SB Nation - Dwight Howard

RECAP: Warriors 109 Wizards 118 - GSoM Holiday Party 2!

R Dizzle — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:33:13 -0000

Betcha didn't know Monta was a professional wrestler too!

Open Thread | Wizards vs Warriors boxscore | Warriors Web Links

Hooray another loss.

Hooray Gilbert came in and showed us why it was his arena.

Hooray we suck.

I'm not even going to justify that game.

Instead I'll give you guys another story!

Final - 12.18.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
Washington Wizards	39	21	29	29	118
Golden State Warriors	31	28	23	27	109

Complete Coverage >

Walking up the Roarcle

R Dizzle - Man, it feels good to be back the Bay - beautiful skies, sunny days, and best of all - I get to see my Warriors!

Killa Shom - Yeah man, good to have you back.

R Dizzle - Word, but hey, where are all the people?

Killa Shom - Are you serious? This is a Warriors game...nobody comes anymore. ESPECIALLY against the Wizards.

R Dizzle - The reality of that statement irks me. Stupid Cohan and Rowell...

The Game

R Dizzle - YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!! The whole GSoM crew is here! WADDUP!

Atma Brother #1 - What's goin on man? Help yourself to the food - hella good stuff all around.

R Dizzle - Nice...Killa Shom - go do your thing. Just save me some of Nellie's favorite - Bud Light!

Poor Man's Commish - What's up man? I gotta ask you...are you guys related?

R Dizzle - Ha ha ha. Yes, that would be my older brother. And yes, I'm the young'n of the group. Doesn't that come out in all of my writing?

Poor Man's Commish - True true. To be honest man, I'm a little scared of writing my first recap.

R Dizzle - Are you kidding? It'll be dope! That piece dropped about Jeremy Lin was OFF THE CHAIN!

Poor Man's Commish - Thanks man, but still...

R Dizzle - Ok look, if you ever have any trouble writing something real, just do what I do.

Poor Man's Commish - What's that?

R Dizzle - WRITE A RECAP ABOUT NOTHING.

Poor Man's Commish - Ha.

Sometime during the game

R Dizzle - JAE! Wassup man? Good to meet you.

JAE - Nice to meet you too.

R Dizzle - I really love your stuff on the main page, great statistical analysis and everything. Puts my "work" to shame.

JAE - No no, don't say that. Not everything's full of numbers. I managed to pull my last recap without a single stat.

R Dizzle - True true, I was impressed man. I gotta ask you, with all these trade rumors and what not, what are your thoughts about Anthony Randolph?

JAE - Guy has talent, he just needs to play within his game. FOR EXAMPLE, look he's got the ball now, top of the key. He never makes this shot but he always pull that elbow jumper.

R Dizzle - Right, so?

JAE - So I'm saying, he should not...WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING THE BALL?!?!

R Dizzle - That was kinda ugly.

JAE - Point being, he should know his limits.

R Dizzle - Agreed. Now he's got the ball again...dribbling up...

JAE - STOP SHOOTING THE BALL!!!!

R Dizzle - Right.

Later in the game

R Dizzle - My main man Tony! Good to see you and your lovely wife.

Tony.psd - Good to see you again homie.

R Dizzle - How come you don't have any signs at tonight's game?

Tony.psd - They wouldn't let me.

R Dizzle - What do you mean?

Tony.psd - They won't let me in with "We Suck" signs or anything about the front office.

R Dizzle - That's ridiculous man.

Tony.psd - I know, how are they going to hate on artist?

R Dizzle - Agreed. HOW ARE THEY GOING TO HATE ON AN ARTIST. WE DO SUCK.

Just to keep things short, here are the next 20 minutes of the game as a collective whole.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!"

"Gilbert's on fire!"

"Who's going to stop Heyward?"

"Caron Butler's the man - Maggs for Butler straight up!"

"Why is he shooting it?"

"Monta with another turnover."

"WHYYYYYY?!?!?!"

Halftime

R Dizzle - Hooray for Halftime show at the Roarcle! Since this a nationally televised game, there's gotta be a good show, right?

Killa Shom - Right.

5 minutes later...

R Dizzle - There's no halftime show. What the hell man.

Killa Shom - Right.

R Dizzle - I hate our front office.

3rd Quarter

R Dizzle - GO DJ! Cause that's my DJ!

DJ Fuzzy Logic - Waddup man! Enjoying the snow?

R Dizzle - Ha ha ha. You were there for 4 years before me fool.

DJ Fuzzy Logic - Yeah yeah, but now I'm back in Cali spittin in on the 1's and 2's.

R Dizzle - Word. So what are your thoughts about Randolph?

DJ Fuzzy Logic - I'm good with the man, he just needs to stop trippin.

R Dizzle - Trippin? What's he trippin about?

DJ Fuzzy Logic - No like, literally trippin. Falling. Somehow he manages to end up on the ground every game.

R Dizzle - No he doesn't....

DJ Fuzzy Logic - Yes he does. Look right now!

R Dizzle - Man, that faceplant into the court must have hurt. Maybe he should start wearing a helmet or something.

DJ Fuzzy Logic - Yeah maybe...

Later in the game

R Dizzle - Fantasy Junkie...been too long man.

Fantasy Junkie - Definetly. Enjoying being back at home and at the Roaracle?

R Dizzle - I mean, I'm loving being back at home...but I don't know about this game....

Fantasy Junkie - Why's that?

