Orlando Magic 110, New York Knicks 96

by Evan Dunlap on Dec 26, 2007 10:20 PM EST in 2007/2008 Recaps

Keyon Dooling drives to the basket with the help of a Dwight Howard screen

Keyon Dooling drives to the basket as Dwight Howard screens away the defense of New York's Jamal Crawford in the Magic's 110-96 victory over the Knicks.
Photo by Fernando Medina, NBAE/Getty Images

The Orlando Magic defended their home floor successfully for the first time since November 24th by defeating the New York Knicks, 110-96, at the Amway Arena. Here's the boxscore.

Tonight's victory is eerily similar to our first one against the Knicks, in which we spotted the Gothamites a one-point halftime lead before taking over in the second half, particularly in the fourth quarter. Had we lost this one, it would have truly been embarrassing. Somehow, we managed to trail at halftime despite outshooting the Knicks, .541-.396. We also struggled to force turnovers, but luckily the Knicks naturally cooled off... or the Magic naturally warmed up. Either way, we won the game running away, and our strong effort should give us a bit of momentum as we prepare to play the struggling Heat on Friday in Miami.

It wasn't all good news for the Magic, though. Yes, we got the win, but our backcourt once again struggled. Keith Bogans gave us the basketball equivalent of a golden sombrero, going 1-of-11 from three-point range, wasting Magic possessions (and killing my fantasy team, I should add). Jameer Nelson had just 6 points in 33 minutes, but he was not looking to score too much in this game, instead focusing on setting up his teammates.

Luckily for us, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu brought their A-games. The starting forwards combined for 51 points (on 19-of-32 shooting) to go with 12 rebounds. Turk also dished 6 assists, strengthening his case for inclusion on the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Kudos also to Keyon Dooling and Carlos Arroyo, who provided a boost off the bench. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the strong play of James Augustine, who managed to score 6 points (on 3-of-3 shooting) in 15 effective minutes of playing time.

One question remains: what is Keith Bogans going to have to do to lose minutes to J.J. Redick? He shoots 1-of-11 from downtown, plays below-average defense due to a sore knee, and still stays on the court for 25 minutes while J.J. tallies another DNP-CD. At the very least, Stan Van Gundy needs to get him on the court to showcase his abilities for a possible trade.

I never thought I'd ever see the day when James Augustine became more NBA-relevant than J.J. Redick, but that time has come.

Let's try to curb our enthusiasm, though. Beating the Knicks isn't an especially hard thing to do, especially when they are the visiting team; tonight's loss drops them to 1-11 on the road. For me to feel secure about our season again, the Magic will need to beat the Heat and the Bobcats this weekend. Until then, I'm nonplussed.

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Comments

who?

James Auginstine???
who?????
who is this guy,

by Boricua on Dec 27, 2007 2:30 AM EST reply actions

James

I nicknamed him "No-Name James" last year because no one knew who he was. I like his hustle and energy; he's no Bo Outlaw by any means, but he works hard. Like a taller, skinnier, white Don Reid, maybe?

by Evan Dunlap on Dec 27, 2007 6:46 PM EST up reply actions

Better

... better performance by the Magic. Granted, it was against the Knicks but the energy level, especially in the second half was excellent. The defensive intensity was also much improved in the second half.

It's a start and hopefully, as you said, they can carry this level of play against the Heat.

As for benching Jameer, I've been calling for it for ... a while now. Our offense flows much better when Arroyo is on the floor ... sure he can be erratic at times but I'll take it if it means our offensive output increases. Nelson is WAY TOO erratic right now ... and with the lineup of Nelson/Dooling/Turk/Augustine/Foyle being so effective in the 4th quarter ... put him in the bench. Doesn't hurt.

I know Bogans has been struggling but I would rather bench Nelson than Bogans. I still don't think he is the problem ...

P.S. Turk needs to be an All-Star.

by Eddy on Dec 27, 2007 3:34 AM EST reply actions

Re: Better

That's a good point about the lineup to start the fourth. Popcorn-Machine tells us that lineup was +7. Of course, Arroyo had success with the reserve unit also; he was a +6 when sharing the floor with Foyle, Dooling, Turk, and Lewis to begin the second quarter.

Maybe Stan will bench Jameer. I don't know. But now that we've trailed after the first quarter in each of our last nine games, Stan has to be thinking about making some changes, right?

by Evan Dunlap on Dec 27, 2007 6:50 PM EST up reply actions

He Needs To

... I'm a big proponent for the whole 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' philosophy but ... that statement doesn't apply with us. We NEED to fix something or else we'll be mired in a bunch of Win/Loss/Win/Loss stretches in the schedule and if we want to be considered a serious contender in the East, we need to roll off some more 6 and 7 game winning streaks.

My solution is to bench Jameer .. considering what our schedule looks like in the next few games, I think we can afford to experiment a lil' bit to see what Arroyo can present to the table. If it doesn't work, then switch it back. I know that Stan doesn't have a ton of options and we're a lil' cash-strapped, but that's the first move I would make internally.

Our main problem is PG play. Our offense revolves around strong PG play. When Jameer was tearing it up, we went 16-4. Ever since he's struggled, we've gone .. 3-7 (I think). It's no coincidence ...

by Eddy on Dec 27, 2007 7:58 PM EST up reply actions

general question

hey guys,

hoping you can help me out here.

i have a poster in my room of scottie pippen, driving for a layup against the Magic. he's driving past scott skiles and someone else. in the decade or so ive had the poster, ive never known who it was. I MUST KNOW.

here's the info we have:

-skiles on magic, pippen on bulls. narrows the years from 89/90 through 93/94.

-copyright is from 1993, so the picture likely was not taken in 93/94, and probably was taken some time around then.

-the number on the jersey appears to be "30", but its partially blocked so its hard to tell.

-a black guy, definitely not dennis scott, nick anderson, donald royal, terry catledge, anthony avent or laterrial smith.

any ideas?

thanks.

p.s. i'm a knicks fan. i thought we had you guys for a second last night, then i realized we were the knicks. woops!

by rabelais on Dec 27, 2007 5:47 PM EST reply actions