SB Nation - Yi Jianlian

NBA Eastern Conference: Taking Stock

tenaciousT — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:04:32 -0000

NBA –arama

After making my preseason predictions, I said I'd check how things were going from time to time. It's time. Let's take a look around the east, see what’s going on, and fess up to a few big misses. A number of predictions are on target...so far. Preseason predictions are in parentheses followed by current record

Atlantic Division

Boston Celtics (63-19) - 20-4
Thought they were going gently into their assisted living facilities, eh? Tut tut, my skeptical friends. The ‘assisted living’ comes courtesy of one Rajon Rondo, point guard extraordinaire. Rondo plays one gear higher than the rest of his starting unit.

11 game win streak says they are rounding into shape after starting strong, stumbling, then slowly righting the ship. The only major surprise was/is the lack of 48 minute intensity, and rebounding woes. They still look like one of the best teams in the NBA to challenge the Lakers. Back with a vengeance? They are back. Vengeance comes later.

Toronto (35-47) - 11-17
International crisis or communication breakdown?
Some expected more, but they are about where I expected and for the same reason – defense. Bargnani is part of the dilemma. He is a skilled big, but not an interior presence. With a domestic vs. international player rift surfacing recently, the Raps played their best defensive game of the season afterwards. Hedo’s not fitting in like they hoped…yet.

Jose Calderon has disappointed so far in what was supposed to be his big year. The rebuilt roster should be better later in the season, but aren’t built for prolonged defense. They are giving up 103.5 over their last 5 games, which 5 points better than before.

New York (31-51) - 8-16
After a 3-14 start, the ‘D’Antonies’ are 5-2 in their last 7 games. Another team without interior defense. They looked under every rock for a bona fide PG but the right one – the draft. Biggest current embarrassment is choosing Jordan Hill over Brandon Jennings in the draft. This was going to be a learning year anyway, right? Ty Lawson, Darren Collison, Eric Maynor, Jeff Teague were also still out there. Any of those better than Chris Duhon? Maybe some are already.

D’Antoni, frankly, has disappointed as well. I’ll confess, I thought Darko Milicic was a good risk for a team starved for bigs that block shots and play defense. Go figure. Jordan Hill may end up being a good player some day, too. Winning started by benching Nate Robinson. Coincidence? Sharp shooter Gallinari continues to impress, adds some board work.

76ers (41-41) – 6-19
Okay, this is one that’s not going as I thought it would. Oye.
Injuries are only part of the problem. Is Brand a lesser player now? Or is he just on the wrong team? Maybe it’s all bad karma for Elton leaving a good situation in Clipperland. (Yes, I did just say that.) Louis Williams (injured), Marreese Speights, and Thaddeus Young give hope for the future. It’s so bad that Iverson is back. Yeah, I know.

New Jersey (26-56) – 2-24
Say no more. Accident on the Jersey Turnpike. Tie up for miles, but not for years. No, they are not this bad. Bad luck continues with Yi Jianlian getting 50 stitches (yes 50) in his mouth courtesy of a Sean Williams elbow in a recent practice. The sooner this team can exit the swamp the better. Still, Brook Lopez will become an even better player if this season doesn’t kill him first. Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts are all good young talent.

Central Division

Cleveland (58-24) – 19-7
They are much better after starting 0-2 and 3-3. Not dominating like last season, but still a force. Shaq shooting a career low 49%, though they are now winning with him. Most lopsided team scoring distribution I have ever seen for a top team. Only three players in double digits and one of them is Shaq at 10.8 per.

Second best FG% defense and 4th best points allowed means they are still dangerous and in the hunt. Though Shaq is mostly a sideways or backwards move, if they get to the finals he helps against Lakers’ frontline. Shaq can’t slow down an already very slow team…can he? I feared this team more last year. Stop LeBron and you stop the Cavs. Am I wrong?

Stat of note: Cavs lead league in points in paint defense (34.1)

Milwaukee (35-47) – 11-12
Early season surprise coming back to earth lately. Many thought I had them too high. But Skiles always seems to get players to overachieve for a few years, until his tough guy ways get tired. Brandon Jennings makes a big splash with 55 point game but is tailing off since then. Still, he is the real deal and will figure things out.

Bucks are first in shot attempts and dead last in free throw attempts, which pretty much goes hand in hand. No one on this team gets to the line, except Jennings and Hakim Warrick.

Side Note: Toronto is known as the international team. But even they can’t compete with Milwaukee. Current starters are from 5 different countries: Turkey, Argentina, Australia, Cameroon, and U.S. Positively cosmopolitan for a city Shlitz beer made famous.

Detroit (36-46) - 11-14
I guess they are a bit better than I thought. Will this last? Even with key players injured, they put together a recent 5 game winning streak. They are still working a new system with a new coach. Loss of Tayshaun Prince hurts, Gordon is playing hurt, and Rip Hamilton is still in and out.

Still, the biggest surprise is the renaissance of "I’m retiring" Ben Wallace. Back up to 30 minutes and 10 rebounds a game, he can still defend, too. Detroit is 2nd best in points in paint defense. Can he do it all year and where is his help?

Pistons have the 3rd best total rebounding and 3rd best offensive rebounding differential in the league. Rodney Stuckey’s career year (19.3 pts) is offset by lower shooting %. He should stop taking three pointers altogether (21.4%)

Indiana (30-52) – 9-14
Danny Granger’s team is without Danny Granger for a while. With mediocre stats everywhere, just what do they do better than most NBA teams? Foul. They are 3rd in league with 2.2 foul differential.

Mike Dunleavy returns to a system that uses him to his best advantage and not a minute too soon. If the Pacers win 36 games, and that’s possible, that means O’Brien would have coached three straight 36-46 records here. Hey I have to find something interesting, don’t I? T.J. Ford is underwhelming again.

How are they doing attracting more fans? The past three years they went from 30th to 28th to 27th this season in attendance. They are a team with more integrity, but a few more wins wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Chicago (41-41) - 8-15 No one expected this meltdown. The loss of Ben Gordon’s 4th quarter points, Tyrus Thomas’ injury, Kirk Hinrich playing hurt, John Salmons’ underachieving season are all contributors, but all are secondary to Derrick Rose’s lack of noticeable improvement.

The chant for Vinny Del Negro’s head grows louder and I’m not against it. But I’d ask…who hired a rookie head coach for this team in the first place? That is where the blame should lie. Del Negro did reasonably well last season, but the wheels are falling off the wagon now.

