The Orlando Magic can rebound from their second deflating loss to the Boston Celtics in three days on Friday when they take on the New Orleans Hornets. After losing Chris Paul and David West over the summer, New Orleans faces a full rebuild mode. Unfortunately for it, Eric Gordon, the star shooting guard it received from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Paul trade, has appeared in just two games due to knee injury. As a result, the Hornets are simply awful offensively.

Friday's is Orlando's fourth game in five nights, and the schedule hardly relents from there: the Magic have an off day Saturday, but then play yet another back-to-back Sunday and Monday. Orlando must take advantage of this opportunity to fatten up: New Orleans has lost nine straight games and has won just once at home in 10 tries.

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The Boston Celtics spotted the Orlando Magic a 27-point lead Thursday night, but it scarcely mattered as the visiting Celtics closed the game on a 44-15 run to win by a 91-83 final. Paul Pierce scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the second half for Boston, while rookie guard E'Twaun Moore added 16 points in 18 minutes off the bench. Dwight Howard poured in 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Magic, who frittered away their huge lead by shooting 22.9 percent in the second half.

With Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen out once again--as they were Monday when Boston held Orlando to a franchise-low 56 points--Pierce had to shoulder its offensive load, and the veteran did so capably, dishing 10 assists in addition to his 24 points. But the game was less about what Boston accomplished offensively and more about what it accomplished on D. The intense pressure Avery Bradley put on Jameer Nelson for all 94 feet keyed Boston's second-half resurgence, as it prevented the Magic from getting into their offense and forced them to freelance a bit. The Magic can't create for themselves one-on-one with a waning shot clock, and the pressure left them scrambling just to put something, anything, up toward the rim.

That wasn't the case in the first half, in which Orlando shot 50 percent from the floor and committed only three turnovers in blowing out the Celtics. J.J. Redick and Glen Davis scored seven first-half points apiece, while Ryan Anderson rifled in 12, helping the Magic overcome Howard's foul trouble; the All-Star center managed just seven first-half minutes due to three personals.

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The Orlando Magic will allow reserve center Daniel Orton, who has yet to play at the NBA level since they made him the 29th pick of the 2010 NBA Draft, to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2012, as they will not exercise their option on Orton's contract for the 2012/13 season by Wednesday's deadline. This news comes via Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, who quotes Orton and Ara Vartanian, his agent, as being surprised with the decision.

Though Orton says "I understand" the team's decision, the 21-year-old admits confusion about other aspects of Orlando's handling of his situation. "But I don't understand a lot of things, such as why I didn't get a chance maybe to showcase what I have."

Orton missed the entire 2010/11 season due to a knee injury, a nagging one which contributed to his struggles during the Orlando Pro Summer League. Playing against fellow rookies, castoffs, and other folks vying for training-camp invitations, Orton averaged 3.2 points and 1.8 boards in 17.2 minutes per game, shooting 14.8 percent from the field. He joined the New Mexico Thunderbirds for two games in the NBA D-League that winter, averaging 10 points and eight rebounds, but re-injured his knee in his second game.

He made one appearance in the Magic's 2011/12 preseason finale, scoring four points with a pair of long two-point jumpers in the game's waning moments.

In his lone season with the Kentucky Wildcats, Orton averaged 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 13.2 minutes per game, serving as the backup to DeMarcus Cousins. He rated highly on Orlando's draft board due to his "live body, good hands, [and] good feet," Otis Smith, the Magic's President of Basketball Operations, said on Draft night.

Smith also said Orton is "a big guy you don't necessarily have to use right away." He could not have been more serious, as Orton has yet to play nearly two years after his selection.

To be clear, the Magic could still elect to re-sign Orton over the summer. However, they will not have the right to match any offer another team makes for him, as he will be an unrestricted free agent.

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The Orlando Magic rebounded from the worst offensive performance in their history with a convincing 102-83 defeat of the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night, one in which Dwight Howard became Orlando's all-time leading scorer and the team handed the hosts their first home loss of the season. At the 9:59 mark of the third, Howard darted down the lane, took a pass from--who else?--Hedo Turkoglu, and threw down a dunk on Roy Hibbert to bring his career scoring total to 10,561, one ahead of Nick Anderson on Orlando's franchise list.

Howard had an otherwise pedestrian game, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds, but his teammates did more than their fair share to help Orlando knock off Indiana. Ryan Anderson, who missed all eight of his shot attempts in the Magic's 31-point loss to the Boston Celtics on Monday, led all scorers with 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Turkoglu had 11 points and eight assists. The second unit came up big as well, as J.J. Redick scored 15 points and Glen Davis played a sound all-around game, with 14 points and five rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting.

Hibbert and Danny Granger led the Pacers with 16 points apiece, but combined to shoot 10-of-29 from the field with three turnovers. Indiana played sloppily, committing 19 turnovers, the most for a Magic opponent during the 2011/12 season, which Orlando converted into 20 points.

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The Orlando Magic have until Wednesday at 11:59 PM to extend the contract of fourth-year power forward Ryan Anderson--the NBA's deadline for members of the 2008 draft class--but Otis Smith said he has no plans to do so. "We still have the right of first refusal because he'd be a restricted free agent," the Magic's President of Basketball Operations told Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. "It could backfire, and we could have to pay more. But that's the risk we've chosen to take."

A report Friday indicated Anderson was among the "most likely" 2008 draftees to earn a contract extension prior to Wednesday's deadline.

Anderson is enjoying the most successful season of his career, ranking second on the team in scoring (16.4 points per game) and in rebounding (6.8 rebounds per game) through Tuesday's matchup against the Indiana Pacers. It's likely the 23-year-old will receive an offer sheet well into eight figures.

