The Orlando Magic were defeated by the Utah Jazz. See my recap and analysis here.
Orlando will have a chance to bounce back Friday night in Phoenix against the Suns. You can read a game preview here.
Rashard Lewis did not go back into the game when Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy called his number in the second quarter last night.
“(Van Gundy) wasn’t pissed at the time,” said Lewis of declining to report in at Van Gundy’s request. “But he
"was pissed when they started making a run. You got to point the finger at something if that’s what you got to point it at. Hey, I don’t give a damn.”Van Gundy agreed that Lewis wasn’t being defiant and even said he probably thought he was being “unselfish.” But the coach was not pleased and said he wasn’t going to send someone back in a game “that wasn’t in the right frame of mind.”Lewis said he didn’t feel that he and Van Gundy are at odds.“I didn’t really get it. Frustrated or whatever … To be honest, I think he thought he was being unselfish,” Van Gundy said. “Ryan was playing well. But to me, Ryan had played enough minutes at that point, 12 to 13 straight and that’s enough because a guy is going to run out of gas."
I honestly don’t think Lewis was being defiant or anything. I think he was genuinely worried about getting into more foul trouble and was trying to help the team by leaving the hot hand, Ryan Anderson, in the game.
Read the full story from Brian Schmitz here.
Dwight Howard thinks Nate Robinson needs to just hang in there.
"New York Knicks PG Nate Robinson was reportedly benched by coach Mike D’Antoni for joking with Howard before the Knicks faced the Magic Dec. 2 in Orlando.“We were just having fun. It shouldn’t matter what you do before the game; it should matter what you do during the game,” Howard said. “I want Nate to play.”Howard said he has tried to encourage Robinson through text messaging.“I just told him to keep going and not let anything affect him, whether he gets five minutes or 25 minutes, just do it to the best of his ability,” he said."
Read this and other Magic notes here.
John Denton has some interesting post-game thoughts.
"For a third consecutive game on this Western Conference roadtrip, the Magic got off to a scorching start. The Magic jumped up 35-22 by hitting 13 of 20 shots and five 3-pointers. Getting out of the gate quickly certainly hasn’t been a problem for the Magic of late. They led Golden State 42-31 after one period and they raced to a 34-24 advantage on the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night. Holding those leads, however, has been a problem. Fumed Van Gundy: “We’ve established a habit that’s been going on a while now – jump out well, relax and let everybody back into games. The difference is Utah is a better team. Until we start playing 48 minutes then we’re going to struggle against the better teams.’’"
Check out Denton’s post-game analysis here.
Kelly Dwyer discusses Orlando’s defense.
"Orlando doubled Utah up on turnovers, but at a 13 to six rate, and 13 ain’t bad. 13’s pretty good, actually, for a quick game like this. Matt Barnes(notes) finally got off the schneid with 17 points and five rebounds, but offense (about 117 points per 100 possessions, they average 110.6, good for fifth) was not Orlando’s problem.Letting Utah pile up those points? That’s the issue. Orlando’s defense has been improving all year, but it’s still dropped significantly (ninth, right now) from the defense we saw lead the league in defensive efficiency last year."
Read that here.
In a throwback, Andre Johnson says that Michael Jordan had praise for Penny Hardway’s fearlessness.
"“I was like, ‘I’m ready to kill him,’ a laughing Hardaway said of Jordan. “I had that Memphis mentality. I wanted to show him I could play. It was amazing because I knew he was going to make me play a game at a high level. He gave me a lot of credit, telling other players and his teammates he respected my game. When he say that, that means you’re getting a blessing from the man.”That Jordan publicly commended Hardaway’s tenacity, particularly during the 1995 playoffs when he averaged 25.7 points and helped the Magic eliminate Jordan and the Bulls in Eastern Conference semifinals, only reinforced what Memphians have known all along. That is, Hardaway was destined for greatness since his teenage days of playing pickup games on the perilous streets of Binghamton."
This is a really nice read about Penny that you can find here.
Check out a hilarious e-card from the Magic wishing everyone Happy Holidays 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.)