Deng is playing well and Joakim Noah is continuing his rise up the food chain, but it’s nowhere near enough. I am fast becoming a Joakim Noah fan. Plays with passion, toughness, and heart.

Southeast Division

Orlando (60-22) -19-6
Fools go where wise men fear to tread – the paint against the Magic. They are crazy deep and probably Boston’s biggest problem in the East. Jameer Nelson returns soon and that’s not good news for opponents. Right now they are better offensively (5th rated) but worse defensively (9th rated) than last season, while giving up 2.2 more points.

This is a great situation for Vince Carter, who is playing 5 minutes less, but leads the team in scoring (19), while still hoisting up 17 shots per and will be a solid 4th quarter option for the Magic.

D. Howard is getting one less block a game, but shooting a career high in FG% (63.4%) While they probably over paid a bit for Mickael Pietrus ($5.3 mil), he continues to be a valuable piece to this team. Ryan Andersen has quietly been a nice addition. Marcin Gortat – the unhappy multi-millionaire.

Atlanta (48-34) - 18-6
This team is playing even better than I thought….and I thought this would be a good team. Woodson said the next thing is to learn how to win on the road. The Hawks are 7-4 so far this season and that is a huge step forward. Three of those road wins were against very tough home teams - Dallas, Boston and Portland.

For a team that could lose their leader (Joe Johnson) and their coach next season, they are moving from pretender to contender. Their youthful exuberance could make up for whatever they are missing. Al Horford and Josh Smith are unique young players and Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson provide the veteran leadership. They are pasting the lesser teams and are 3rd in the league in average winning margin at +8.4 points. Just behind the Celtics and Lakers. Hmm…

Miami (38-44) – 12-11
Dwayne Wade is to this team what LeBron is to the Cavs. Probably more so. Jermaine O’Neal is actually playing pretty well, but is a shell of his earlier self. We knew going in that the Heat go as Wade goes. Michael Beasley is improving and Haslem is solid.

They stretched the Lakers to a (lucky) Kobe Bryant banked buzzer beating 3 pointer over Wade’s outstretched hand. That probably defines their season as well as anything. With $50 million coming off the books in 2010, this team (hopefully) gets a complete rebuild. With a player option for $17 million, whether Wade stays or not remains to be seen.

Charlotte (33-49) - 10-14
Solid defensive team (2nd in points allowed) that has trouble scoring (27th). Deliberate offense (pace: 28th in NBA) helps keep opponents’ numbers down. 5-5 over the last ten, they added controversial, but multi-talented Stephen Jackson. It gives the team a focal point (and… gulp…leader) Larry Brown has great experience handling prima donna players and Raymond Felton is playing better since Jackson’s arrival.

Gerald Wallace, the last original Bobcat, was plucked from deep on Sacramento’s bench. Time to test him for HRH (Human Rebound Hormone). He has gone crazy boarding, up from 7.8 last season to 12.2 this year. I’d like to know the last time an established player made that kind of jump. He continues to ply his game for a team going nowhere.

Talented DJ Augustine has perplexingly gone backwards this season. Tyson Chandler, who could have been an earlier version of Joakim Noah, is showing how much Chris Paul helped his game.

But we forget just how bad this team was before Larry Brown arrived.

Washington (41-41) - 7-16
In preseason I wrote…. "everyone’s favorite ‘move up’ team." What I didn’t write was that it would take some doing to keep all these scorers happy with shots and minutes. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case. And things aren’t getting better. They are on a 6 game losing streak as I write this.

I never saw a happier, more hopeful team in the losers’ locker room than the one that ended its season against the Celtics last year. They all knew a much better year was coming. They had their version of a big three returning. But ubuntu doesn’t live here. Tragic because there is a lot of talent here. Flip Saunders has to sort this out, but I’m not sure where he starts.

I’ll end by (again) making my pitch for an unsung role player buried on the Wizards bench. Dominic McGuire would make a great (and cheap) Celtic.

There you have it. I apparently thought way too much of the Sixers. Comments welcome on all teams.

Gameday Preview at New Jersey Nets

David Arnott — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:55:12 -0000

Pump Up Music: Straightener -- "Killer Tune"

The Big Picture: 0-18. It's staggering. Granted, the New Jersey Nets have missed Devin Harris for much of the season, and Yi Jianlian went out with a knee injury when they played in Charlotte, but even with bad luck, it's incredible that they haven't pulled out a single win, yet. They've had a couple close calls, losing by one to Miami, by two to Minnesota, and in the Bobcats game they hung around and the Cats needed a third quarter run that was something like 63-0 to put them away. All that's to say that with Devin Harris and Brook Lopez, they're probably not the worst team in the league right now. (Hello, Timberwolves!)

Key to Victory: Yi Jianlian causes so many problems for a smaller roster like the Cats have. Without him, there's a certain missing dynamic in the Nets' lineup. Since Sean Williams has so little court sense, he can't play starter's minutes, so they're pretty much obligated to start Josh Boone, an offensive black hole if ever there was one. However, Boone has streaks where he's great on the glass and putting the ball back. He'll certainly have a rebounding edge on Boris Diaw, and if he musters up the energy to stick with Boris on the perimeter (which he's capable of doing), that'll take away a prime offensive weapon.

Secondarily, the Nets don't really have an answer for Gerald Wallace, especially since Jarvis Hayes is out. If they put Courtney Lee, Terrence Williams, or Chris Douglas-Roberts on him, really any of their smallish forwards, Crash can back him down in the post. Trenton Hassell doesn't have the height, but he's a little more substantial in the frame and might be able to stand up to him better. We can only hope Kiki Vandeweghe sees fit to play Bobby Simmons big minutes in order to try to contain Wallace.

Detail That Might Interest .08% of You: Vandeweghe, all 6-8 of him, shot 48% from three in the 1986-87 season, leading all qualified shooters.

Mavericks Vs Nets: Game 19 Preview

Phillip Baggett — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:23:41 -0000

Mavericks vs Nets coverage

Mavericks vs Nets preview

The Match-ups:

Point Guard

Jason Kidd: The time has come once again for the trade partners to face off against one another. In the previous battles Harris has won the match up with relative ease, does this one go to Harris as well? or does Kidd finally prove that the Mavs made a good trade? Who knows, what I will say is that Kidd has been excellent this year and Harris has been... well not to good.

vs.

Devin Harris: I think I can speak for most everyone when I say that I really like Devin Harris, and have wished that he was still here. However he has been just another mediocre player on an awful team this year. As bad as the Nets are I never would have suspected that of the TWO players on the team with a +/- above zero one of them would NOT be Devin Harris.

