Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy says that Jameer Nelson will not return an earlier than Wednesday. It was originally thought that Nelson could return to the lineup Monday.
"Van Gundy said, “It just depends on how he looks. We’ll have to see if he’s up to speed,” Van Gundy said. “He’s got to go through a practice.”Nelson, who made the trip with the Magic to Miami, said before the game that he’d like to participate in Saturday’s shootaround before the team faces the Portland Trail Blazers.Nelson said he hasn’t had any swelling in the knee. He has been working out individually and “adding to my load” as the days go by. “It isn’t my decision,” Nelson said of his return.When told that he was the one who basically controlled his surprise comeback during the NBA Finals last June, Nelson laughed. “This is the sequel,” he said."
Read the whole story here.
The Magic were blown out by the Miami Heat on Thursday night. Find out what went wrong here.
John Denton got some interesting quotes from Van Gundy.
"“To a man, Miami played harder than us,’’ said Magic guard J.J. Redick, who had 13 points and two 3-pointers. “Nothing we tried on defense seemed to work and that’s a sure sign that it was an effort thing.’’Orlando (19-7) lost for the third time in four games, dropping it into a tie atop the Southeast Division with the Atlanta Hawks. Even more troubling, the Magic got off to a poor start for the third time in the past week, only this time there would no clawing their way back into the game.Before Van Gundy started his postgame news conference, he threw both palms up in the air. Then, he said he saw the loss coming because of the Magic’s poor preparation and he took part of the blame for changing the defense and leaving the Magic defenders confused.“We’re usually a very good group in terms of focusing and preparing, but today in our walkthrough our minds weren’t there and we weren’t into it and we didn’t come out ready to play,’’ he said. “They were great and we were real bad. When you get that combination you’re going to get a real lopsided game.’’"
Read Denton’s postgame analysis here.
Kelly Dwyer goes behind the box score.
"I suppose, after going all out for just about each of the team’s 106 games last season, the Magic were bound to fall back a bit this year.And, after winning 19 of 25 to start the season despite all sorts of new faces, injuries, suspensions, and injuries to new faces, I suppose it’s OK for the Magic to drop a stinker like this. I suppose."
See the full story here.
Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald thinks that the Heat exposed Orlando’s defense.
"Shooting 58 percent from the field, dominating the boards and spreading the offensive wealth, the Heat sprinted to its highest-scoring first quarter of the season when it raced to a 33-18 lead against the Magic.Perhaps Quentin Richardson’s return to the starting lineup from a lingering hamstring injury provided a spark. The Heat entered with a 5-2 record when Richardson scores in double figures. He had made a pair of threes and had eight points in the quarter to complement a hot start by Wade, who scored 10 on 4-of-7 shooting.Miami would lead by as many as 18 in the second quarter and carried a 59-44 lead into the halftime break. The offensive efficiency was spread throughout Miami’s playing rotation.The Heat’s starters were 16 of 33 from the field, and reserves Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony, Dorell Wright and Mario Chalmers were more accurate at 8 of 11 in the half."
Read that story here.
Ira Winderman thinks beating the two-time defending Southeast Division Champions and the defending Eastern Conference Champions was a huge step forward for the Heat. Find out why here.
Rashard Lewis discussed the return of Hedo Turkoglu and clears up the situation in Phoenix last week.
"I miss Turk and wish he was still here, but I don’t begrudge him because he had to make a business decision for what was best for his family. I had to do something similar three years ago when I left Seattle for Orlando, but as it turns out it was the best thing I’ve ever done."
Read Rashard’s blog 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.)