- Per the Associated Press, Stan Van Gundy's comments on last night's loss to the Knicks:
"It was our worst game of the year by far. Both ends of the floor, no energy," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We did an awful job. I did an awful job leaving those guys in the game. I should have gone with some other people in a game like that because the guys out there either couldn't or wouldn't.
"We were awful. It was embarrassing. We shouldn't be tired. We played a game yesterday, so what? It's the NBA. You can't use that as an excuse. It was just an awful, awful night."
- Brian Schmitz and Kelly Dwyer agree that Van Gundy should have given his starters a breather. It's hard to disagree with that statement. Now that it's assured the third seed in the playoffs, the team has nothing left to play for except pride and a chance to reach the 50-win plateau. Stan could have started the normal lineup, but pulled it after a few minutes and let the second-stringers finish the game.
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Posting and Toasting is not overly impressed with the Magic:
The Magic sure didn't look like a real contender tonight. Poor from the field, trigger-happy from downtown, and terrible from the line. Throw in some pretty relaxed defense and they really look like a potential first round upset opportunity.
Indeed, the Magic need look no further than last night's game to understand why teams are fighting for the chance to face them -- rather than Boston, Detroit, or Cleveland -- in the first round of the playoffs.
- Despite the Knicks' win, Marc Berman of the New York Post isn't happy. He didn't appreciate Nate Robinson's exclamation-point dunk (NBA.com video), or the celebration that followed it, with under a minute to play. I don't have a problem with it. The Knicks outplayed us and as such earned the right to showboat a little bit, as far as I'm concerned. Then again, they only shot 37% from the field...(HT: HP)
- Queen City Hoops, a must-read Charlotte Bobcats blog, has Round 10 of the Blogger MVP and RoY rankings. Chris Paul is pulling away with the lead in the MVP category, grabbing 13 first-place votes to Kobe Bryant's five.
- Congratulations are in order for Magic assistant coach Patrick Ewing, who learned today he will be inducted into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
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