Edge: Mavericks (did I really just say that?)

Shooting Guard

Rodrigue Beaubois: Roddy gets the face time as being the starter, but the PT will surely go to JJ and JT. Not real sure what the Mavs plans are for Roddy but the guy should get more than 9 minutes a game, in my opinion, but then again who am I to decide what the Mavericks guard rotation should be? This is one game however that the guard rotation should be irrelevant (I said SHOULD BE)

vs.

Chris Douglas - Roberts: Well the first thing that I saw with Chris is that he has the worst +/- on the team (if he played for the Lakers this would not be such a big deal, but when you are the worst +/- on a hideous team it is a huge deal). However with that in mind he has been much more productive as the teams PG than at any other position. Chris does lead the Eastern Conference sophomore class in scoring at 16.4 per, he will turn the ball over though and the Mavs should be able to capitalize on his poor handling skills.

Edge: Even

Forward

Shawn Marion: Defense, Defense, Defense these are apparently the orders given to Shawn before every Mavs game. This has worked out pretty well so far but I would like to see the Mavs try to get him more involved on the offensive end rather than defering to the heavily over used three guard system.

vs.

Trenton Hassell: Since coming into the league in 2001 Trenton's production has neither gone up nor down, however when your production is less than 1 rebound per 10 minutes and 1 point every 5 minutes, does it really matter that you are consistent?

Edge: Mavericks

Power Forward

Dirk Nowitzki: The best Power Forward in the game. Nuff said

vs.

Josh Boone: Once again a former number one draft pick that has failed miserably for the Nets. Josh would be a decent offensive rebounder off the bench, anything past that is not going to be good. The Nets are asking a marginal player to be a starter in the NBA, no wonder this team has yet to win a game.

Edge:

Center

Drew Gooden: While Erick Dampier was sidelined with an unknown Vaginal disease, Drew was absolutely sensational but has now apparently lost his starting spot back to Dampier? This was a bad mistake by Carlisle and a move that may cost the Mavs later on. Erick Dampier is likely to start but should not, therefore he is not in my starting lineup.

vs.

Brook Lopez: He is the lone bright spot on a miserable team. All of Brook's numbers have improved over his rookie campaign. He is a solid scoring option for the Nets and does a nice job on the boards, the Nets offense should and will flow through Lopez.

Edge: Mavericks

Injuries/Suspensions

New Jersey Nets

OUT - Yi Jianlian

Dallas Mavericks

OUT - Josh Howard

Prediction: On paper this game is not even close. On paper the Mavs should win this game by 20. On paper this game should not even be played due to the shear destruction that the Mavs would bring upon the Nets. These games however are not played on paper, they are played on the court, and the Mavs have showed over the course of their first 18 games that they tend to play to the level of their competition (excluding the Cavs game), and frankly this game scares me. Since I have been well... not so good with the prediction this yearit will not matter if I am wrong because you are all used to that by now. So my prediction is (drum roll please)

Mavericks: 104

Nets: 86

Preview: Nets at Kings

Ziller — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:00:20 -0000

by Matt Slocum - AP

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"No mas! No mas!"

THE OPPONENT

Holy crap. Where to start? OK, for one, I don't know if you have heard this, but the Nets have not won a game since, like, April. 0-15. Zero wins, fifteen freaking losses. No team is really that bad, though I remember the awful 1998-99 Clippers, the team that got it's first win against the Kings in Game No. 18 of a 50-game season. That team was this bad. The Nets, though, aren't. Injury has played such a massive role in this bad start. Everyone has that excuse -- even the Lakers and Cavs and Magic and Mavericks have dealt with missing players. But for the Nets, it has been exceptionally rough. Devin Harris is the motor of the team, and he just came back. (Tonight will be his first start since October.) Courtney Lee missed lots of time. Yi Jianlian -- I have no idea what's gone on with him. Chris Douglas-Roberts had the swine flu! Brook Lopez and Terrence Williams are the only two good players on that team that have been in action throughout, and one of them is an apositional rookie. ROUGH.

As I said, Harris is back, as is Lee. Harris-Lopez might be the best young inside-out combination in the league, with the possible exception of Roy-Oden, Rose-Noah and Gordon-Griffin. (We'll see on that last one, as well as Evans-Thompson or Evans-Hawes.) Harris should have some rust, I'd think, but adrenaline might counteract those limitations, and I wouldn't be surprised if he plays as hard as he ever has. If a well (hopefully) Beno Udrih is guarding him, let's hope our Slovenian can funnel him into help defense, because Harris is lightning quick and smart with the rock.

Lopez went for 32/14 in Portland. Aack!

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Brook Lopez	15	35.3	6.8	14.5	47.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.9	4.9	78.4	2.9	5.8	8.7	1.5	2.7	0.4	2.6	3.7	17.5
Chris Douglas-Roberts	12	35.5	6.3	13.5	46.3	0.3	1.3	25.0	4.1	4.7	87.5	1.4	3.7	5.1	1.7	1.9	1.1	0.4	1.9	16.9
Devin Harris	5	28.8	4.4	12.8	34.4	0.0	1.6	0.0	4.6	6.4	71.9	0.6	3.2	3.8	6.2	2.6	2.0	0.2	2.6	13.4
Terrence Williams	15	28.1	4.3	11.9	36.0	0.8	2.8	28.6	1.4	2.1	65.6	0.5	5.1	5.6	2.0	2.1	0.6	0.0	1.7	10.7
Rafer Alston	15	34.2	3.7	10.6	34.6	1.1	3.3	34.0	1.9	2.3	82.9	0.3	2.6	2.9	4.8	2.8	0.9	0.2	2.0	10.4
Yi Jianlian	4	29.5	3.3	8.0	40.6	0.0	0.3	0.0	3.3	3.8	86.7	1.3	6.3	7.5	0.5	2.3	0.5	1.3	3.0	9.8
Courtney Lee	8	30.9	3.0	9.8	30.8	0.4	2.1	17.6	3.4	3.9	87.1	0.6	1.6	2.3	1.8	1.0	2.4	0.5	2.0	9.8
Trenton Hassell	11	35.9	3.5	8.1	43.8	0.0	0.2	0.0	1.8	2.3	80.0	1.9	3.4	5.3	1.0	1.5	0.4	0.2	2.7	8.9
Bobby Simmons	13	19.7	2.1	5.9	35.1	0.9	3.2	28.6	0.6	0.6	100.0	0.4	2.8	3.2	0.6	1.0	0.4	0.2	2.6	5.7
Eduardo Najera	8	16.5	1.9	4.8	39.5	0.3	1.4	18.2	0.8	1.0	75.0	1.1	2.5	3.6	1.8	1.0	0.8	0.3	2.6	4.8
Josh Boone	15	17.9	1.9	4.1	46.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.9	38.5	2.0	3.7	5.7	0.6	1.0	0.5	0.6	2.0	4.2
Sean Williams	11	12.9	1.4	2.8	48.4	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.5	1.0	45.5	1.6	1.1	2.7	0.0	1.3	0.5	0.9	2.6	3.2
Jarvis Hayes	1	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	0.0