R Dizzle - This straight sucks man. We're losing to the Wizards!

Fantasy Junkie - Right, but you can't come to games wanting to watch the Warriors. You have to appreciate the other team.

R Dizzle - What?

Fantasy Junkie - Yeah so when I went to the Magic game I wanted to see Dwight Howard and Vince Carter.

R Dizzle - Oh I get it, so tonight, I should be appreciating GILBERT ARENAS' ALMOST 50 POINT PERFORMANCE.

Fantasy Junkie - Exactly.

Even later in the game

R Dizzle - Olympic Mike! Great to meet you man and I'm really glad to have you a part of the GSoM team!

Olympic Mike - Thanks man, great to be around.

R Dizzle - So I gotta ask you, I'm doing the recap tonight. Any suggestions of what to write about this so called "game?"

Olympic Mike - Hmm...I read your stuff enough to know your style. How bout another CONVERSATION RECAP?

R Dizzle - Good idea. I'll start committing things to memory right now.

Some random amount of time later

R Dizzle - Feltbot! Another new edition to the crew!

Feltbot - Nice to meet you, R Dizzle.

R Dizzle - Good to meet you too. So I hear you're a professional poker player.

Feltbot - That's right. Do you play?

R Dizzle - Of course! I'm just as good at poker as I am with writing Warriors recaps!

Feltbot - Oh ya? I've read a few of your things....so let me ask you this, what do you do if you're playing Texas Hold 'Em and you get a 7-2 off suite?

R Dizzle - Go all in!

Feltbot - You're right. You're just as good at poker as you are with writing Warriors recaps.

End of the game

R Dizzle - Glad we got this whole thing to happen man....good to be back home.

Atma Brother # 1 - Of course. Good to have you back. Any idea with what you're going to do with the recap?

R Dizzle - Oh probably something extremely silly and pointless like always.

Atma Brother #1 - Good man. You gonna mention how Arenas and Heyward destroyed us?

R Dizzle - Naw, no need for that.

Atma Brother #1 - How about how Monta had those turnovers? Randolph had moments that showed his potential? Curry had the hot hand at points in the game?

R Dizzle - Naw, again no need for that. I will say that Curry is the man and I would love to get his jersey as a birthday present. (HINT HINT!)

Atma Brother #1 -Then what are you going to do?

R Dizzle - I dunno...I think I'll have something quick in the morning. I mean let's be real - who wants to remember this game anyway?

NOT ME.

To us, the Golden State of Mind CREW!

Poll

Who's the best bloggin crew out there?

Game 28 Preview: Blazers vs. Magic

Dave — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:41:52 -0000

More photos » by Gary Dineen - NBAE/Getty Images

Uh oh.

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Game Time: 4:00 PM TV: Comcast

OK, now things get interesting. The Magic carry an unfortunate (for us) combination of being 18-7 on the year, having just lost their last game, and playing at home where they are 9-2. Their home losses came to Cleveland and Miami so it's not like just anyone gets to waltz in and request a win. They're good, they're stacked, and unless they completely take us for granted the Blazers will have a hard time winning this game. Granted it's happened before for Portland in Orlando, but it's always hard when you're fielding a team that's trying to be something and facing a team that's full of people who already are the something you're trying to become.

Obviously your first thought when you think "Magic" is Dwight Howard and rightfully so. Name a way he's not destroying the league this year. He's averaging 18 points and almost 13 rebounds. He gets over 2 blocks per game, shoots over 63% from the field, and is drawing 11 foul shots per game. Even though he's only hitting 59% of those free throws he's causing foul trouble for everyone who comes against him...a definite headache for the Blazers at the moment. He's completed the metamorphosis from incredibly raw talent to legitimate NBA superstar. There are no answers for him when he gets the ball where he likes it. He's the main reason Orlando has the 4^th most efficient offense in the league. He's also the main reason the Magic rank 2^nd in the league in points in the paint allowed and 1^st in defensive rebounding percentage. He's a two-way player, one of the wholly unique talents playing today.

The Magic have surrounded Howard with a bevy of perimeter players. Vince Carter leads the pack, also leading the team in scoring at 19 per game. He's not the VC of old but he can still hit a jumper and he can still pour it in when needed. He's scored 25+ six times this season already. Rashard Lewis didn't play until mid-November and had a hard time with adjustments when he did return but he's had a good month, is hitting the three-pointer, and is hitting 20ppg himself fairly routinely now. Those two have got the heavy scoring covered.

With Jameer Nelson out Orlando has dug Jason Williams out of mothballs. Though he's no longer any kind of Chocolate, save perhaps "stale", he still knows how to pass the ball and he's not shy about shooting the three either. Small forward Mickael Pietrus, former Golden State energy-producer, rounds out the starting lineup. Guess what? He can hit threes as well. In fact the only guys who can't drain the long ball on this team are Howard, forward Brandon Bass, and (this year anyway) forward Matt Barnes. Unless you're facing one of those three you better be ready to close out and get a hand up.

The Magic field ancient-yet-capable reserve Anthony Johnson at point guard, shooters J.J. Reddick at off-guard and Ryan Anderson at power forward, Barnes at small forward, and 6'11" rebounder Marcin Gortat for a few minutes at center. Both Gortat and the aforementioned Bass could be getting more time elsewhere. This team is pretty deep and they use everybody. They seldom lack for energy and they never lack for offensive threats.

