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MickyEyez · 11-23-2007, 09:39 AM

@

Charlotte Bobcats (6-5) vs. Orlando Magic (10-3)

7:00 PM EST, Amway Arena

Charlotte Bobcats

Felton/Richardson/Wallace/Okafor/Brezec

Orlando Magic

Nelson/Bogans/Turkoglu/Lewis/Howard

Sportsline Preview

Quote:

The Orlando Magic haven't spent a lot of time at home recently. But they've been enjoying a record start on the road.

Orlando will look to bounce back from its first road loss of the season when it comes home Friday night to meet the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Magic (10-3) had won a franchise-best seven road games to start the season before losing 128-110 to San Antonio on Wednesday. Orlando led the defending NBA champions 64-59 at halftime, but the Spurs' 69-point second half was too much for the Magic.

"For the most part, they just hit shots (in the second half)," Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson said. "They executed well and capitalized on our mistakes."

Orlando's biggest problem was its inability to stop Spurs guard Tony Parker, who had a season-high 32 points and nine assists. Parker hit 14 of 22 shots from the field and didn't turn the ball over once. San Antonio had just three turnovers, a franchise low.

Dwight Howard, the Eastern Conference player of the week, continued his dominant start to the season. The Magic's center was 14-of-19 from the field, finishing with 34 points and 16 rebounds for his 11th double-double in 13 games. Howard is averaging 23.1 points and a conference-best 14.4 rebounds.

Offensively Orlando has been one of the best teams in the East. The Magic average 102.8 points, second in the conference, and are making 9.4 3-pointers per game, second in the NBA.

But despite its excellent start to the season, first-year Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy realizes his team still needs to improve.

"The Spurs just played a level above us - we have a long way to go," Van Gundy said.

The Bobcats (6-5) haven't had trouble scoring points lately, topping 100 in their past four games, but Charlotte is just 25th in the league with 93.5 points a contest.

Defense and rebounding was the Bobcats' downfall in their last game, a 114-111 overtime loss to Washington on Wednesday. The Wizards only had nine healthy players, but got to the free-throw line 40 times and outrebounded Charlotte 53-40.

Though they found out before the game that All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas would miss the next three months with a knee injury, the Wizards' other two stars, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, stepped up. Butler had 39 points and Jamison finished with 27.

"When you have two All-Stars on the floor, sometimes you have enough," Bobcats coach Sam Vincent said.

The Bobcats haven't had an All-Star yet in their three years of existence, but one young player who could be on his way to that level is Gerald Wallace. The 6-foot-7 swingman injured his ribs following a frightening fall to the floor after blocking Butler's driving layup late in the second quarter, but returned after halftime and made 7 of 8 shots while scoring 16 points in the third quarter.

Wallace, though, took another shot to the ribs late in the game, and had only two points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

"I'm sore, tired, beat up," said Wallace, averaging a team-high 20.0 points. "I'm just trying to make it home to my bed right now."

Raymond Felton finished with 27 points and 12 assists Wednesday. The third-year point guard is averaging 17.6 points and his 7.8 assists per game are tied for the eighth-most in the league.

Orlando and Charlotte have split 12 meetings since the Bobcats entered the league.

Prediction: Magic 112 - Bobcats 101

GO MAGIC!

MickyEyez · 11-23-2007, 09:43 AM

Wallace will be a game-time decision as his availability is still uncertain.

but after reading different articles it should almost be assumed that he will play tonight.

Quote:

The free-fall Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace took, after blocking a drive by Washington's Caron Butler, was precisely the type of crash coach Sam Vincent feared when he watched him in the preseason.
Wallace is typically good at landing gracefully, even when he's sideways. Not this time -- you could hear him crash on his right side from 30 rows off the court.

http://www.charlotte.com/bobcats/story/373586.html

Quote:

"For us to win any game right now, Gerald Wallace and Jason Richardson have probably logged a lot of minutes," Vincent said, and the same can be said of Raymond Felton and Emeka Okafor.

http://www.charlotte.com/bobcats/story/374588.html

MickyEyez · 11-23-2007, 05:51 PM

magic are whoopin some booty here in the 3rd... up by 20 i'm confident in saying that the magic will win this one no doubt.

always nice to take down the rival ***** cats.

Babir · 11-23-2007, 06:53 PM

Good win...

Idunkonyou · 11-23-2007, 07:41 PM

11-3 and still going. Should beat the Heat tomorrow night before going on the road for a 5 game west coast swing that starts in Portland.

Babir · 11-24-2007, 02:44 AM

tomorrow is a must win!

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