-pointing-at-everyone-else?tag=coverlist_active;coverlist_footer&quot;&gt;praises Howard for his Game 2 performance, &lt;/a&gt;but criticizes the other Magic players.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;David Whitley of fanhouse.com writes about how&lt;a href=&quot;http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/05/19/magic-moments-slipping-away-from-carter-and-co/&quot;&gt; the Celtics are doing the little things that get you the win, while the Magic are not.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes that&lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=An2hRv7fw_JwILVJO01OX4m8vLYF?slug=aw-celticsmagic051810&quot;&gt; the Magic are in very deep trouble.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the other hand, Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don&#39;t Lie from Yahoo! Sports &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Behind-the-Box-Score-where-Doc-is-getting-throu;_ylt=Ao79WwEmm.MI33sRGVi6hXfTjdIF?urn=nba,242100&quot;&gt;writes how the Celtics have executed their game plan to perfection, &lt;/a&gt;but not to be surprised if the Magic win Games 3 and 4 in Boston.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/3453263063919352363/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=3453263063919352363' title='6 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/3453263063919352363'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/3453263063919352363'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/reactions-on-magicceltics-series-so-far.html' title='Reactions on the Magic/Celtics series so far from the internet'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>6</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-5766380298796527154</id><published>2010-05-19T04:10:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-20T16:10:26.193-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Game 2 ECF:  Celtics 95, Magic 92... Celtics lead series 2-0</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/team.php?id=213&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics Logos&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/slhg02hbef3j1ov4lsnwyol5o.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Boston has taken control of the series thanks to 28 points from SF Paul Pierce and 25 points and 8 assists from PG Rajon Rondo.  The Magic, led by Dwight Howard&#39;s 30 points, trailed most of the game as another frantic fourth quarter comeback attempt fell just short.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic got out to their first lead of the series early in the first quarter, leading 5-4 and 10-9, before Boston went on a 14-2 run to take a 23-12 lead with 4:43 remaining.  The Magic then went on a 16-2 surge, sparked by J.J. Redick scoring 9 of those points, to take a 28-25 lead before the Celtics cut the Magic lead to 28-27 after one.  The second quarter was close throughout, as the Celtics&#39; largest lead of the quarter coming at 41-36 and 53-48, but the Magic were able to close their deficit to 53-51 at the half.  Dwight Howard was called for a Flagrant 1 foul after fouling Paul Pierce hard with 4:16 remaining in the half.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic took the lead briefly in the third at 59-57, but then went 6:18 without a field goal and just one free throw as the Celtics went on a 13-1 run for their largest lead of the quarter at 70-60 with 4:49 left in the third.  The Magic cut their deficit to single digits after three quarters 78-70.  Rasheed Wallace&#39;s three pointer to open the fourth gave the Celtics their largest lead of the game at 81-70.  The Magic went on a 13-4 run to cut their deficit to 85-83 with 6:57 remaining.  The Magic took their last lead of the game 90-89 on a Vince Carter jumper with&lt;br /&gt;3:36 remaining, before the Celtics took the lead back for good 91-90.  Redick was then called for a questionable offensive foul on the ensuing possession, with the Celtics then going ahead 93-90.  A Jameer Nelson driving layup with 55.8 seconds remaining cut the Boston lead to 93-92, then two Pierce free throws gave Boston a 95-92 lead with 34.7 seconds remaining.  Carter was fouled with 31.4 seconds left, but missed both free throws.  Garnett missed a jumper with 8.9 seconds left, with Redick getting the rebound but advancing the ball instead of calling timeout right away, meaning the Magic had to inbound the ball at halfcourt instead of closer to their basket.  A 35 foot running three pointer by Nelson barely grazed the outside of the net as time ran out on what may have been the last game ever at Amway Arena.