Unless the ball is going to Howard the Magic attack is primarily perimeter-oriented. They don't score on the break and they don't score in the paint if Howard isn't taking the shot. They will give Dwight the first chance to break you down, which he'll likely do if you try and guard him one-on-one. If you send help they have you. It's simple, as old as the hills, and extremely effective. They draw a lot of fouls and shoot a TON of threes, generating extra points even in their measured game.

They'll practice the same basic plan on defense. They make up for spotty individual defenders at the wing positions by getting back, not letting you break, then shutting down the middle and daring you to hit outside. Even if you drain a couple what are the odds of you matching them the whole game?

The Magic are excellent defensive rebounders. Many of their offensive misses bounce long or are shot by Dwight Howard with nobody else coming to clean up so they're not a great offensive rebounding unit. But they don't need to be. They turn the ball over a smidge too much but it doesn't burn them most nights.

Keys to the Game

Being realistic this isn't a game the Blazers should win. There's too much need for them to double against Howard and too little capability to rotate or close out when they do so. They're going to have to stop perimeter players with guys who are too big or too small. Their own offensive players haven't always been able to dominate weaker defenders. The #1 plan should be to try and get Howard in foul trouble. When he sits you can start watching those shooters more carefully. Obviously this means some kind of penetration, as Joel Przybilla is unlikely to create problems for Howard on his own. The Blazers have to pick their poison defensively. I don't see any way they can cover everybody. I think in this case my druthers would be to stop the perimeter guys and make Howard beat us. He can go for 50. He can destroy us. But if you're going to take a chance on somebody having a bad night why not go for broke and put your eggs in one basket instead of hoping all of those shooters miss on the same night. Sometimes Howard doesn't get the ball as much as he should in those situations as the other players get impatient. Above all the Blazers have to show energy all night. It's not like they can't hang with this team. They'll just have to put themselves in a position where a few things going right can make a difference. The only way to do that is to play hard all game and see what transpires late.

You can see how Orlando views this game at OrlandoPinstripedPost.

Enter tonight's Jersey Contest form here.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

Poll: Which Orlando Magic Player is the Most Effective in Crunch Time

erivera7 — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:01:37 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

Is Dwight Howard the player you want with the ball if the game is on the line?

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Today, Henry Abbott of TrueHoop sparked a debate in the blogosphere concerning "crunch time performers" with Kobe Bryant at the center of the discussion (John Schuhmann of NBA.com provided supplemental information). Of course, the popular question has always been - who is the most effective player in the NBA with the game on the line?

Clutch being defined by 82games as "4th quarter or overtime, less than 5 minutes left, neither team ahead by more than 5 points."

But wait. I want to focus the question on the Orlando Magic.

Normally, I'd provide the statistics beforehand so that people are able to get the most accurate, detailed information before developing an opinion one way or the other. But this time, I want to withhold the data available to see what people think without the aid of numbers. Consider this poll a perception (what people perceive) vs. reality (what the stats show) test.

I'll let the poll run for a few days then next Monday in a follow-up post, I'll see whether or not the statistics agree or disagree with what the popular opinion is.

Let the experiment begin.

Poll

Who is the most effective player on the Orlando Magic roster with the game on the line?

Miami Heat 104, Orlando Magic 86

Ben Q Rock — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:34:35 -0000

More photos » by Wilfredo Lee - AP

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In arguably their worst overall performance of the season, the Orlando Magic did little more than go through the motions against the Miami Heat, and came away with a 104-86 defeat as a result... and the game wasn't even really that close. Dwyane Wade and Michael Beasley led Miami with an effortless 25 and 22 points, respectively, while the bench combined for 32 points. The Heat shot 58% from the field and from three-point range through three quarters and held a well-deserved 29-point lead. Only an impressive showing from J.J. Redick (11 points on 4-of-6 shooting), coupled with indifference on the Heat's side, made the score look more respectable.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Magic	88	97.9	49.4%	11.5	17.1	14.8
Heat	86	121.2	56.2%	16.0	22.0	10.5
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

What makes the loss so jarring, from an Orlando standpoint, is just how decisively Miami out-worked it, in every facet of the game. Point guard Carlos Arroyo twice managed to out-race a Magic player to an offensive rebound, for instance. The Heat moved the ball about as well as I've seen a Magic opponent do this year, making the right pass to the right guy, which helps to explain how Joel Anthony scored 3 baskets. The Magic's defense scarcely took any of the Heat's offensive options away through the first three quarters, in which Dwight Howard, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, did not rest a single second.

The offense looked just as bad, really. Howard showed some nice moves inside early, with a rolling hook from the left block and a drop-step-to-layup maneuver from the right one, which had TNT analyst/NBA legend Kevin McHale, in a rare courtside appearance, raving. Other than that? Rashard Lewis rimmed out some open three-pointers and mid-range jumpers, while Vince Carter attempted to play HORSE with an invisible adversary, launching all variety of off-balance, contested looks. Carter's played much better of late, tending to drive to the basket rather than settle for jumpers. Tonight? 2 free-throw attempts, 4 three-point attempts (all misses) and 4-of-10 shooting overall.

It truly was an instance of Miami doing almost everything right and Orlando doing almost everything wrong, on both ends. Redick, to his credit, obviously came to play, finishing with 13 points, 5 boards, and 2 steals. But on the whole, the Heat chewed the Magic up and spit 'em out. Orlando rarely plays so uninspired on the road. Incidentally, it's now dropped 3 consecutive away games after an 8-game win streak. The good news, then, is that Orlando finishes out 2009 with 5 straight games at Amway Arena, where they can hope to rediscover their winning ways.

