Tonight's Game: Orlando Magic at Memphis Grizzlies
by Evan Dunlap on Oct 31, 2008 8:12 PM EDT
in 2008/2009 Previews
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PrintOrlando Magic at Memphis Grizzlies, Oct 31, 2008 8:00 PM EDT
| 2008/2009 NBA Regular Season | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
@ |  |
| 0-1 | 0-1 | |
| October 31st, 2008 | ||
| FedExForum | ||
| 8:00 PM | ||
| Sun Sports | ||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Jameer Nelson | PG | Mike Conley |
| Mickael Pietrus | SG | O.J. Mayo |
| Hedo Turkoglu | SF | Rudy Gay |
| Rashard Lewis | PF | Darrell Arthur |
| Dwight Howard | C | Marc Gasol |
UPDATE 2:
- The Grizzlies have inserted Darrell Arthur into their starting lineup, replacing Darko Milicic.
UPDATE:
- 3 Shades of Blue has its preview up. Chip gives the Magic the edge in at point guard, shooting guard, power forward, and center, and his hometown Grizzlies the edge at small forward and on the bench.
- Speaking of benches, Brian Schmitz reports that Stan Van Gundy will not change his eight-man rotation for tonight's game despite its lackluster play against Atlanta. Thus, Tony Battie, Anthony Johnson, and J.J. Redick will once again be the first three men off the pine.
- Don't forget to read our commentary piece about Trevor Ariza, which has been bumped down the front page to make room for the gamethread.
Both the Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies dropped their season-openers on Wednesday night. The Magic were out-hustled by the Hawks, while the Grizzlies lost to the Rockets by 11 despite shooting a higher percentage from the field; of course, it's hard for a team to win when it clanks all its three-point attempts, which is exactly what the Grizzlies did.
That said, this team could give the Magic trouble. Rookie two-guard O.J. Mayo had an awful professional debut, missing 15 of his 20 shots and scoring only 10 points, but in theory he's quick enough to get to the rim against any of Orlando's defenders. Fellow rookie Darrell Arthur played much better against Houston, with 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds off the bench, and could come up with the sort of hustle plays the Hawks did to beat Orlando on Wednesday. And Rudy Gay is, well, he's a damn good player with a bright future stuck on an awful team.
All that said, the Magic will give the Grizzlies trouble, too. Darko Milicic can't guard Rashard Lewis; Gay can, but that leaves Milicic to check Hedo Turkoglu and, by extension, leaves the Grizzlies up a creek. Dwight Howard has averaged 25.5 points and 16 rebounds on 79% shooting against the Grizzlies over the past two seasons. And, for what it's worth, J.J. Redick popped-off for 15 points off the bench when these two teams met in the exhibition-season finale a little over a week ago. So there's that, too.
More thoughts on the game, including musings about Marcin Gortat and Darko Milicic, after the jump.
And maybe I'm just a total basketball nerd, but I really want to see Magic reserve center Marcin Gortat match-up against Milicic, the former Magic forward, if only for a few minutes. The Phoenix Suns made Gortat the 57th selection in the 2005 NBA Draft before trading his rights to Orlando; meanwhile, the Detroit Pistons infamously made Milicic the 2nd selection in the 2003 NBA Draft, behind LeBron James and ahead of superstars Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. So far, Gortat appears to be the more productive player, with the big, honkin' caveat that he's played a grand total of 47 minutes to Milicic's 4773.
Magic fans will keep an eye on how Milicic does, tonight and throughout his career, especially given the less-than-acrimonious way in which he and the Magic parted ways. But I imagine some Magic fans will be on the lookout for Javaris Crittenton, long the subject of trade rumors. They may not get a good look at him though, as he did not play in the opener and thus appears to be out of the rotation. Obviously, they'll also watch the players on the team for which they root. My guess is Jameer Nelson, who played dreadfully against Atlanta: 8 points on 4-of-12 shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 turnovers in 32 minutes. If he can't acquit himself against Mike Conley, um, then something must be wrong with him. Last year, the Grizzlies gave up 116.7 points per 100 possessions to their opponents when Conley was on the floor, compared to 108.17 when he was off it for an efficiency differential of 8.54. By that metric, Conley had the worst single impact on the Grizzlies' defense among players who were part of the regular rotation.
For the best Memphis Grizzlies coverage, I recommend the excelled independent blog 3 Shades of Blue, which recently moved to the new Bloguin platform. The gents at 3SoB do a simply marvelous job of covering their team. If you prefer mainstream media, you're in luck, as the Memphis Commercial Appeal provides fantastic Grizz content.
Tip's at 8. Go Magic.
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Off to a decent start offensively
All three shots have been three-pointers, and we’ve made two of them.
Rashard's "I Care" commercial is worse than jason Hammell.
Brad Ziegler had a scoreless inning streak. Brad Ziegler had not met BJ Upton.
5 turnovers already for Orlando
A little over halfway into the first period and the Magic have coughed it up 5 times. Stan can’t be happy with that.
Grizzlies lead, 26-25, after one
Hedo had a chance to give the Magic the lead, buy he bricked two free throws with 2 seconds left in the quarter.
Orlando is 2-of-6 from the line and has committed 7 turnovers.
Awful.
Magic are shooting over 60% from the field after one, which is good to see. They also have six assists, so they’re moving the ball a lot better on offense, and they are outrebounding the Grizzlies.
Memphis has made 7 more FTs than the Magic, and the 7 turnovers on the Magic’s part isn’t good.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 8:47 PM EDT reply actions
Three fouls on Darko in less than four minutes of play!
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 8:50 PM EDT reply actions
Grizz in the penalty with 10 minutes remaining in the half
hahaha. Doesn’t matter if they don’t make the free-throws, though.