THE KEY BATTLE

Lopez vs. Spencer Hawes. Goofy lottery big white dude vs. goofy lottery big white dude. Lopez has certainly started his career off in more bombastic fashion, though obviously Hawes has been no slouch, and these two are effectively the same age. Hawes would do well to pull Lopez away from the rim to open up lanes for the slashers and elbow room for Jason Thompson. On the other end, expect early help, especially if Lopez is going strong in the post.

INTERESTING SIDESHOW

The crowd at ARCO is going to be really interesting. I mean, can anything good come of this game for Kings fans? I haven't been this nervous about a game since that time I played strip Parcheesi with Keira Knightley and Fran Drescher. Mix in the holiday weekend, the lack of a pre-game buffet and the anonymity of the opponent, and ... hmm.

BOLD PROCLAMATION

Lawrence Frank is going to yell at someone. Not necessarily a Net.

NUMERIC PREDICTION

Kings by 13.

DETAILS

Game at 7. Game thread at 7. Post-game thread at 9:45. Recap at Boreal.

Dunleavy's Return More Certain Than Granger's

Tom Lewis — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:55:32 -0000

Mike Dunleavy's return could be any day now, which is a nice boost considering Danny Granger's knee makes his return date unknown at this time.

Bruno's Scouting Report for tonight's game against the Dallas Mavericks focuses on the positives of the possible rerturn of Dunleavy, while it appears no one has more to offer on Granger's return.

With Danny Granger's status uncertain due to a sprained ligament in his left knee – he's listed as day-to-day – the timing of Dunleavy's return, be it Friday or during next week's four-game Western Conference road trip, is fortuitous.

"I anticipate he should not be out much longer," said Coach Jim O'Brien, "and I would say based on what Danny's situation is, I would suspect he needs to get back to the court."

So both Granger and Dunleavy are considered day-to-day but their looking forward to Dunleavy's return because Granger's day-to-day status could last longer. That leaves volumes of content between the lines to read on Granger's status.

I'm not expecting to see Dunleavy tonight against the Mavs, but during next week's roadie would be real nice. And who knows? Maybe the basketball gods will shine on the Pacers (we're waiting...) and Granger's knee issues will clear up so he can join the action at some point on the road next week, too.

After the jump, a few more links of interest:

Dunleavy's return to lineup nears
Mike Dunleavy reports on Mike Dunleavy creeping closer to a return which the Pacers need with Danny Granger's uncertain knee.
Dallas Mavericks at Indiana Pacers preview | Dallas Mavericks News
XL 950 Sports Talk - The Zone Podcasts
Jarrett Jack was on The Zone with Derek Schultz prior to the Pacers' game in Toronto. Just another classy Jack interview with plenty of love for Indy.
Game #13 Recap: A Different Set of Eyes
Tim Donahue watched Wednesday's win through the eyes of his son and left the game with plenty of reasons to give thanks.
NBA Power Rankings, Week 4: Where The Lakers Are Repeat Winners - SB Nation
The fresh SBN NBA blogger rankings are out.
Ike Diogu, Sebastian Telfair, Yi Jianlian still can break out - Mark Montieth
Mark Montieth looks around the NBA for some hidden gems still looking for success in the league.
Eric Gordon enjoys a get-together
Lisa Dillman has a nice story on Eric Gordon spending some time with family and friends while back home in Indy for Thanksgiving. Sounds like little bro, Eron will be making a name for himself in a few years.

Orlando Magic 88, New Jersey Nets 72

erivera7 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:54:49 -0000

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

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After the Orlando Magic lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, head coach Stan Van Gundy sent a message to himself, Dwight Howard & Jameer Nelson, and the rest of the team - win or lose, the defense needs to get better if the Magic want to entertain ideas of being the elite team that it strives to be. Last night against the New Jersey Nets, in which Orlando won by the score of 88-72, was a step in the right direction for the squad. Yes, the Nets were without the services of three of its starters (Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian and Courtney Lee) and that should be noted, but the Magic should not be discredited for its effort on the defensive end of the floor. For perhaps the first time in the regular season, Orlando looked and played like the team that led the NBA in defensive efficiency last year. No thanks in large part to Howard playing like the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Dwight led the way for the Magic, with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Matt Barnes chipped in with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists on Friday the 13th. It was Barnes' hustle and Howard's energy that helped spark the victory.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Nets	89	80.9	35.9%	12.9	14.9	15.7
Magic	89	98.6	50.0%	18.9	17.8	17.9

In the first quarter, Orlando didn't get off to the start one would have hoped for. New Jersey, winless for the season so far, built a 7-0 margin pretty quick. For a minute, one had to wonder if the Magic were going to show up or not. But Orlando was able to wake up and take the lead momentarily in the period before the Nets regained it. The issue, as has been a recurring theme this year, was defense. The Magic weren't bringing it, defensively, and New Jersey was able to take advantage with easy buckets and open shots. Trenton Hassell, of all people, posted up on Vince Carter and scored. Bobby Simmons, as a result of Matt Barnes not closing out quickly enough, was able to make two threes. One had to wonder if Orlando had it in 'em to play great defense.

Luckily, that's why they play 48 minutes.

As for the offense, Dwight was able to get involved early and often in a variety of manners - dunks from offensive rebounds, hook shots from post-ups, etc. Matt, in particular, did an excellent job on different occasions of finding Howard in the paint and setting him up for a dunk or a hook shot. Likewise, Dwight was able to get his counter-part, Brook Lopez, in foul trouble during the first quarter. That helped eliminate an offensive threat from the Nets for a bit.

The second quarter saw Mickael Pietrus make an appearance at power forward while New Jersey went small. The "experiment" lasted half of the period before Van Gundy was forced to sub-out Vince Carter after he picked up his third foul and a technical foul, to boot. Unfortunately for the Magic, with or without Carter, scoring became difficult. Orlando was only able to muster five points in roughly eight minutes of action as the Nets were able to increase its lead to eight points at 38-30. But the Magic were able to finish the first half on a 12-4 run to tie the game at 42 apiece. How?