Assessing the Hornets Loss a Little Late

Packey — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:00:23 -0000

Surely, by now you've already read what went down two nights ago. The Pistons scored 55 first half points (28 in the first and 27 in the second) and only scored 32 points in the second half. They led by 13 at the half and were winning by as many as 14-points in the third quarter. Yet somehow they found a way to lose by eight in the end.

So how did it happen?

We can cop out and say that the Pistons simply wore down, which I guess, could have definitely beeen the case. The Pistons have three major players out with injuries (a problem all season) and were playing the second game of a back-to-back on the road. However, I'm not willing to go through an entire season letting them get off the hook on the "injury bug" and "tired (because of the injuries)" excuses when they've proven before that it's not crippling them as much as one might think it should or would. For instance, take a look at that Denver game a week ago. It was the second game of a back-to-back against a Western Conference powerhouse, minus four of the better players on the roster. The Pistons controlled that game and won. This was the same Pistons team that played that night -- plus Will Bynum.

What stood out to me Wednesday was the Pistons lack of ball movement in the fourth quarter. At the three minute mark in the third quarter, Detroit had a remarkable 21 assists. They were well on their way to 28-30 assists, which is unheard of territory for the Pistons this season. Want to know how many assists the Pistons finished with? 22. The Pistons had just six second half assists compared to the (doing the math in my head, uh) 16 assists in the first half. If that's not a glaring statistic, I don't know what is.

And then there is the play of Rodney Stuckey. It has become increasingly clear that the Pistons go as Stuckey goes. When he puts up a solid game shooting and doesn't need roughly 20+ shots to do it, the Pistons tend to do well (Pistons are 7-2 when he shoots 50% or higher on less than 20 attempts from the field. They are 2-5 when he shoots 20+ times at all). It's not some groundbreaking discovery that the Pistons have a better chance of winning when their starting guard plays well. However, critiquing his play continuously resurfaces because he, time and time again, resorts to the style of play that makes him play poorly and in turn, hurts the Pistons.

On Wednesday night, Stuckey took nine shots in the fourth quarter alone (he made three of those). In the final minutes, he forced three (missed) shots and had a bad turnover that led to a Hornets basket, which gave them a four point lead. This isn't a box score statistic, but I cringed all three times Stuckey went up with those final shot attempts.

In Stuckey's defense, the rest of the Pistons weren't really helping. The only source of offense was Charlie Villanueva, and he missed all of his shot attempts (four) in the fourth quarter (which was a double whammy because David West was still scoring on him on the other side). Even if Stuckey was feeling the pressure of needing to carry the offensive load, I still would like to see less painfully obvious, forced shots from him and more dishes after the initial penetration.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the Pistons were presented with serious match up problems the past two games in Luis Scola and David West. Take this bit from Patrick Hayes at MLIVE:

The frontcourt defense is broken. The simple answer is to put Ben Wallace on the opposing team's best big every game, which works great against back-to-the-basket players like Dwight Howard.

Having Ben guard players like West and Scola, however, pulls him out of the paint, takes away the shot-blocking threat and allows guys like Aaron Brooks and Chris Paul to get into the lane at will.

Patrick goes on to add that the "opposing PFs/Cs have shot a combined 42-for-65 (65 percent) against Detroit over the last two games," which has a lot to do with the opposing guards getting into the lane at will and creating easy baskets for their bigs. Scola and West combined for 55 points, more than Villanueva/Wallace combined for in both games (I used CV because he's playing the starter minutes).

The Pistons will finish off this three game road trip with the Thunder before going home to face Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Sunday. Let's hope we see a steady game this time around and end the road woes. It would certainly help to get some guys back from injuries, but ultimately, this team is capable of winning regardless.

A few thoughts after the jump.

A large chunk of the assists (nine) came from Will Bynum on Wednesday. There's no denying his individual points production is sorely missed, so let's hope those new shoes are starting to feel comfortable.
After seeing what Jonas Jerebko is capable of putting up on offense, it's too bad he only scored six points (on 3-3 shooting) when the Pistons needed someone other than Stuckey & Villanueva to step up. J.J. was also a team-worse negative-16 (by six points), so it could have helped that number, too.
Chris Paul is pretty amazing and fun to watch. Blaha was comparing him to Isiah Thomas during the broadcast, and I couldn't help but feel the same way. He scored 16 points on just nine shots and had 12 assists in what was looking like an off game at the half.
Emeka Okafor is a guy I'd love to see in a Pistons uniform. In my four years of college near Charlotte, North Carolina I saw a lot of his games with the Bobcats and grew to be a big fan of his. He finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
Austin Daye is earning himself more and more minutes. He saw 25 on Wednesday and scored nine points on 3-8 shooting. He was 2-5 from downtown and had three rebounds, as well. I've said this before, but I wouldn't mind seeing him get more looks.
As it hurt the Hornets in the first half, turnovers played a big role in Detroit's second half collapse, too. They had 16 and a few of them came at crucial points in the fourth quarter.
Highlights:
I apologize for not getting a proper recap up in a more timely fashion. I didn't think I would have been able to post a productive recap on Wednesday night and unexpected things came up on Thursday to prevent me from weighing in. If it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure that's the first time since I've started this blog that I haven't had a (legit) recap posted within 12 hours of the game ending.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you think went wrong on Wednesday or what the Pistons need to do differently on Friday. One thing is for sure -- freaking win !

