The Orlando Magic will play another Sunday matinee against in Toronto when they take on the Raptors Sunday afternoon.
Both squads are coming off of a big, much-needed wins. Orlando wanted to beat one of the top contenders after their loss to the Cavaliers and the Raptors desperately wanted to end their three-game losing streak.
The game will tip-off at 12:30 pm EST and will be shown on FSN. As always, if you can’t watch the game, you can hear it locally on WDBO 580 AM and in Spanish on WONQ AM 1030.
The Line: Magic – 4
Starters
Orlando
Dwight Howard
Rashard Lewis
Mickael Pietrus
Vince Carter
Jason Williams
Toronto
Andrea Bargnani
Chris Bosh
Hedo Turkoglu
DeMar DeRozan
Jose Calderon
Last Meeting: A depleted Orlando Magic squad missing Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus exploded on offense to win 125-116. The Magic went 17-of-32 from downtown. Orlando’s backcourt really got the job done for the Magic. Jameer Nelson scored 30 points and had 5 assists. J.J. Redick, who got the start for an injured Vince Carter, scored a career-high 27 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and had 5 assists. The two guards combined to make 10 of Orlando’s 17 3-pointers. All five Magic starters scored in double figures and Ryan Anderson (20) and Dwight Howard (24) joined the backcourt in scoring at least 20 points. Chris Bosh, as usual, destroyed the Magic. He finished with 35 points and 16 rebounds. Andrea Bargnani went off, hitting four 3-pointers and scoring 26 points. Hedo Turkgolu scored 19 points in his first game against his former team.
Season Series: Orlando leads the season series 1-0 by virtue of their 125-116 win on November 1.
About the Magic: The Magic are coming off a big win. They didn’t shoot well from the field. They were careless with the ball, turning it over 19 times. They took ill-advised shots. But, they beat the Boston Celtics on the road. No one can be too upset with that result.
Orlando still can’t get healthy. Nine players played for the Magic on Friday night in Boston. Only Adonal Foyle and Jameer Nelson missed the game due to injury while Brandon Bass received a DNP-Coach’s Decision.
I’m not worried about Bass’ lack of playing time. He is a solid player and will see more time on the court when the opposing squad’s matchup is right.
Rashard Lewis has recorded two straight double-doubles. I like the way he is playing, but I like to see him look for his shot a little more. Lewis is a shooter and he needs to shoot.
Vince Carter made some big mistakes, but I love the way he wanted to be the one to take the big shots in the fourth quarter. And he made them.
The Magic need to do a better job of getting the ball to Dwight Howard. He had just four field goal attempts on Friday night. That is unacceptable.
About the Raptors: Toronto hosted Miami Heat on Friday night and ended their three-game losing streak with a 120-113 win over the heat. Chris Bosth (29 points and 12 rebounds) and Andrea Bargnani (24 points, 10 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles. The Magic had a lot of trouble with both of these players in their first matchup.
The Raptors have had trouble rebounding the ball this season so Friday night’s win was a big step in the right direction for the club. Chris Bosh was very happy about the rebounding after Friday night’s win.
"“One thing I wanted to challenge Andrea to do this year, and challenge myself, was rebounding the basketball. We did a good job.”"
Orlando will need to keep Toronto off of the glass and not allow an efficient offense like Toronto any second-chance points.
The Raptors shot an incredible 57.7% from the field (41-of-71) and made nine of their 15 3-point attempts against the Heat. This could be a point of concern for the Magic but Orlando has really turned up their defensive effort over their past two games.
Chris Bosh has been an absolute beast for the Raptors. If his team was not 6-7, he might be the front-runner for the NBA’s MVP award. He’s scoring 26.8 points per game on 50% shooting. He’s hitting 77% of his free throws. He’s grabbing a career-high 12.2 rebounds per game and blocking .9 shots per game. Bosh, who always gives the Magic fits, scored 35 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in their first meeting.
Former Magic Forward Hedo Turkoglu has been a bit of a disappointment. Turkoglu is shooting at a pretty good percentage – 45% – but he is not getting many shots and is averaging just 14.2 points per game. His rebounding numbers, defensive statistics, free throw shooting and assist totals are all down.
Orlando’s defense needs to come to play because the Raptors have the #1 offensive rating in the NBA, average 107.1 points per game and are considered the most efficient offensive team in the league.
However, Orlando should be able to score at will. Toronto gives up 108.2 points per game, has the league’s lowest offensive rating and has the least efficient defense in the league.
The Raptors are just 2-6 on the road but are 4-1 at home and they will meet the Magic in Toronto Sunday. The problem with that 4-1 home record? Their one loss came at the hands of Orlando.
(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.)