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Orlando Magic News for Blue & White Ignite Day: Lewis and Turkoglu Will Be Ready; Stan Van Gundy Blasts S.I.; and More

  • To no one's surprise, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu are expected to play this Sunday in the Orlando Magic's first playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Associated Press and the Orlando Sentinel report. Lew and Turk had suffered knee tendinitis and a sprained ankle, respectively, but they will be okay to play after participating in a full-contact practice session today.

  • A few days ago, I discussed Dwight Howard and the Magic with Sports Illustrated scribe Chris Ballard, whose feature on Howard was SI's cover story this week. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy read the piece, and said "it bothered me a little bit," reports the Orlando Sentinel:

    "Some of the things were ridiculous: How serious the guy is in a Sports Illustrated photo-shoot has an extremely minimal affect on our basketball team. Let's say none."

    That's only the tip of the iceberg, and Van Gundy spares no one--not Kevin Garnett, not Alonzo Mourning, not Yao Ming--in his rant. Outbursts like this one give outsiders a reason to loathe Van Gundy; they're also are why this site has a page solely dedicated to keeping track of his finest quotes.

  • Kevin Pelton writes that one way to predict teams' success this postseason is to compare them to teams from previous years. Counting the last 13 postseasons, the most similar team to the Magic is the 1999 San Antonio Spurs, which won the championship.

  • Many thanks to the esteemed contributors of today's Playoff Roundtable, which erivera7 hosted.