Heat continue to move forward with dominating win over Orlando

DolPhanDave — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:00:40 -0000

by Wilfredo Lee - AP

The Heat were all over the Magic from start to finish

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I don't know what you may have been expecting before Thursday nights showdown with our in-state rivals, but I'm quite certain that what happened on the court of the AAA caught everybody by surprise. Even if you thought Miami was going to come away with the victory, it would be hard to expect that Orlando would get beat that badly. It was all about the Heat, who played pretty amazing from start to finish. Something happens to this team when Q-Rich is in the lineup...

From the opening tip you could tell that the Heat came to play. Quentin Richardson announced his return to the starting lineup by drilling back-to-back threes in the opening minutes. Miami was attacking the boards and creating 2^nd chance opportunities, holding the Magic to just 5 rebounds in the 1^st quarter. The Heat closed out their amazing 1^st with a 10-0 run, and Miami found themselves up by 15.

One of the funniest things I'd seen in a while was when they showed a shot of Stan Van Gundy after the Heat pushed their lead to 18. Those priceless moments are what I miss most about our former coach. Other then Dwight Howard the Magic we're really struggling to keep up with the Heat on both ends, but its just amazing to me how different of a team the Heat are when Quentin Richardson is in the lineup.

Orlando tried making a push at the end of the 2^nd quarter, but every time they hit a shot Miami answered right back. In the final minute, Jason Williams hit back-to-back buckets for the Magic, the last one coming with just 6 seconds left. Carlos Arroyo would respond to J-Dub's run by hitting a three with under a second left, keeping the Heat up 15 into the half.

Whatever scream-fest the Magic had to endure in the locker room wasn't enough to get them playing better then the Heat. D-Wade led the way, but it was a very balanced scoring attack by Miami that was keeping them a step ahead of the Magic. It also helped that the Heat were playing very smart basketball, turning the ball over only twice after 2 ½ quarters.

The final minute of the 3^rd was a Dwyane Wade party. He started by pulling up and hitting a trey to give the Heat a 27-point lead. Nope...not a type-o. Twenty seven. Anyway...shortly after that, Wade came from out of nowhere to block a J.J. Redick layup from behind. A couple of Mario Chalmers free throws later, the Heat took a 29-point advantage into the final quarter. Miami had 21 assists on their 36 baskets while the Magic had only 7 on 23, more proof that the Heat were doing what they wanted offensively.

When the 4^th quarter began, the only starter in the game for either team was Michael Beasley. With both teams utilizing their bench players, the advantage should have lied with the Heat because they still had guys like Chalmers, Haslem and Wright, who are all major contributors. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. After Udonis scored in the first minute, the Heat went cold. Over 4 minutes later, Michael Beasley got the Heat back on the board and luckily for the Heat, Orlando was only able to score 6 points during the dry spell.

A late 10-0 run by the Magic would provide a nice ‘eye rolling' moment for Heat fans, but the overall results were just awesome. A reminder of how good our young squad can play when all the right buttons are being pushed. We all came into tonight expecting (or hoping for) a dogfight, with the Magic likely looking for revenge for the Heat's victory on their home floor a few weeks ago. Instead, the Heat blew out the Magic like a bunch of pin-striped birthday candles.

GAME NOTES

How sweet was Dorell Wright's buzzer beater at the end of the 1^st quarter? The home crowd went absolutely crazy...it was a much needed ‘Heat fan' moment.
A great shooting 1^st half for the Heat: 55% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.
I find myself more and more impressed with the improvements in Joel Anthony's offensive game. His hands are softer, his footwork is much better and he is actually putting touch on the ball. It may be safe to say that he is no longer an offensive liability when on the court.
Carlos Arroyo did all the right things for the Heat, running the offense efficiently and racking up the assists. He had 7 dimes last night to go along with 5 points and 4 boards.
Meanwhile, Mario Chalmers was solid coming off the bench. For the time being, the Heat seem better off having the veteran starting and let the sophomore continue to provide quality backup minutes.
Luckily for the Heat it didn't come down to free throws. They hit just 13-of-19.
The Heat's 33 1^st quarter points matched a season-high, and their 15-point lead was the largest advantage after the opening quarter this season.

The Heat now have a couple days off to enjoy their sudden string of good, solid basketball. Portland comes to town for another late afternoon Sunday home game, with tipoff coming at 6pm.

Game #24: Orlando Magic (19-6) vs. Miami Heat (12-11)

DolPhanDave — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:26:12 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Boan - AP

Dwyane Wade driving with the ball...something we'll hopefully see much more of in the near future.

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If the first game between these two teams is any indication, we're in for some kind of slugfest between these interstate rivals. I'm sure the Magic remember the first meeting with Miami very clearly, likely with that image of Michael Beasley taking the D-Wade airball and slamming it home to win the game burned into their memories.

On top of that, Orlando also will notice that Beasley has been playing the best ball of his young career the past few weeks and is coming off of one of his most productive games of the season. While he hasn't been able to bring that supreme effort every night, the good games outnumber the bad ones and it's starting to become a reasonable expectation for Beasley to have a 20-10 night every game.

The Magic definitely used the last second loss to Miami as inspiration because since that game they've won 8 of 10, including six straight immediately following the Heat victory. The only two losses came on the road, at Utah and at Phoenix. Orlando did play last night at home against Toronto, but the game was never really close as the Magic got out to an 11-point lead after the 1^st quarter and never looked back.