Defense.

Orlando was able to ratchet up its defensive pressure considerably, forcing New Jersey to shoot 25% from the field (6-24 FG) in the period.

The Magic were able to continue to clamp down on defense in the third quarter. Pietrus got things started, stealing the ball from Simmons after he mishandled his dribble, leading to an easy fast break bucket. Howard blocked shots on Rafer Alston, Josh Boone, and Terrence Williams (great help-side D, in this instance, after Williams was driving into the lane on J.J Redick). Matt was able to force a turnover after tipping a pass. Carter got a steal, which eventually led to a lay-up for Barnes off a dish from Pietrus (shocking, I know). Vince, also, double-teamed Lopez on one possession, forcing him to miss his shot. Hassell, who at that point had gotten a few buckets by posting up, was unable to post up on Matt because he was being fronted the entire time. Barnes, likewise, ended the period by forcing a jump ball on Chris Douglas-Roberts as he attacked the basket. These are some examples of the defensive work Orlando put in during the quarter to take the lead after being tied at halftime. There were times when the Magic blew an assignment or didn't rotate, but other than that, the defense was impressive.

Finally in the fourth quarter, Orlando was able to put the game away due to the offensive contributions from Carter and Jason Williams. It happened every which way for Vince - a fadeaway jumper off a 2/5 pick & roll with Marcin Gortat, a jump shot in isolation, and a catch-and-shoot three. At that point, Carter was feeling it and capped his scoring flurry with a three FROM LONG RANGE in another isolation set. For Jason, it was vintage White Chocolate in the period. Williams started it off with a jumper off the dribble, then a few possessions later, another jumper, and then on the ensuing possession, a three-pointer that forced a timeout from Lawrence Frank. But J-Will wasn't done because after a few minutes passed, he made Eduardo Najera look like a fool, faking a three-point attempt, and making a lay-up that sent the Amway Arena crowd into a frenzy. There were no shortage of "oohs" and "aahs" after that play. But there was more. Mickael Pietrus made the final basket of the evening for the Magic in spectacular fashion, driving along the baseline, and making an up-and-under lay-up that went 'around the world' on the rim before going in.

It was an outstanding way to cap off an evening in which Orlando played great defense for three quarters after allowing New Jersey to drop 27 points in the first quarter.

Player of the game goes to Matt Barnes because he did everything for the Orlando Magic. Everything. Barnes caused turnovers, forced jump balls, tipped passes, and more. Matt's defense was excellent and he played smart on offense - knowing that his shot was off and as such, making a concerted effort to attack the basket to draw fouls in half-court sets or get lay-ups on fast breaks. Barnes' ability to find Dwight Howard in the paint was crucial, as well, because it got the big fella a number of dunks and hook shots. Truly an excellent all-around effort from Matt.

All in all, a good win.

Healthy or not, the New Jersey Nets were held to 32.9% from the field and 29.4% beyond the arc. That's defense, no matter how you slice it. With practically the same available roster (except where Courtney Lee played and Chris Douglas-Roberts didn't), the Nets were able to score 94 points on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers on November 6th. Yet New Jersey was only able to muster 72 points yesterday. Credit should go to Orlando's defensive effort for that occurring.

Congratulations, by the way, are in order for Rafer Alston for achieving his first career triple-double (17 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists). Quite an accomplishment for Skip to my Lou, who received a warm welcome from the fans when he was introduced during the starting lineups. Good stuff.

So, the Magic are 7-3 after its first 10 games. That only means one thing.

Welcome back, Rashard Lewis.

Post-Game Media Availability: Winning With Defense

erivera7 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:04:43 -0000

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Although the Orlando Magic played a depleted New Jersey Nets squad that was without the services of several players, notably Keyon Dooling, Devin Harris, Yi Jianlian, and Courtney Lee, among others, the team was able to win because of defense. Stan Van Gundy said it best during his presser, "I don't care who you're playing in this league, to hold them to 30 [second-half] points is good."

I was able to ask a few questions to Van Gundy amongst the media, as well as speak with Matt Barnes, Vince Carter, and Dwight Howard. Here's what they had to say:

Stan Van Gundy:

Could you talk about Matt Barnes' performance? It seemed like he was able to do a lot of the little things tonight - forcing jump balls, tipping some passes, etc.

Yeah, I thought he was very active. Again, I thought he and Dwight [Howard] on the defensive end sort of keyed everything and I thought his rebounding, more than anything, was important but he had some good cuts, some good drives on the offensive end. 5 assists, getting the ball down into Dwight in the post. He did a lot of little things, actually, not even little, they're big things when you rebound and making passes, it really, really helped us tonight.

With Rashard Lewis and Ryan Anderson, who hasn't played in a couple of games, does this game show important the stretch four is for your offense?

Well, I think for us, with Dwight and the room we want on pick and rolls with Jameer [Nelson] or Vince [Carter], we can spread the floor out better. We have guys that can do it, we just got some guys who are not shooting the ball, right now, as well as they're capable of shooting and so that's hurting us a little bit. But over the long haul, that tends to even out. I know about where Matt Barnes is going to end up, he's going to shoot in the mid-30's from three. He does that every year. That's what he's going to do. You know J.J. [Redick] is going to be around 40, he's had a couple of tough games. You know M.P. is going to be in the mid-to-upper 30's and than Rashard will be around 40, Vince will be around 40, and Jameer will be around 40, and J-Will will be in the low-to-mid 30's. It'll all even out, it's just right now, we've had a stretch where we're not making shots.

More after the jump.

Matt Barnes;

It seemed like you were able to do a lot of the little things tonight. Could you talk about that?

Yeah, I got to find something to do since I can't shoot the ball anymore. It's tough, I just have to find some way to be effective out there. We're short-handed so we know our margin is a lot smaller so I'm just out there trying to rebound, hustle, play defense, and create for my teammates.

Could you talk about the team's defensive performance tonight? I know that's something that Stan Van Gundy has addressed with the team.

In the first half, it wasn't there. Definitely in the second half, as a team, we slowed them down, made them take more jump shots, we got the ball off the glass, and we were out running so I think that's the key to our team, the key to our offense, is our defense and I think we held them to 28 or 30 points, and that really helped us keep going I think.

How excited is the team to finally have Rashard on Monday and Ryan will probably be back, too?

