The Orlando Magic defeated the New York Knicks 118-104 on Wednesday night. Click here to see my recap and analysis.
Brandon Bass had a big game at Center for the Magic.
"“Coach gave me the opportunity to play, and I think me being at my best to help this team will be with my energy,” Bass said. “I just try to stay ready.”The Magic signed Bass over the summer to a four-year, $18 million contract that includes a player option for the 2012-13 season. But his place in the rotation evaporated after Rashard Lewis returned from his 10-game suspension. Bass had played a total of 31 minutes in the eight games leading into Wednesday.Bass received his opportunity Wednesday after center Marcin Gortat played ineffectively and picked up two fouls in three minutes. Bass replaced Gortat — a move that worked because the Knicks don’t have a bona fide center — and played the final 8 minutes, 38 seconds of the second quarter.Then, Bass did his best Vinnie Johnson imitation: He pumped in the points.“He’s playing real hard in practice, and I just thought that he could give us some energy,” said Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy, who added that Bass is making an effort to improve his team defense."
Joshua Robbins has the full story here.
Kelly Dwyer of the Yahoo Sports Blog Ball Don’t Lie goes behind the box score.
"They didn’t really “save” the Magic, the Knicks were the opponent after all, but Rashard Lewis(notes) and Mickael Pietrus'(notes) hot touch from outside helped bring home a win for Orlando.The pair combined to make 10 of 15 3-pointers, which helped, because their teammates combined to miss all 15 attempts they tossed up. The ball was moving for the Magic in the win, and though Stan Van Gundy won’t be happy with the team’s 18 turnovers, his team rose to the challenge of what could have been a “blah” game against a team not worth its time.A chippy game, as is expected (these two squared off on Sunday, as well), but Orlando just has too many finishers in too many areas of the floor."
You can read that here.
Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com takes a look at the Knicks and how losing and their look torward the future has affected their team.
"“What if the world ended tomorrow? Let me ask you that. Then what? There you go, that’s my answer to that,” said Robinson when asked if the team has been focusing too much on the future and landing a star free agent rather than the current squad."
Read the full story here.
Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy stumped Assistant Coach Patrick Ewing.
"Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy thinks Patrick Ewing will be a good coach.Ewing, an assistant coach with the Magic, has said he’d be interested in becoming the New Jersey Nets’ head coach when the position is filled on a permanent basis.“Pat’s a very good coach who’s ready to do it, ” Van Gundy said. “Like a lot of people, he just needs an opportunity.“I don’t know, maybe he needs to go get a broadcasting job to strengthen his credentials as a coach,” Van Gundy added, tongue planted firmly in cheek. “But he’s somebody that virtually everybody should be talking about, because he gets instant credibility when he walks in, much as Larry Bird did a few years ago. And then it’s just a matter of whether or not you can do the job, and he definitely can. I think people are making big mistake if they don’t give him a strong look.”"
You can find that and other notes about the Magic here.
Zach McCann takes a look at Orlando’s best and worst 5-man units here.
(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.)