Battie
Nice to see Battie being a factor on offense off the bench.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 8:56 PM EDT reply actions
4 points and 2 boards
Don’t know if we can count on his drilling those long jumpers on a consistent basis, but we’ll certainly take it.
I still think Marcin Gortat will eventually eat into those minutes.
The Magic's FT shooting...
The Magic would have a much larger lead if they could make more than 3 out of 10 from the line.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:01 PM EDT reply actions
Redick...
Even though he didn’t score in over 11 minutes, he did get 3 rebounds.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:03 PM EDT reply actions
Are you kidding me?
Gasol gets tough with Howard down low, tips the entry pass out of bounds, and Howard picks up a technical.
Dwight Howard just got psyched out by Marc Gasol.
Nelson...
is playing much better tonight with 8 points and 3 assists so far.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:12 PM EDT reply actions
3 point field goals
The Magic have already made as many 3 pointers tonight (four) as they did the whole game against Atlanta.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:13 PM EDT reply actions
Free throw shooting is equally horrendous. I didn’t know Shaq offered classes.
by TheGiantSquid on Oct 31, 2008 9:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Orlando pulling away, 52-43
The Grizz just left Rashard WIDE OPEN IN THE CORNER and he drilled the 3-pointer.
Somebody did not read the scouting report on him.
Lewis...
could be on the way to his first 30 point game with the Magic.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:20 PM EDT reply actions
First half stats...
look a heck of a lot better for the Magic than against the Hawks. Magic are shooting over 60% from the field, and 42% from 3 point range, and they are outrebounding the Grizzlies 23-14; also 11 assists which is one more than they had the whole game against the Hawks.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:25 PM EDT reply actions
Only negatives for the Magic are the 9 of 17 FT shooting and the 9 turnovers.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:26 PM EDT reply actions
I expect a blowout in the 2cd half.
'Coach, Dwight is a nice guy. Dwight don't hit anybody. But Superman will knock the crap out of you.' - D12
Ugh
'Coach, Dwight is a nice guy. Dwight don't hit anybody. But Superman will knock the crap out of you.' - D12
by Eyriq the Red on Oct 31, 2008 11:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Saliva?? Glad I don’t have to see that! The Blackhawks game is my halftime entertainment. I tuned in the Bulls/Celtics briefly and the Celts are blowing them out.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:37 PM EDT reply actions
Wow, SVG sure took Pietrus out in a hurry… can’t blame SVG for that.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:40 PM EDT reply actions
+/-
Not that I pay too much attention to the +/- stat, which can be deceiving at times, but Bogans is a +12 so far.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:42 PM EDT reply actions
Turk's assists...
he has 6 assists so far!
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 9:44 PM EDT reply actions
Not good...
The Magic have shot just 4 of 16 from the field in the third, with Nelson shooting 0 for 6 in the quarter.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 10:01 PM EDT reply actions
Grizzlies on a 16-6 run, within 5 points....
And Pietrus passes the ball with 2 seconds on the shot clock. Turnover. Grizz ball.
Magic nursing a 68-61 lead
Poor third-quarter showing from the guys. Grizz have momentum and the ball to start the 4th.
Magic shot just 5 of 22 from the field in the third; Lewis went scoreless after scoring 19 first half points, and Pietrus has yet to score.
C’mon guys… let’s finish the Grizzlies off this last quarter.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 10:08 PM EDT reply actions
Took him long enough
I bet if we show this box score to GSW fans, they’ll say, “I told you so.”
by Evan Dunlap on Oct 31, 2008 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Pietrus' fouls...
One of the main criticisms of Pietrus was that he fouled too often while with the Warriors. Well, he has five fouls in over 17 minutes tonight. Obviously, that’s something he needs to work on.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 10:14 PM EDT reply actions
Luis Grillo is down
Bennett Salvatore and Violet Palmer have to call the game themselves…
… and they immediately whistle Dwight Howard for his fifth foul.
Magic are 7 for 32 shooting in the second half, with Nelson 0 for 8 in the half. Lewis is still scoreless in the half.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 10:27 PM EDT reply actions
Jameer sure picked a good time to hit a three
Magic take a one-point lead, 79-78, but Rudy Gay is going to the foul line.
Bogans draws a foul from Rudy Gay with a pump-fake.
I can recall KeBo missing some clutch FTs last year
by Evan Dunlap on Oct 31, 2008 10:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Since the two quick threes he made in the first half, Bogans hasn’t done much of anything. Thank goodness he at least split his free throws.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 10:38 PM EDT reply actions
Grizzlies can hold now basically for the final shot.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 10:40 PM EDT reply actions
…about how Bogans shouldn’t be shooting in that situation.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 10:43 PM EDT reply actions
You mean to tell me they couldn't diagram a better play than that??
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 10:45 PM EDT reply actions
That never should have happened if it wasn’t for the forced pass to Howard by Turk with 2.8 seconds left that allowed the Grizzlies to get that final shot
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 10:48 PM EDT reply actions
So embarrassing.
The Magic didn’t even score 30 points in the entire second half.
What the hell is going on with this team?
How’s that for a scary Halloween? The Magic sure provided it! Despite the outcome, hope everyone had a safe and sane Halloween.
Averaging 84 1/2 points in two games… the Magic are nowhere near where they need to be.
Not to mention blowing a 15 point third quarter lead.
by Mike from Illinois on Oct 31, 2008 10:52 PM EDT reply actions
I don't believe it!
I mean we lost to the Grizzlies?!?!? Sure it was close but we should have won by like 15 points at least. Seriously tell our team to not even mention a championship if we can’t even beat the grizzlies. Very disappointing.
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