I think we're very excited, just to see what kind of team we have. We saw it in the pre-season, we played very well, we've seen it in practice, but we've yet to see it in a game so like you said, we get an All-Star forward back on Monday, Ryan should be back sometime next week, and hopefully Brandon's flu will subside so we can get him back so we haven't been at full strength yet but I think everyone is looking forward to that.

Does it seem a little frustrating with how players are in & out of the lineup and there doesn't seem to be any continuity with lineups and rotations?

It's hard. There's so much expected of this team. We definitely shouldn't have three losses by now but it's just the way it goes sometimes. We can't make excuses, with some guys out, it gives other guys opportunities to play, and for the most part we have to take advantage of that but I think I can speak for everyone when we say we're excited to have our full team back.

VInce Carter:

With the defense, is this a type of game that you guys can build on?

Of course. That's just been our goal, to just step it up on the defensive end and when we get stops, it's not the offense. We're going to have rough shooting nights in quarters and halves, but we're so good, we have so many guys that can put the ball in the hole, we'll shoot our way back into rhythm. It's more so on the defensive end, just shutting guys down, and getting them into more bad shots.

What's the team's mentality going to be like, with Rashard coming back?

It's the same. Our mentality is come out and win.

Do you think it's going to be a seamless transition for Lewis?

I mean, he's still been at practice and doing his thing. I mean, like I said, just getting into game shape, getting into the rhythm of the game, more so than the rhythm of practice. It's a little different, there's a break here and there, of course coach [Stan Van Gundy] is always yelling and what not, so he breaks the practice up, but getting him back on the floor, I'm sure he's going to be a kid in a candy store.

Defensively, what do you think he's going to bring? Offensively, everyone knows what he does but perhaps his experience with Stan's schemes?

Exactly, just his experience. He knows what's expected out of that position. He's going to spread the floor, plain and simple.

With your familiarity with New Jersey, did that help at all in terms of helping our your teammates figure out the tendencies of the Nets?

Somewhat, they watched a lot of film with me and the coaches. When we were in our individual meetings, I tried to tell them as much as I know, but I think most of the guys in this locker room has played against these guys so they know what's going on. I tried to share, more so, what they're trying to get out of the play.

We already played them once so I said my two cents the first time so it didn't really matter what I said the second time. *laughs*

Dwight Howard:

How important is a game like this, when shots aren't falling, to be able to hold a team to 72 points and be able to get them out of their rhythm offensively?

Well, I think in the first half we were letting them get some easy buckets. In the second half, we came out, played a lot better defense, and I think we held them to 30 points for the half, which is real good, and we just got to continue to do that. I think for the team to get better, the more and more we teach the new guys the schemes, but it's going to start with me and Jameer.

What's the biggest adjustment that the team has had to go through, defensively, for the first 10 games?

Defensively, the new guys ... sometimes, they're out there and they don't know when to rotate, when to be in certain spots on the floor, and me and Jameer really have to teach a lot of those guys where we have to be. It's going to take a while. Our offense comes natural, which is easy for us. It's just the defensive end, the way coach wants us to rotate and be here and be there, it's new for a lot of guys. When M.P. came here, he didn't understand the schemes and it took him a while to get used to it, and now he's playing a lot better defense so it's going to take the new guys a while to learn how we play defense but one of the things, as a team, that we got to get to is working hard, go all out for the 48 minutes, and doing that is going to cover up some of the mistakes on defense. Once we do that, when we get real good at just playing hard, just going after it for 48 minutes, especially on the defensive end, our team is going to be a lot better.

How beneficial will Rashard's return be for you guys, defensively?

Well, he knows where to be, he knows the spots playing the four position, so we'll have that guy back but the main thing is getting those new guys into position, knowing where to be, but also me and Jameer, I want to say that again, we have to lead and I have to do a better job of erasing all the mistakes so for me, it's just me being there for my teammates.

Rafer Alston had a triple-double tonight. Could you talk about his performance?

He looked good out there. I didn't know he had 10 rebounds, which is excellent for a guard. He put up some Jason Kidd numbers so that was real good and I was happy to see him healthy and playing the way he's been playing. We miss him here but we understand the business, but he did look real good.

The Ghost of Bobcats Future Trades

David Arnott — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:00:24 -0000

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At this early stage of the season, there are only a couple teams that are completely and totally out of the playoff picture: the New Jersey Nets and Sacramento Kings. Every other team's fans can entertain wild-eyed dreams of playoff basketball. Can we benefit from their situations?

First, the Nets. The only player we have that makes sense for them is Raja Bell. He's got an expiring contract that fits in with their plan to clear cap space for this offseason and sign free agents to complement their interesting young players, like Courtney Lee, Yi Jianlian, and Brook Lopez. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, the Nets have done too good a job of clearing cap space. The only players with guaranteed contracts for next season are guys they'll almost certainly want to keep, and it doesn't make any sense for them to swap out an expiring contract for an expiring contract. We probably won't be able to even start a conversation with them unless, improbably, they grow weary of Yi and figure they'd rather cut bait.

The Kings are a different story, though. They've got some messy contracts and fiscal pressure that we might be in position to massage with a calculated gamble. No one they'd be able to offer us is a game-changer who would guarantee us the playoffs, but if they want to get out from under a horrific contract, they can give us that contract and a very good player to fill out our rotation. I'd be most interested in Spencer Hawes or Jason Thompson to come off the bench and be a backup to both Diaw and Chandler. Unfortunately, it looks like we'd have to take back Beno Udrih in any deal, which makes no sense for the Cats, because Andres Nocioni's deal is only one year longer than Radmanovic's and Mohammed's (not worth it for Sacto), and Francisco Garcia's long deal is still subject to Base Year Compensation provisions, so we can't make that work.

Here's where I'm going with this: I don't see any trades that make sense for the Bobcats, even after other teams start dropping out of the playoff hunt. No, wait. I take that back. There's one. When the Warriors give up on this season, they might consider trying to clear out some space and trade Raja straight up for Ronny Turiaf. The big guy has an unwieldy contract, extending through 2012, but he would make the team better by being a defensive presence (and about the same scorer as Chandler, i.e. way better than Diop) off the bench at both the PF and C positions. Bell, as professional as he is, is primarily a contract figure at this point, and if we put Flip in at the two, we'd get better offense, probably making up for any drop in defense, and if we put Augustin or Henderson in at that spot, we'd be giving much needed playing time to a young player. I'd also argue that we probably wouldn't see much drop in production.