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Magic leading scorers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dwight Howard:  30 points (9 of 13 FGs, 12 of 17 FTs), 8 rebounds&lt;br /&gt;Vince Carter:  16 points (5 of 15 FGs, 5 of 7 FTs), 3 steals&lt;br /&gt;J.J. Redick (bench):  16 points (3 of 9 FGs, 2 of 3 3 PGs, 8 of 8 FTs), 5 rebounds, 4 assists&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Overall Game Stats&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FG%:  BOS 45.9% (34 of 74)  ORL 39.4% (28 of 71)&lt;br /&gt;3 PT FG%:  ORL 38.9% (7 of 18)  BOS 33.3% (5 of 15)&lt;br /&gt;FT%:  BOS 78.6% (22 of 28)  ORL 76.3% (29 of 38)&lt;br /&gt;REB:  BOS 38 (9 offensive)  ORL 36 (10 offensive)&lt;br /&gt;AST/TO:  BOS 20/15  ORL 18/14&lt;br /&gt;BENCH:  ORL 26  BOS 18&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other game notes and stats:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-Four Celtics scored in double figures, led by Pierce&#39;s 28 points on 8 of 16 FGs and 9 of 11 FTs along with 5 rebounds and 5 assists before fouling out late; Rondo scored 25 points on 10 of 16 FGs, and 5 of 6 FTs along with 8 assists; Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins each added 10 points&lt;br /&gt;-The Celtics&#39; Ray Allen was held to 4 points on 1 of 6 shooting&lt;br /&gt;-Glen Davis led the Celtics&#39; bench with 8 points and 6 rebounds&lt;br /&gt;-Nelson (9 points), Rashard Lewis (5 points) and Matt Barnes (6 points) combined to score 20 points on 8 of 27 FGs, including 2 of 8 on threes for the Magic&lt;br /&gt;-Other than Howard and Marcin Gortat (1 of 1 FGs), the seven other Magic players combined to shoot 18 of 57 from the field and no one else shot 50% or better&lt;br /&gt;-Lewis attempted just 6 FGs in 41 minutes&lt;br /&gt;-Lewis, Nelson, and Redick each had 4 assists&lt;br /&gt;-The Celtics were called for 29 team fouls, with Pierce and Perkins fouling out, while the Magic were called for 25 team fouls with Howard and Carter with 4 fouls apiece&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nba.com/games/20100518/BOSORL/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0040900302#nbaGllive&quot;&gt;the complete recap and box score&lt;/a&gt; from nba.com.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/5766380298796527154/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=5766380298796527154' title='17 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/5766380298796527154'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/5766380298796527154'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/game-2-ecf-celtics-95-magic-92-celtics.html' title='Game 2 ECF:  Celtics 95, Magic 92... Celtics lead series 2-0'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>17</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-586008831195223162</id><published>2010-05-18T05:28:00.005-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-20T16:13:41.077-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Game 2 ECF Preview</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/team.php?id=213&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics Logos&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/slhg02hbef3j1ov4lsnwyol5o.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;           &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/team.php?id=217&quot; title=&quot;Orlando Magic Logos&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/217/thumbs/th2p1ysxo6xd5i4er1vomjghe.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;8:30 PM  ESPN&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;From the Orlando Magic press release:&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Verdana;&quot;&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Orlando Magic will try to utilize their Game 1 defeat to the Boston Celtics as a wake-up call and a reason to exert even more effort at practice as they gear up for Game 2, which tips off on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.&lt;/p&gt;                         &lt;p&gt;Game 1 obviously didn’t go as planned for the Magic, but as this team has proven all season long, they are driven to&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://media1.mm.ticketmaster.com/orlando%20magic/email/ECFINALS_CARTER.JPG&quot; align=&quot;right&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;377&quot; width=&quot;250&quot; /&gt; bounce back from adversity. &lt;/p&gt;                         &lt;p&gt;Sunday’s loss was the first defeat for Orlando since April 2. It had won 14 consecutive games, including an 8-0 start to the postseason. &lt;/p&gt;                         &lt;p&gt;“Our team has responded to everything,” Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Our guys aren&#39;t going to fall apart.”&lt;/p&gt;                         &lt;p&gt;The best news from Game 1 was that the Magic battled back from a 20-point deficit, 17 in the fourth quarter, to close within two in the final 10 seconds. They showed tremendous determination and resilience, but Boston managed to hit its free throws to seal the victory.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;“It&#39;s going to be a battle,” said Vince Carter, who led Orlando with 23 points. “It’s going to be a war.”&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;                        The outcome of this series may come down to how well Dwight Howard, the league’s best defensive player, performs. The four-time All-Star didn’t find his offensive rhythm in Game 1, finishing with 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting from the field. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Verdana;&quot;&gt;                         &lt;p&gt;“I just have to come back in Game 2 and not try to force anything,” Howard said.  “But at the same time just still be aggressive.”&lt;/p&gt;                         &lt;p&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://media1.mm.ticketmaster.com/orlando%20magic/email/ECFINALS_NELSON.JPG&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;300&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;Many NBA critics and spectators are already blaming Orlando’s meager shooting performance (5-of-22 from 3-point range) on the extended layoff. While the Celtics just came off an exhilarating series triumph over the top-seeded Cavaliers on the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Magic earned rest for their dominant performance against the Hawks. &lt;/p&gt;                         &lt;p&gt;But, Orlando doesn’t think rust had anything to do with it. &lt;/p&gt;                         &lt;p&gt;“We were just anxious,” D12 said. “I think they did a lot of good things on defense.”&lt;/p&gt;                         &lt;p&gt;Game 2 now sets up to be the most important contest of the year for the Magic. It’s extremely rare for teams, especially when they started the series at home, to overcome a 2-0 deficit and advance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family:Verdana;&quot;&gt;There is no doubt that Van Gundy and the rest of the coaching staff will have the Magic prepared to even up the series before heading to Boston for Games 3 and 4. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010051819&quot;&gt;the complete preview&lt;/a&gt; from Yahoo! Sports.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports &lt;a href=&quot;http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AqzcPowUCjJHSm7arCQ6.mO8vLYF?slug=aw-celticshoward051610&quot;&gt;details in his column&lt;/a&gt; about how tough the Boston defense really was in Game 1.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13404426/baby-steps-dwights-crying-must-stop-or-magic-will-weep?tag=headlines;nba&quot;&gt;a column from cbssports.com columnist Gregg Doyel&lt;/a&gt; that is very harsh on the Magic&#39;s Dwight Howard.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bleacher Report writer Adam Davis writes&lt;a href=&quot;http://bleacherreport.com/articles/393065-magic-show-their-toughness-in-game-1-loss&quot;&gt; how the Magic showed their toughness&lt;/a&gt; in the Game 1 loss.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportsbook.com/livesports/indexmember.php&quot;&gt;7 point favorites at -330 odds&lt;/a&gt; to win Game 2.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/586008831195223162/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=586008831195223162' title='8 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/586008831195223162'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/586008831195223162'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/game-2-ecf-preview.html' title='Game 2 ECF Preview'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>8</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20583101.post-9205088879180988250</id><published>2010-05-16T23:21:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2010-05-20T16:15:06.897-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Game 1 ECF:  Celtics 92, Magic 88... Celtics lead series 1-0</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/logo.php?id=e94039khfw4uof26gv12eazjm&quot; title=&quot;Boston Celtics logo - A green cloverleaf inside a white circle with CELTICS above on green&quot;&gt;&lt;img class=&quot;thumb&quot; src=&quot;http://www.sportslogos.net/images/logos/6/213/thumbs/e94039khfw4uof26gv12eazjm.gif&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Orlando Magic received a wakeup call Sunday afternoon as Boston led from start to finish and dominated the first three quarters, leading by as much as 20 points in the third quarter.  The Celtics still led by 13 points with 5 1/2 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before a frantic  Magic rally pulled them as close as 2 points in the final seconds, but the Celtics were able to answer and hold off the Magic.  Ray Allen led all scorers with 25 points while Vince Carter led the Magic with 23 points.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic had quite possibly their worst quarter of the season in the first quarter, as they shot just 4 of 20, including 0 for 3 from long range, and committed 4 turnovers.  The Celtics were held to under 40% shooting, though, in the first but led 22-14 going into the second thanks to the ineptness of the Magic.  The Celtics extended their lead in the second to as much as 31-16 and were able to maintain a double digit lead for most of the quarter.  The Magic were able to cut their deficit to single digits 41-32 at the half.