| 2009/2010 NBA Season | ||
|---|---|---|
 | @ |  |
| 5-2 | 3-3 | |
| November 10th, 2009 | ||
| Time Warner Cable Arena | ||
| 7:00 PM | ||
| FSN Florida | ||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Jameer Nelson | PG | Raymond Felton |
| J.J. Redick | SG | Raja Bell |
| Mickael Pietrus | SF | Gerald Wallace |
| Brandon Bass | PF | Boris Diaw |
| Dwight Howard | C | Tyson Chandler |
| Game Officials | ||
| Ken Mauer | ||
| Brian Forte | ||
| John Goble | ||
UPDATE: According to Matt Humphrey of the Orlando Sentinel, Vince Carter will play tonight despite not having participated in today's shootaround. The complete story is here.
Another day, another game without key players for the Orlando Magic, who'll visit the Charlotte Bobcats tonight without the services of Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson, who are nursing sprained ankles.
As one might expect from the Larry Brown-coached Bobcats, they're low on offense (scoring an incomprehensibly low 93.2 points per 100 possessions, last in the league) and high on defense (allowing 95.7 points per 100 possessions, for 3rd). But given that all three of their losses have come on the road to good-to-great teams (Boston, Cleveland, and Chicago), I'm sure they're just find with where they stand after 6 games.
I'm worried that the Magic will look at the Bobcats' anemic offense and decide to take yet another night off defensively; Gerald Wallace leads the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game on 32.1% shooting, and the team shoots a mre 32% from three-point range. But as the Magic learned Sunday night in Oklahoma City, poor offensive teams can light it up from anywhere when not defended. If the Magic come out and play with the same defensive intensity and focus they did last season, the Bobcats might have trouble topping 80 points. This outcome is what exasperated Magic coach Stan Van Gundy would prefer.
The game tips at 7. With any luck, the Magic will close this one out early, as they have an important Eastern Conference Finals rematch with the well-rested Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night.