The Orlando Magic were dominated by the Cleveland Cavaliers in front of a sold out crowd at Amway Arena in a game that was nationally televised by ESPN.
See my thoughts and analysis along with quotes from Magic players and coaches here.
Zach McCann also thinks that this game may have been the wakeup call the Magic needed. Read his story here.
Eddy Rivera says that all the Magic can do is move on.
Brian Schmitz recaps the game here.
George Diaz says that Dwight Howard must stop whining and man up.
"As a leader, Howard needs to understand how the game is officiated for big men. Pouting, tweeting, complaining, cursing or blogging isn’t going to change the fact that the NBA lets a lot of things go on inside the paint that would warrant felony assault charges if they took place outside an NBA arena.And even if he thinks this isn’t a fair fight, he’s not going to win. Even Superman can’t take on an army led by David Stern, who is the King Kryptonite of the NBA. He can take you down at the flick of a finger.“If you go back over time when Wilt Chamberlain played, when Artis Gilmore played, Shaq when he first came in, now Howard, you’re dealing with an exceptional athletic talent, not only the size but the strength factor,” ESPN analyst Hubie Brown said. “Through the period of time, every guy who coached those people heard the same thing [about the officiating]. So it isn’t something new.”Bingo."
See the full story here.
Tim Povtak also thinks that Dwight Howard’s slide is a big problem for the Magic.
"“Foul trouble makes him play tentative. We have to address that,” Van Gundy said. “He’s having trouble getting those double-figure rebounding games right now. He hasn’t blocked the shots like he was. If Dwight were playing defensively like he did last season, we’d be better.”"
You can read the full story here.
Ken Berger of CBSSportsline was in town last night.
"The Cavaliers added Shaquille O’Neal so they’d have the original Superman to combat the one Shaq calls his “impostor.” Someone else, though, is impersonating Shaq these days, because he’s not only larger than life but also much larger than the role he’s playing with the LeBronaliers.He did his job on this night, I guess, by drawing two quick first-quarter fouls against Howard, sending Superman II to the bench. It was nothing that Marcin Gortat couldn’t have done for a lot less than $20 million. But Shaq is Shaq, and his mere Shaqness is valuable enough, LeBron was insisting after the game."
Click here to read his thoughts on the game.
John Hollinger thinks that the Magic and Cavs are heading in different directions and the Magic can’t thank their poor defense for that.
"Nonetheless, things may change dramatically in the next meeting on Feb. 11 in Cleveland, when Orlando will have Lewis back and both teams will have half a season of basketball under their belts.For Wednesday night, let’s go with these two big takeaways: First, that the Cavs’ offseason efforts to match up better against the Magic appear to have paid some dividends; and second, that it’s unlikely to have much bearing on the Eastern Conference title chase unless Orlando’s shockingly pliant defense improves dramatically."
Click here to read Hollinger in the Daily Dime.
Ryan Anderson hopes to return Friday.
"Anderson said he jogged on Wednesday and said today is “a big day” as he steps up his rehab. He will work with the Magic’s strength and conditioning staff as the club is off today.He was injured in the Magic’s sixth game of the season against the Detroit Pistons at Amway Arena, his 15.0 points per game average joining him on the shelf.“It feels a lot better, that’s for sure,” Anderson said, showing off his ankle. “There’s some (pain) up high. I’m going to do some more things (today.) It’s a big day for me.”"
Let’s hope Ryan can go because the team desperately needs him. See more and Ryan and other news on the Magic here.
Kell Dwyer of Yahoo Sports’ Ball Don’t Lie goes behind the box score.
"Orlando is hurt. They need Rashard Lewis(notes) to beat the Cavaliers, they need Ryan Anderson(notes) to sub for Rashard Lewis in order to beat the Cavs. Lewis’ Eastern Conference final play last spring has been overrated a bit – he averaged under 20 points per game – but he does cause havoc and spacing issues. Same with Anderson."
You can read that here.
Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy’s wife, Kim, has been hospitalized. Luckily, it sounds like she’ll be fine. Click here to read more.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)