The biggest problem for the Cats is that every other team is either set for the 2010 offseason, set for the 2011 offseason, or will be looking for a player to help them this season, which Bell is not. Boris Diaw might be attractive to a contender, but his contract is extremely daunting. Gerald Wallace will be attractive to a contender, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea to trade away a guy who outproduces his pay scale. And Raymond Felton, of course, might be a bench upgrade for someone with the bonus that he's an expiring contract, but the contender that needs a point guard upgrade, either starter or bench, and sees Felton as said upgrade probably isn't a contender.

It's Rosterbation Monday! Are we stuck dreaming about John Wall? Or is there someone our there for the taking that we can steal? (See? I made it this far without mentioning Joe Alexander!)

Love Hurts

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:45:09 -0000

OK, it's starting to add up. Losing Kevin Love and his .208 WP48, 4.1 FTA/game, league-leading 15.1 oreb%, top-10 dreb%, and #2 overall reb% hurts. The team is already in the performance hole with the loss of Mike Miller's minutes at the off-guard, but losing Love's 30+ mpg to Oleksiy Pecherov and Ryan Hollins is costing this team the production it should have when the White Hole and Antigravity replace the minutes formerly used up by Craig Smith and Shelden Williams/Jason Collins. Yes, the two 7-footers are putting decent numbers, but they would even better if they were moved down a notch on the depth chart.

Last night the Wolves were a -9 on the offensive glass. It was even uglier when you calculated the percentage of available misses grabbed by the X-mas tree color clad visitors. The Bucks grabbed an astounding 36.2% of available misses on the offensive end of the court compared to the Wolves' 19%. If you can grab 1/3 of your misses, and you have a big beastie like Andrew Bogut in the paint, chances are a decent number of those misses are headed right into the bucket.

In just 6 short games the Wolves are getting destroyed at the 4/5 in the rebounding department, averaging -7.4 reb/game between the two positions. Last year, the team was a net 1.6 positive at the power forward and center. Granted, you can't view these numbers in a vacuum and the loss of Mike Miller is going to cause opposing bigs to get their grubby mitts on a few extra balls per game, but the overall point I'm making here is that losing one of the NBA's top 2-3 rebounders hurts in a bad way and the Wolves are starting to see the effect of this much production lost over even a short period of 6 games. We're already approaching the time where we can start talking about how Love's departure has cost the team 1 win. Of course, what they are losing in rebounding they could be making up in defense and we'll have to wait and see how the balance plays out. There are a lot of factors that play into something like this and I don't want to make a blanket statement, but I'll say it again: losing a top-flight rebounder when trying to rehab a center on the fly next to two new frontcourt players is going to have an impact, possibly a big one...relatively speaking.

Speaking of stats, Knickerblogger and 82Games are now updated for the current season. The early returns are that the White Hole is playing pretty well and that Jefferson is a pretty average (at best) player right now. Corey Brewer isn't rebounding his position nearly as well as Mike Miller did, Ryan Gomes has picked up some of the rebounding slack, and Jonny Flynn is a good scorer but a, thus far, lousy facilitator.

Speaking of Mr. Flynn and the anticipated PGBR (Point Guard Battle Royale), he scored 12 of his 20 points in the final 9:40 of the game, well after the game was decided. This isn't a complaint. Rather, it's a hope that the Wolves quickly figure out that Mr. Flynn can get pretty much wherever he wants to go with the ball in the 1/2 court and that he might be the team's best scoring option when the offense isn't clicking. In other words, when they start a quarter on a -8 run and nothing seems to be working, Flynn might be a more attractive offensive option than what Big Al is currently bringing to the mix. Flynn's PPR is a terrible -4.5 at the moment. Hopefully he'll begin to figure out the facilitation thing but for the time being he's a scorer, and a fairly decent one for having just 6 games under his belt. What I'm getting at here is that if Flynn is going to be a scorer, part of his development will be to figure out when to take it to the rim on 4 or 5 straight possessions when the game is still on the line, not when it's already decided. BTW: Here's hoping and praying that 4th Quarter Flynn never makes its way of the Wolves' PR Department's lexicon.

A few bullet points to wrap things up:

Al Jefferson was absolutely manhandled by Andrew Bogut.
Luke Ridnour won the PGBR.
Andrew Bogut went to the bench with 2 fouls with just under 5 minutes to go in the 1st quarter. The Wolves were up by 7 at the time and they couldn't take advantage of having the big guy on the bench. This is where the game was really lost. The Wolves could have put the Bucks away in the later part of the 1st and the opening part of the 2nd. Instead, we were treated to some of the ugliest ball of the year: bad shooting, turnovers, terrible decisions, and so on and so forth.
Speaking of awfulness, this game probably had worse reffing than the Celtics tilt. My favorite stretch was when Big Al swiped at a ball in Bogut's hands, missed, and hit him in the face. This happened right in front of the Bucks' bench and Scott Skiles went nuts and got a technical. A minute later Big Al made a nice drive to the hoop, was hacked by Bogut (which would have been his 3rd foul in the 1st half), and was not given a whistle...in other words, it was the 3rd or 4th makeup call of the night in a managed game that 100% absolutely did not need to be managed. The refs didn't cost the Wolves the game but they did make a hefty contribution to the unentertaining nature of the contest. I'm putting my vote in for the makeup call being the worst thing in the NBA.
After a 4-16 effort from the floor, Brandon Jennings saw his FG% dip from .429 to .395. As was mentioned in yesterday's preview post, Jennings takes around a quarter of his shots from beyond the arc. Yesterday 4 of his 16 shots were from beyond the arc and he is down to .409 from .440. He is going to be an exciting player but the shot just isn't there and I think it's pretty obvious that he simply had a hot 3 game streak to start his career. That being said, his facilitation game is clearly ahead of Flynn right now. This may have a lot to do with the different systems being run by the Wolves and the Bucks (Jennings looked great running plays that Flynn would run were he on the Bucks).
Comment of the night:

This game is kind of spooky...

Like watching us play ourselves.

by mutleyil on Nov 6, 2009 8:01 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Indeed.

Yesterday I put up a post about Rick Kamla's questionable comment about Yi Jianlian and my disbelief that he could continue to do interviews on outlets like KFAN and not be questioned about his remarks. In the interest of a greater context, I would like to point out that there is a much, much, much bigger black eye in the NBA right now and his name is Donald Sterling.

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Donald Sterling, owner of the National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Clippers, agreed to pay $2.73 million to settle a U.S. government lawsuit in which he was accused of housing discrimination.

The payment is the largest ever obtained by the government in a discrimination case involving apartment rentals, the Justice Department said today in a statement.