As inconsistent as the Heat have been the past several weeks, a big home win over Orlando would go a long way for both the players and coaches. Coach Spo was quick to point out after Tuesday's win over Toronto that while it was nice, it was just one game. However, should the Heat bring the same kind of effort and intensity tonight against a much better squad in Orlando, it could send a message that these players are ready to start re-claiming the respect they earned over the first couple weeks of the season.

A developing situation this week has been the status of Mario Chalmers. He was relegated to the bench for Tuesday' game after starting all 104 games of his young career. Afterwards, Coach Spoelstra said that it was a one-time thing; a ‘punishment' for Rio being late to the team's shootaround...but that may not be the case.

Chalmers was working with the second team during practice on Wednesday, suggesting that Spoelstra was pleased enough with the play of Carlos Arroyo with the first unit to keep that squad together for another game. When asked about who would be starting for Miami against Orlando, Coach Spo told the media "I'm going to wait and see".

While the ceiling is still high for Chalmers, he still has a ways to go when it comes to running the offense. My main knock on Rio is that too many times he'll bring the ball up the floor and spend way too long dribbling around the perimeter, giving the Heat under 10 seconds to run a play and try getting a favorable look at the rim.

With the offensive weapons that Miami has at their disposal, you want to give them as much time as possible to get the matchup the coaches want. Whether it be trying to isolate D-Wade on the baseline, getting it down low to Jermaine or letting Beasley work with the ball at the elbow, the more time they have to operate, the better.

GAME NOTES

Dwight Howard had 8 blocks last night against Toronto, and has 12 in his last two games. He also had a 7-block game earlier this month against the Clippers.
Forward Matt Barnes is coming off of his best game in a Magic uniform, scoring 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting and adding 6 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.
Before scoring 13 points in last nights win, Jason Williams had just 2 points in the previous 3 games combined, shooting 1-for-13 from the field. Also to note, in 7 games played in the month of December J-Will has taken only 2 free throws.
The Heat are just 1-2 on their current six-game homestand.
A win against Orlando will put Miami back over .500 at home, where after starting the season 6-3 they had lost four straight before getting the W against Toronto on Tuesday.
The Magic have lost their last two on the road after winning 8-straight games away from home before that.
D-Wade needs two free throws to tie the Heat franchise record set by Alonzo Mourning.
Quentin Richardson is officially listed as questionable for tonight's game, but even if he does dress I'd expect the Heat to take it very slow with Q.

Tonight the tipoff will be at 8pm from the AAA because the game will be nationally televised on TNT. If you happen to be going to the game, they are giving away car flags so get there a little early if you'd like one.

Orlando Magic 118, Toronto Raptors 99

Ben Q Rock — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:09:03 -0000

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The Orlando Magic used a team-wide hot shooting performance against the Toronto Raptors' perpetually porous defense to cruise to a 118-99 win Wednesday night. Rashard Lewis led all scorers with 21 points--including 5 three-pointers--while Matt Barnes scored 20 points on 10 shots off the bench. Dwight Howard approached a triple-double with 18 points, 14 boards, and 8 blocked shots before checking out as the game got out of hand. Orlando held Toronto's Chris Bosh to 20 points, while former Magic player Hedo Turkoglu chipped in 14 (on 2-of-9 shooting) and Jarrett Jack added 13.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Raptors	94	105.4	46.6%	18.0	22.7	10.7
Magic	87	134.9	66.7%	24.0	27.6	16.0
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

The game transpired more or less like you might have figured it would based on these teams' reputations going in. The Raptors hung with the Magic early on, but the Magic created just enough separation with an 8-0 run late in the first quarter--fueled by a tough Vince Carter layup and back-to-back treys from Jason Williams--to take a 27-19 lead, and Toronto never really challenged after that. It wasn't always a question of effort, but rather ability; Orlando got whatever it wanted, the Raptors couldn't keep pace with the Magic's blistering shooting, and so it continued for the next 36 minutes. After a while, the Raptors appeared to just say, "screw it," and they mailed in the rest of the game. The way things went for the Magic, you can hardly blame them.

Okay, well, you can, to an extent, but I think you see my point. Things came entirely too easily for Orlando. The misses came on well-executed plays, open, and in rhythm, at least until garbage time, when Marcin Gortat started launching just any old thing he wanted. And by "old thing," I mean "15-footer early in the shot clock."

Howard missed 1 shot all game, and it was an off-balance tip-in attempt. Barnes shot 7-of-10, and one of those misses came on an inexplicably blown dunk with nobody around. Several of J.J. Redick's shots rattled around and out... and on it goes. Nary a blemish for Orlando offensively, at least not when the game really mattered. Turnovers were a bit of an issue, with Anthony Johnson--who scored a lively 13 points off the bench--twice losing the ball off his knee on his way to the hoop. and with the odd push-off against Howard or Redick. Overall, though, what is your chief complaint if you're the Magic? Maybe it's that Mickael Pietrus struggled in his 17 minutes, shooting 1-of-5 with 2 turnovers as he tried to battle through illness. Maybe it's that the Raptors came up with 6 steals, despite being the league's worst turnover-forcing unit. Maybe it's that Bosh scored 20 in 30 minutes, on 7-of-11 shooting. Still, his touches were few and far between, as the Magic dared Jack (13 points on 15 shots) and Andrea Bargnani (12 points on 12 shots) to beat them. A sound strategy, which they executed.

