The Magic defeated the New York Knicks 114-102 on Sunday night. Click here to read my recap and analysis.
Click here to see the New York Daily News’ take on the game.
The Magic won every game on their three game road trip. Dwight Howard discusses that success on his official blog.
"We had a really tough stretch with four games in five nights, and we started it off on the wrong foot by losing to the Heat by one point in the last few seconds. But we really bounced back on the road and came together as a team.We were down 14 on Turkey Day in the A-T-L and came back with better defense in the second half to win. Milwaukee had us down 17 on Saturday, but we got hot in the third quarter and got a really, really tough W that night, too.And on Sunday, we didn’t get to New York until like 3 in the morning and didn’t get to our hotel rooms until 4. Then, we had to play a 6 o’clock game at The Garden. But it might have been our best game of the season because everybody on the roster pitched in.Those last two games they tried fouling me intentionally, but it didn’t work too good. Some of the guys call it “Hack-A-Howard’’ and I gotta admit that’s pretty funny. But I made the free throws vs. Milwaukee and New York."
Read his blog here.
Eddy Rivera of 3QC discusses the situation at Power Forward behind Rashard Lewis with Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson per the request of Matt Guokas. Click here to read that.
The Magic have moved up to #1 in the Orlando Sentinel’s power poll.
"The Magic have won eight of their last nine. Rashard Lewis’ return has made a significant impact on defense. Orlando now ranks fourth in the NBA in points allowed per game (93.7) and sixth in field-goal percentage defense (44.0)."
Click here to see their poll.
Marc Stein’s power poll has the Magic #3.
"As a longtime J-Will fan, I promised to stifle my bias for a bit before touting what a sneaky-good pickup he was for a team that lost a lot of playmaking when Turkoglu left town. I’ll let you decide: Is crowing OK now?"
Click here to read that.
Matt Barnes is going to appeal his fine for throwing a ball into the stands.
"Magic SF Matt Barnes said Sunday that he has officially appealed the NBA’s $20,000 fine for throwing a basketball in the stands.Barnes met with Billy Hunter, executive director of the NBA players association, in the locker room before the Magic faced the New York Knicks.Barnes said he is trying to reduce the severity of the fine. He said his agent, Aaron Goodwin, had filed the appeal.He hurled the ball after the Magic’s 99-98 loss to the Heat last Wednesday at Amway Arena.Hunter told the Sentinel that Barnes “will be appealing to the commissioner (David Stern).“It’s a big fine. I think it (throwing a basketball) went up from $5,000,” Hunter said. “It’s an image thing with the league. Things changed since what happened in Detroit (the infamous 2004 brawl at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich. between the Pistons and the Indiana Pacers.)”Said Barnes, “It’s steep. The way I look at it, I gave them a souvenir.”Barnes was also advised by Magic center Adonal Foyle, a union board member. “Matt’s trying to get it reduced,” Foyle said. “It should be on the commissioner’s desk (today).”"
Click here to read that and other notes about the Magic.
Zach McCann takes a look back at Orlando’s first month of the season here.
“Magic Overtime with Dante and Galante” premieres tonight. Find out more here.
(Andrew Melnick 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.)