"Housing is a basic human need, and yet decades after passage of the Fair Housing Act far too many still encounter barriers like discrimination," Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said in the statement. "The magnitude of this settlement should send a message to all landlords that we will vigorously pursue violations of the Fair Housing Act."

The government sued Sterling in August 2006, saying he discriminates against black and Hispanic prospective tenants in buildings he owns in Los Angeles’s Koreatown area. Sterling owns about 119 apartment buildings in Los Angeles County, according to the Justice Department’s statement.

Sterling is a slumlord who likes to pay for sex:

Donald Sterling, the miserly tycoon who owns the Los Angeles Clippers, testified last year that he regularly paid a Beverly Hills woman for sex, describing her as a $500-a-trick "freak" with whom he coupled "all over my building, in my bathroom, upstairs, in the corner, in the elevator." Sterling's graphic testimony--which came during a two-day pretrial deposition in connection with a lawsuit he filed against the woman, Alexandra Castro--will surely nettle basketball commissioner David Stern, who normally has to explain away the behavior of 20-something athletes, not married 70-year-old club owners worth nearly a billion.

It kind of puts the dress code in an entirely new context, doesn't it?

There's more. The ultimate must-read article in the Sterling collection is this ESPN ditty, which contains the following gems:

"For years he has run semianonymous ads (crude design jobs he reportedly locks up himself) seeking 'hostesses' for Clippers events and his private parties. ... According to testimony Jaksy gave under oath, Sterling touched her in ways that made her uncomfortable and asked her to visit friends of his for sex. Sterling also repeatedly ordered her to find massage therapists to service him sexually, telling her, 'I want someone who will, you know, let me put it in or who [will] suck on it.'"

And:

"When Sterling first bought the Ardmore, he remarked on its odor to Davenport. 'That's because of all the blacks in this building, they smell, they're not clean,' he said, according to Davenport's testimony. 'And it's because of all of the Mexicans that just sit around and smoke and drink all day.' He added: 'So we have to get them out of here.' ...[Kandynce] Jones had repeatedly walked to the apartment manager's office to plead for assistance, according to sworn testimony given by her daughter Ebony Jones in the Housing Rights Center case. Kandynce Jones' refrigerator dripped, her dishwasher was broken, and her apartment was always cold. Now it had flooded. Davenport reported what she saw to Sterling, and according to her testimony, he asked: 'Is she one of those black people that stink?' When Davenport told Sterling that Jones wanted to be reimbursed for the water damage and compensated for her ruined property, he replied: 'I am not going to do that. Just evict the bitch.'"

Deadspin has more. As long as this man owns an NBA team, anything that comes out of David Stern's mouth about player conduct should be taken with an appropriately large grain of salt. BTW: It's kind of amazing that such a big stink was made about Rush Limbaugh owning an NFL team when guys like Sterling are around.

BTW: Here are the Four Factors of last night's game:

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Milwaukee	91.0	95.6	45.7%	14.6	36.2	20.9
Minnesota		79.1	41.9%	13.5	19.0	23.1

Orlando Magic 95, New Jersey Nets 85

Ben Q Rock — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:06:14 -0000

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Led by Dwight Howard's 20 points and 22 rebounds, the Orlando Magic held off a pesky New Jersey Nets team, 95-85, to improve to 2-0 on the young NBA season. The Magic were without the services of former Net Vince Carter for much of the evening, as he sprained his left ankle trying to drive around Devin Harris in the second quarter. Carter was spectacular in his 15 minutes of play, setting the tone on the first possession of the game with a vintage, driving slam on Brook Lopez. He finished with 16 points and 4 assists in limited minutes. With him, the Magic likely would have cruised to victory; without him, though, they struggled, and looked the part of a team not quite in top form.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Magic	87	108.7	53.3%	20.0	22.0	16.0
Nets	87	97.7	41.4%	22.2	15.2	8.0

Give credit to the Nets for not relenting. They shot poorly--Yi Jianlian, at 5-of-8, was the only New Jersey player to connect on at least 50% of his field goals--but mitigated it by keeping control of the ball. However, with Howard ending their possessions via a rebound (18 on the defensive end) or a blocked shot (4), they did not have the firepower to mount a serious comeback even as the Magic's offense stagnated. Trust me, this game wasn't one for the time capsule.

One of the Magic's biggest strengths this season is supposed to be their bench, but tonight, the reserve unit struggled. Matt Barnes, in particular, played erratically: 0-of-6 shooting, 0 points, 0 assists, and 3 turnovers in 24 minutes. To be fair, some of his misses can be attributed to his getting stuck with the ball as the shot clock wound down, but he indeed made some questionable decisions. Marcin Gortat was ineffective in his 11 minutes. A better team than New Jersey would have taken advantage of the Magic's lazy offense with the reserve unit.

Two reserves, though, stood out. J.J. Redick was pressed into heavy minutes with Carter's absence, and he responded. At times last year he appeared to force the issue, entirely too conscious of the pressure on him to produce. Tonight, he was much more easygoing. 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, with 5 rebounds, for J.J. in 29 minutes. Former Magic guard Courtney Lee got the best of him on occasion, twice baiting him into committing a shooting foul with a mere pump fake. Still, the box score doesn't do J.J.'s overall sound play justice.

Speaking of Lee, he did have the look of a player with something to prove, with 11 first-half points. But all he proved tonight is that he's not quite ready to be a second- or third-option on offense. He wound up leading the Nets with 18 points, but he needed 17 shots to get there. And in 41 minutes, he mustered just 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 2 steals. I don't want to sound like I'm piling on him, since he's a good player, and could become a great one. But one only need look at Ryan Anderson's performance (16 points on 6-of-10 shooting in just 23 minutes) to see that he's a better fit for the Magic's offense than Lee was.

The Magic's ugly offense somewhat detracts from their overall solid defense. Harris, Lee, and Lopez--the Nets' cornerstones--shot 15-of-43 for 44 points. Open looks came few and far between, and with only 7 offensive rebounds, the Nets' possessions were often one-shot-and-done. That much is encouraging for Orlando. Nevertheless, the poor performance on the offensive side of the ball will probably give coach Stan Van Gundy pause; the Nets shouldn't have been able to give the Magic nearly that much trouble.

Orlando will face Carter's other former team, the Toronto Raptors, in a Sunday matinee. Whether or not Carter's ankle will heal in time to play remains to be seen.

UPDATE: Joshua Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweets this news on Carter's ankle:

Per the Sun Sports feed -- Stan Van Gundy told reporters: X-rays showed no fracture in Vince Carter's left ankle. Not much swelling.