That sentence more or less summarizes the Magic's night. They had a game plan on both ends, they put it in motion, and they prevailed with ease. Really, I'm more impressed with the Magic's defense of the Raptors than I am with their offensive assault against them. A team as gifted as Orlando should light up the scoreboard against a sieve like Toronto. But the Raptors had the league's 4th-most efficient offense coming in, and Orlando shut it down. Howard's rejections helped, sure--and some of them could have been fouls or goaltends, if we're honest, but not nearly enough to swing momentum in Toronto's favor--but rarely did the Magic get burned on that end. So Antoine Wright peels himself off the end of the bench and scores 7 straight points late in the 4th: who cares? Two contested looks in the lane and a three-pointer for a career 29.3% long-distance shooter. You're happy giving those looks up.

Finally, how about Brandon Bass tonight? Coach Stan Van Gundy dusted off Orlando's sparingly used free-agent signee, who played both power forward and center, and he responded. 5 points, 1 rebound, 3 blocks (?!), and the usual energy and aggression in just over 9 minutes for Bass, who's probably a rotation player on just about every other NBA team. I see no reason or him to take minutes from three-point ace Ryan Anderson on a regular basis, but it's always good to know that your 11th man can come in immediately and make an impact.

Sorry if I seem more peppy than usual, but again, there's very little wrong with the way the Magic played tonight. A solid win against a worthy offensive foe, and a chance to rest up on the first night of a back-to-back set. Orlando jets to Miami to play the Heat--themselves fresh off a win against Toronto--tomorrow night.

Game Recap: Mavericks Drown Out Thunder 100-86

zdgmans — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:08:58 -0000

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The 12-11 Okalahoma City Thunder, who are much more dangerous than their record would indicate, welcome the Dallas Mavericks into their gym for the first time this year. The second youngest team in the NBA likes to get off to a fast start and push the ball in transition whereas the Mavericks look to execute in the half court and push only when there is an opening.

The Thunder present a challenge for any team in the NBA (there are no easy games in this league no matter what anyone thinks). This will be a game of wills and it comes down to which team executes their game plan better.

Game as a Whole:

Dirk Nowitzki recovers from his previous off night to help push the Mavericks over the hump tonight. He ended up besting Kevin Durant all night (Durant is currently third in the league in scoring) both in points and on the boards. While Dirk deservers almost all of the credit for the win, Shawn Marion and Erick Dampier both turned in excellent performances to compliment everything that Dirk was doing.

While the five-game winning streak is great, the Mavericks still have a few things that they will need to improve on if they hope to continue rolling. Jason Terry’s defense is just as much a liability for the team as Barea’s. Tonight, he was consistently getting blown by, and fouling in an attempt to make up for his defensive shortcomings. Too many second chance points given up by the Mavericks kept the Thunder in the game for most of fourth quarter.

1st Quarter

11:37, Barea kicks of his night by missing a three-point jumper. Are we going to see the Barea that dominated the Hornets?
10:48, Barea redeems himself by drawing an offensive foul against Russell Westbrook. If he even slows Westbrook down a little bit the Mavericks should be able to pull out a win.
10:26, What is this, the Barea three point shooting clinic? Let’s get somebody else a shot shall we?
8:26, You absolutely cannot give up 2 offensive rebounds in one sequence to the Okalahoma City Thunder. They are going to make you pay. The Mavericks woes on the offensive boards continue.
Shawn Marion is looking really active tonight. You won’t see his contribution in the stats sheet night in and night out but he is definitely making his presence felt for the Mavericks.
7:20, Is it me or is Barea taking way too many shots tonight? I know the coaches told him to stay aggressive but this seems a bit over-aggressive.
3:59, Shawn Marion block on Kevin Durant. Mavericks will need more of that if they want to take the lead in this game.
3:39, Josh Howard comes in for the first time tonight. Let’s see whether Howard can give us a spark off of the bench.
3:24, Definitely dodged a bullet on this offensive sequence. One offensive rebound and two missed three pointers for the Thunder isn’t the best outcome but I will take it.
2:20, Shawn Marion in for Dirk? Marion and Howard on the floor at the same time? This is interesting.
0:03, Looks like this lineup has effectively tied the game. Thanks Shawn Marion and Jason Terry.

2nd Quarter

11:38, Like the hustle from Josh Howard (almost back to his old form) but you have to put one shot in if you get your own offensive rebound.
10:52, Drew Gooden misses a 12-foot jumper (shouldn’t be taking those) and then makes up for it by fouling at the other end. That’s not going to put your team in a position to win.
10:03, Dirk misses a jumper. Color me surprised that the Mavericks are only down by three at this point.
9:07, Drew Gooden cleaning up the garbage on a missed layup attempt by Barea. This is really what Gooden should stick to, not jump shots.
7:33, Josh Howard seems to be taking his ride on the off night train. Glad to see him make an 18-foot basket at this point in the game.
6:07-5:37, Welcome to the Drew Gooden show! Dunks (Jason Terry assists), defensive rebound, and then draws a shooting foul. That’s how you start to take over a game.
Shawn Marion used to be an okay three-point shooter when he was at Phoenix. When is he going to start setting up for some three’s again?
3:45-3:42, How is it that in the span of 3 seconds you can have two offensive rebounds gathered in by two different players and they both end up missing the put back? Not going to name names, as it is embarrassing.
1:54, Erick Dampier makes a layup (Kidd gets another assist) and the Mavericks are now only down two points.
:22, Dirk out of the timeout is always a great play. I wonder how many times they draw up the play specifically for Dirk?