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic started quickly in the second half, cutting the Boston lead to 43-40 thanks to 8 points in two minutes by Jameer Nelson.  It was 45-42 Boston when the Celtics went on a 20-3 tear in 5:24 to extend their lead to 65-45 with 3:49 remaining in the third quarter.  The Celtics went into the fourth quarter with a seemingly comfortable 74-58 lead.  The Celtics led by as much as 77-60 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game, and 88-75 with 5:34 remaining.  The Celtics then went 5:22 without scoring as the Magic scored 10 points in a row to cut their deficit to 88-85 before Paul Pierce&#39;s two free throws with 12.9 seconds remaining.  The Magic, trailing 90-85, then got a three point play the hard way as Vince Carter was fouled with 9.4 seconds remaining, made the first free throw, purposely missed the second with Nelson sneaking in for the tip to cut the Celtics&#39; lead to 90-88 with 8.4 seconds remaining.  Two Ray Allen free throws with 6.1 seconds remaining made it a two-possession game and effectively ended the Magic comeback attempt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Magic leading scorers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Vince Carter:  23 points (9 of 18 FGs, 5 of 6 FTs), 5 rebounds&lt;br /&gt;Jameer Nelson:  20 points (8 of 18 FGs, 2 of 7 3 PT FGs), 9 rebounds&lt;br /&gt;Dwight Howard:  13 points (3 of 10 FGs, 7 of 12 FTs), 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, 7 turnovers&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Overall Game Statistics&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;FG%:  BOS 44.6% (33 of 74)  ORL 41.6% (32 of 77)&lt;br /&gt;3 PT FG%:  BOS 42.9% (6 of 14)  ORL 22.7% (5 of 22)&lt;br /&gt;FT%:  BOS 76.9% (20 of 26)  ORL 73.1% (19 of 26)&lt;br /&gt;REB:  ORL 45 (15 offensive)  BOS 38 (7 offensive)&lt;br /&gt;AST/TO:  BOS 21/16  ORL 10/18&lt;br /&gt;BENCH:  BOS 25  ORL 24&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other game notes and stats:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;-The Celtics had three players in double figures, led by Ray Allen with 25 points on 8 of 16 shooting with 7 rebounds; Paul Pierce added 22 points on just 8 shots, shooting 6 for 8, including 2 of 3 on threes, and 8 of 10 from the free throw line with 9 rebounds; and Rasheed Wallace added 13 points off the bench&lt;br /&gt;-The Celtics&#39; Kevin Garnett added 8 points on just 4 of 14 shooting, but grabbed 11 rebounds, and PG Rajon Rondo scored 8 points with 8 assists&lt;br /&gt;-J.J. Redick scored 9 points off the Magic bench to lead the reserves, while Marcin Gortat scored 6 points, all in the first half along with 5 rebounds&lt;br /&gt;-The Magic starting frontcourt were held to a combined 6 of 24 shooting (Lewis and Barnes 3 of 14), including 0 for 7 on threes, for 21 points; The Celtics&#39; starting frontcourt combined for 34 points&lt;br /&gt;-Lewis (o for 6) and Magic reserve Mickael Pietrus (1 for 4) combined to shoot 1 for 10 on three pointers&lt;br /&gt;-Matt Barnes, who had a sore back coming into the game, played just 15 1/2 minutes and scored just 2 points along with 3 rebounds&lt;br /&gt;-During the Celtics&#39; 20-3 run during the third quarter, the Magic were 1 of 7 on FGs, 1 of 4 on FTs with 4 turnovers during this span, while the Celtics shot 7 of 8 FGs and 4 of 4 on FTs&lt;br /&gt;-When the Celtics went 5:22 without scoring late in the fourth quarter, they shot 0 for 5 FGs and 0 for 2 FTs with 3 turnovers, but the Magic shot just 4 of 10 during that span with 2 of 2 FTs&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Magic will try and pull even in the series Tuesday night.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.nba.com/games/20100516/BOSORL/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0040900301#nbaGllive&quot;&gt;the complete recap and box score&lt;/a&gt; from nba.com.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Here is &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13400355?tag=coverlist;coverlist_footer&quot;&gt;an article from cbssports.com &lt;/a&gt;detailing how rusty the Magic were for much of Game 1, and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy&#39;s take on the game.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/feeds/9205088879180988250/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=20583101&amp;postID=9205088879180988250' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/9205088879180988250'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/20583101/posts/default/9205088879180988250'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://orlandosmagic.blogspot.com/2010/05/game-1-ecf-celtics-92-magic-88-celtics.html' title='Game 1 ECF:  Celtics 92, Magic 88... Celtics lead series 1-0'/><author><name>Mike from Illinois</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07440241388680945896</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry></feed>

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