Orlando Magic News & Notes: Magic Blow Another Big Lead, Former Magic Guard Arrested

The Orlando Magic built a 71-53 third quarter lead against the New Orleans Hornets on Friday only to see that lead slip away and result in another Friday night disappointment, this time a 100-93 loss.

David West dropped 40 points for the Hornets in the win.

"The Magic were struggling to score, with just about everyone not named Howard and Nelson having tough or so-so nights.They had just four points — one basket — for half of the final period.West and Vince Carter tangled in the quarter. West threw an elbow, catching Carter and was whistled for a technical foul. The two jawed at each other as they made their way down court after Carter missed the free throw."

Brian Schmitz has that story here.

After the game, Schmitz also wondered where Vince Carter was in the fourth quarter.

"Maybe things would have been different. Maybe the Magic still would have lost, guilty of coughing up an 18-point third-quarter lead.But Carter’s job is to close, to finish and he was 1-of-4 for just three points in the final quarter.These are games that he needs to take by the throat. He said the Hornets, with that 48-point game still in their memory banks, came with the defensive pressure against him most of the night.It wasn’t all on Carter, but as I wrote the other day, Dwight Howard is on a tear, but still needs some help.Rashard Lewis? He was 3-of-11 for just nine points, and was worn out by David West (40 points on 16-of-24 shooting)."

You can read his blog here.

Alex Kennedy was in attendance and offered his thoughts.

"“It’s really tough because we played well enough to get the lead and do what we needed to do. Then, the same shots weren’t falling (later in the game),” said Vince Carter. The whole Magic locker room was very frustrated after this one and chalked the win up to sloppy play and not valuing every possession."

You can read his courtside blog here.

Philip Rossman-Reich echoed Stan Van Gundy’s sentiments.

"But as has happened many times this season when the Magic open up a sizeable lead, they got lazy defensively and offensively. They stopped making the simple plays that got them the lead and tried to throw alley-oops to Howard when he wasn’t ready or had someone beneath him preventing him from jumping or took quick 3-pointers without getting penetration first.Right now, Orlando is not hitting threes at a good clip. So any one of those shots that comes without penetration first is simply a poor shot."

You can read that story here.

Ryan Schwan has the game recap from the Hornets’ perspective.

"But then the Magic relaxed, committed some turnovers, gave up some easy baskets, and started taking threes. The Hornets kept attacking, the crowd got into it, and the defense on both sides began to tighten. The Hornets, however, lived on scrapping and trying to get easy baskets. The Magic lived by the three – despite abysmally cold shooting for them. At some point I expected the ever over-expressive Stan Van Gundy to grab Jameer Nelson by the shoulders and scream at him, “For the love of god, get to the basket!!!”"

You can read him at Hornets 24/7.

Ben Q. Rock writes that moving Matt Barnes into the starting lineup was an excellent decision.

"And to prove just how wrong I was in early January, that same lineup with Pietrus in Barnes’ place is much, much worse due to its tremendous drop-off on offense: just 103.7 points per 100 possessions, with the defense virtually identical to that of the Barnes unit at 98.4.Now, there may be other factors at play here. Barnes’ starts have coincided with Carter’s re-emergence, Nelson’s return to health, and Howard’s increased offensive role. Perhaps if Pietrus had played more alongside the four All-Stars as they’re playing presently, he’d have a better showing. However, Barnes’ impact is too big to ignore. We’ll go in greater detail after the jump."

You can read that story here.

Brandon Bass is using experience to deal with his lack of playing time.

"“Going through the situation I went through with the Hornets …I probably wouldn’t be able to do this,” said Bass, a native of Baton Rouge, La., who signed a four-year deal with the Magic last summer. “It’s hard. It’s hard when you know you can contribute.”Bass saw action last week against the Cleveland Cavaliers after coach Stan Van Gundy matched him against F J.J. Hickson. Bass hopes it was a sign that he might be called upon in a possible Cavs-Magic playoff series.“Hopefully, [Van Gundy] feels he has confidence in me in certain situations and against certain teams. By me coming into the game, we took Hickson completely out of the game. He didn’t want to play anymore that night.”"

You can find that story here.

Former Magic and current Miami Heat Point Guard Carlos Arroyo was arrested.

"Heat point guard Carlos Arroyo was arrested Friday in Coral Gables and is facing charges for a traffic violation and resisting arrest.According to the arrest report, Arroyo was spotted at 8:41 a.m. driving slow enough along the 7100 block of Old Cutler Road to the point that he was said to be impeding traffic.Arroyo apparently was on his way to the Heat’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. He did not attend the workout in advance of Saturday’s game against Milwaukee.“We are aware of the traffic stop involving Carlos Arroyo [on Friday] morning, and while we fully support our players, this is a pending legal matter, and we will have no comment at this time,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement."

You can find that story here.

As for his mug shot?

It’s not a pretty picture.

If you ignore the injury Arroyo suffered, does his mug shot really look any different than his photo with the Magic?

Carlos Arroyo’s Miami Heat will take on the Magic Sunday night.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).