3rd Quarter

10:20, The fade away is back. Dirk, it’s looking like you need put the Mavericks on your back tonight after the poor game you had the other day. Comes back and gets fouled on the next possession.
The Thunder are another team who have a record that doesn’t tell the full story. They have a pretty dangerous starting five, even if they are pretty young.
Mavericks are 2 of 9 from behind the 3 point line right now.
9:06, Great hand-off by Kidd to Dampier, but he couldn’t finish the play. Kidd, nice old school moves going off of the playe’rs back to get the ball inbounds.
Dampier makes both of his free throws. Great when he does that.
8:37, Mavericks only down 3 and Kidd takes a three pointer off of a screen. Didn’t even set his feet. If he hit those all the time, wow.
7:21, Dirk really looks awesome when he takes it to the basket. He really should mix his game up more and continue to do that.
5:53, Dampier looks like Dwight Howard rolling to the basket. Takes a lob from Kidd and banks it off the glass before touching the ground. Sadly, basket doesn’t count as Kidd was fouled on the pass.
4:08, Josh Howard has a great turn-around jumper. That was his best shot tonight.
Mavericks are going on a run. Dirk hits a baseline jump shot and then, after a defensive stop, Josh goes coast-to-coast for a layup. Thunder cannot be happy with that.
2:00, Dirk trailing for three is the Mavericks new go-to play. I really like how people haven’t figured out that you need to run out to the three-point line and cover him.
:22.9, Marion takes it hard to the basket to put the Mavericks up by 4. Weren’t they just up by 7 not even a minute ago?

4th Quarter

11:33, Starting off the quarter by getting the Thunder into foul trouble. Yes please. Mavericks are really fighting for rebounds now.
10:50, Gooden tries to put it up against two defenders under the basket. Bad choice.
I can’t believe the Thunder are the number one free throw shooting team in the league.
Shot clock violation. Kidd needs to be back in the game. Tied 71-71.
Mavericks have turned it over in each of their last three possessions. The Thunder now lead the game by two.
8:18, Time for Drew Gooden to sit down and Erick Dampier back in the game. Offensive rebound with a put back "and 1". Come on.
7:55, In case of emergency, let Nowitzki go glass. 2-point banker is good.
7:33, Howard ties it on two free throws.
5:29, Dirk hits another 2 point shot to put the Mavericks up five. Their interior defense falls apart on the next possession.
4:43, Offensive rebound for Dampier, who then gets fouled. Dallas needed these foul shots to slow the game down. This will allow their defense to get back and get set on the next play.
4:05, Howard may have hit a dagger three. Mavericks get a block on the Thunder’s next possession.
2:18, Dampier takes a perfect pass from Dirk at the three-point line (after a shot fake). This is going really well now.
1:43, Correction, Dirk hits the dagger three. The Mavericks are officially taking over the 4^th quarter (something they normally don’t do).
The Thunder have absolutely fallen apart at the end of the game. I guess this is what you get from a young team? Mavericks are up 12 with less than 40 seconds to go.
Mavericks win 100-86.

Some Choice Statistics

More clutch play from Dirk, 55-55 on Free Throws in the Fourth Quarter/OT this year.
Shawn Marion and Drew Gooden both end up coming out of this game with -7 in the +/- even though they had valuable contributions.
Dallas is currently the third best free throw shooting team in the league at around 80%.

Closing Thoughts:

The Mavericks haven’t been known as "closers" but after a tight game against the Thunder it was a great sign to see them close the game out with a big run to completely shut the door on a comeback. The winning streak continues even though the team is still a work in progress.

Raptors Rapid Recap - Orlando 118 - Toronto 99

RaptorsHQ - Franchise — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 03:20:20 -0000

-Another Raptors' game, another blowout loss. I talked about this in this morning's post but that makes 11 on the season in terms of losses of 13 or more points. Again, by comparison, the 2005-06 Raptors' club that started 1 and 17 lost by 13 or more points only 13 times all season that year.

-Any positives to be gleamed? Precious few. Toronto allowed the Magic to shoot almost 70 PER CENT through most of this one and one could argue were never really in it.

-Chris Bosh led Toronto with 20 points and 6 rebounds but again just didn't have that extra bounce in his step. (Cue the "he's not giving the effort any more because this team is so bad" stories and rumours.) The rest of the team was fairly invisible aside from Hedo Turkoglu's early forays to the foul line (he was nine of nine on the night) and the occasional bench highlight. The bench in fact managed to get this one within 5 in the first half but after the starters returned, it was all downhill.

-For Orlando, they busted this one open early with a barrage of 3 pointers and they finished 14 of 30 on the night. This decimated the Raps' meager defensive efforts and soon the lanes opened up for the likes of Matt Barnes (20 points) and Anthony "Grampa" Johnson (13.)

-Up next for TO on what's slowly becoming the most disapointing season in team history? - The New Jersey Nets. And while this one looks like an easy W on paper (Nets are 2 and 24 on the season), with the way Toronto's played of late, fans know this could be a battle in reality.

PS - Tune in to the Fan590 right now to hear RaptorsHQ's Ray Bala (Canball report) talk ball with Zack Cooper and other guests!