Smith told Robbins the uncertainty surrounding Dwight Howard's future with the franchise contributed to his decision not to extend Anderson's contract. This course of action "helps maintain some flexibility," as Robbins writes.

In the last three offseasons, two Magic players have hit restricted free agency: Marcin Gortat in 2009 and J.J. Redick in 2010. Orlando matched the offer on both occasions, though it did wind up trading Gortat less than six months after doing so.

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Ed. note: I'm letting Mike's analysis here serve as a Magic/Celtics game recap. - ED

In a performance that absolutely no one saw coming, the struggling Celtics, who were 0-6 against winning teams and were missing starters Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen along with key reserves Mickael Pietrus and Keyon Dooling, embarrassed the Magic 87-56. Many negative Magic franchise records were set in this game. Here are just some of them:

The 56 points scored by the Magic broke the franchise record for the fewest points scored in a game of 57, set in December 1996 against Cleveland.

The 16 of 65 FG shooting (24.8%) by the Magic broke the franchise record of lowest FG percentage in a game of 25%, set in November of 2003 against New York.

The 16 field goals made by the Magic shattered the franchise record of fewest FGs in a game of 21, set on five previous occasions.

The Magic became just the third NBA team in the last 27 seasons to score 60 or fewer points in a game along with FG shooting of 25% or less.

No Magic player shot better than 40% from the field. Ryan Anderson had the worst game of his career with 0 points on 0 for 8 FG shooting.

Lastly, the Celtics were perfect in 19 free throw attempts. This was the ninth time in franchise history that a Magic opposing team was perfect from the FT line, and the second-most makes without a miss.

Here's how the Magic shot and scored each quarter: First Quarter: 6 of 18 FG (33.3%), 0 for 3 on threes, 8 for 8 on free throws for 20 points (Warning: it goes downhill from here). Second Quarter: 5 of 20 FG (25%), 2 of 5 on threes, 4 of 6 on free throws for 16 points. Third Quarter: 2 of 11 FGs (18.2%), 2 of 7 on threes, 4 of 10 on free throws for 10 points. Fourth Quarter: 3 of 16 FGs (18.8%), 0 for 1 on threes, 4 of 6 on free throws for 10 points.

First Half: 11 of 38 FG shooting (28.9%), 2 for 8 on threes, 12 of 14 on free throws for 36 points. Second half: 5 of 27 FGs (18.5%), 2 of 8 on threes, 8 of 16 on free throws for 20 points.

How bad of a game was this for the Magic? In the second half, the Magic had more than three times as many turnovers (17) than made field goals (5).

I hope it's a long, long time before the Magic have a game coming close to how bad they were in this game.

The Orlando Magic prolonged the Los Angeles Lakers' road misery Friday night, dealing them a 92-80 defeat that wasn't as close as that final score may indicate. L.A. had just 22 points with 3:05 to play in the second period, for example, and Lakers players not named Kobe Bryant shot 5-of-28 (17.9 percent) before intermission.

In what had been billed as a showdown between Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum, arguably the league's two top centers and whose names have been linked in trade rumors for one another, Howard prevailed easily. He saddled Bynum with three fouls to limit L.A.'s center to nine first-half minutes. Though Bynum played a key role in limiting Howard to 6-of-14 shooting, Howard otherwise dominated the matchup. His 21 points came two points shy of matching the combined production of Bynum and All-Star power forward Pau Gasol, while Howard's 23 rebounds topped the Lakers' pair by one.

It'd be a mistake to read too deeply into the individual Howard/Bynum matchup, however. "When you're talking about who's the best in any position, you're not looking at one thing," coach Stan Van Gundy said. "You're looking at a whole body of work." Orlando's coach said Howard is still the best center in the league, but was complimetary of Bynum, calling him "a great player."

Howard had plenty of help in leading Orlando to its sixth regular-season defeat of the Lakers in the last nine meetings between the teams. Jameer Nelson scored 17 points and dished nine assists. The Magic shot 12-of-27 from beyond the arc on the night, and Nelson had a hand in 10 of the makes: seven of his nine assists were on baskets outside the arc, while he shot 3-of-4 himself. It was an impressive display for Nelson, coming off a 2-of-16 shooting night in a two-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. Orlando's three other starters also scored in double figures.

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With the deadline for NBA teams to sign fourth-year players to contract extensions looming, the Orlando Magic may offer starting power forward Ryan Anderson one in the days ahead, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Anderson is among "the most likely candidates to receive" an extension offer before the January 25th deadline, along with Nicolas Batum of the Portland Trail Blazers, Danilo Gallinari of the Denver Nuggets, and Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Anderson has blossomed in his fourth professional season, emerging as Orlando's second-leading scorer (17.8 points per game) and rebounder (7.2 per game) next to Dwight Howard. His accurate (41.4 percent), high-volume three-point shooting has helped return the Magic to the league's elite on the offensive side of the ball.

However, Orlando must decide what Anderson's play might be worth if he weren't playing alongside Howard, who draws defensive attention away from Anderson to free the former California Golden Bear for open three-pointers. Is Anderson a go-to offensive weapon on a Howard-less Magic team, or would he need to share the floor with another double-team-commanding offensive presence in order to be effective? Andrew Greif of Dime Magazine grapples with that question--with Orlando Pinstriped Post's help--in a story published Thursday.

The New Jersey Nets made Anderson, the 2008 Pac-10 Player of the Year, the 21st pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. After one season, they traded him to the Magic, along with Vince Carter, for Courtney Lee and the expiring contracts of Rafer Alston and Tony Battie. Initially considered a throw-in, Anderson has proven to be the best player involved in that trade and stands as one of the few of Otis Smith's recent acquisitions to pan out in Orlando.

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