Orlando Magic News & Notes: Magic Start West Coast Trip with a Homecoming

The Orlando Magic will take on the Golden State Warriors Saturday night. See my preview here.

This will be the start of a four-game west coast road trip for the Magic.

"Now comes another obstacle: a West Coast road trip in which they’ll play four games in seven nights.The sojourn will test their defense, their focus and, above all else, their stamina. The challenges will begin this evening when the Magic (15-4) play the Golden State Warriors (6-12) at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif."

Fortunately, the Magic don’t have a whole lot of competition on their first trip out west. The face two of the league’s worst teams before playing at Utah and at Phoenix, a team that had little trouble with in Orlando earlier this season.

Joshua Robbins has the story here.

Tim Povtak of NBA Fanhouse agrees that winning on road is vital. In fact, he goes as far to say that road wins will decide who wins the Eastern Conference.

"The leaders in the East all are in a road-warrior mode this time of the month. The Celtics have four of their next five away from home. The Cavaliers (13-5) have five of their next seven on the road.“You can’t be an elite team in this league if you don’t know how to win on the road. You can’t just win home games,” said Magic forward Rashard Lewis. “Our mindset now is to win every one.”The Magic’s confidence stems from their continued success on the road the last couple years. They have won their last six road games, and they can tie the franchise record for consecutive road victories Saturday night at Golden State.Only the Celtics (8-1 going into Friday night’s game at Oklahoma City) have a better road record than the Magic (8-2) this season. The Lakers (3-1) don’t count because they’ve hardly left the state this season, and they don’t play their fifth road game until Dec. 12.The Celtics had the most road wins (31) of any team last season. The Lakers and Celtics were tied for second with 27. In a league where home teams win more often than in any other sport, it helps to know how to travel.“Overall, we just seem to have a little more edge on the road, more resolve, more toughness than we do at home,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t know why that is, but the bottom is, it’s not where you play, it’s how you play.”"

See the full story here.

Former Warriors players Mickael Pietrus and Matt Barnes will play against their former team Saturday night.

"Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy will also have a homecoming of sorts tonight.Tonight’s game against the Golden State Warriors is a homecoming for Van Gundy. He grew up in Martinez, Calif., which is about 20 miles northeast of Oakland.Oracle Arena, the Warriors’ home court, is located in the same complex as Oakland-Alameda County Stadium, where Van Gundy and his younger brother, Jeff, often attended Oakland A’s baseball games as teenagers.“I still enjoy going because it’s one of the very few places I actually see friends and things like that,” Van Gundy said. “So, I always see people I know, and that’s good. When I first went back there as an assistant coach with the [ Miami] Heat, walking into the Coliseum was huge for me. It was big.”"

Read the full story here.

Speaking of Pietrus, John Denton wrote a nice article about him.

"“When you get a call from the Orlando Magic you pick up the phone really, really quick,’’ Pietrus said with his usual Caribbean accent adding flair to the conversation. “When you see it’s the Magic on the phone, you wait maybe one (ring) and then you say, `Yes, yes, yes! Please give me No. 20. I’m there.’“Now,” Pietrus continued, “I play for the best team in the league.”"

Read Denton’s story here.

Dwight Howard has updated his blog again. He made a very generous donation.

"I heard about the BETA Center in Orlando and wanted to do what I could to help them out. They take in teenage mothers and give them tutoring and child care that helps them stay on track to graduate from high school. I’ve seen how some people look down their noses at teenage moms and treat them poorly and I wanted to help however I could.We were able to give $25,000 to the BETA Center to help them keep offering those services to the young moms. I got to meet a bunch of them yesterday and I felt like a politician as many babies as I held and posed for pictures. Ya’ll, I used to be so scared of holding little-bitty babies, afraid that I’d drop them or smush them or something."

Read Dwight’s blog here.

The New Jersey Nets and former Magic players Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston and Tony Battie got their first win of the season. Courtney Lee had a career-high 27 points.

"Courtney Lee took over Trenton Hassell’s starting job Friday night, and in just 33 minutes, he might have cured the Nets’ biggest headache.Lee hit three 3-pointers in four attempts on his way to a brilliant 27-point performance in the 97-91 victory over Charlotte. And while three makes from the arc may not seem like much, that is the Nets’ quota (3.5, to be exact) this season.Overall, they entered the game ranked 29th from downtown (.275), but Lee – who shot .404 in Orlando as a rookie – should change that fairly quickly.“It helps spacing the floor, and he’s a legitimate offensive factor, so they have to respect his game,” center Brook Lopez said. “Tonight was his night — he dominated the game.”"