:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/60500539/GYI0063634717.0.0.jpg)
After a week-long layoff, the Orlando Magic return to action tonight when they host the Sacramento Kings at Amway Center. The Kings will be without their best player, Tyreke Evans, as he continues to recover from an injured foot. Without Evans in the lineup, Sacramento's record stands at 1-7. They've just traded reserve big man Carl Landry to the New Orleans Hornets for Marcus Thornton, leaving them even more shorthanded for tonight's contest.
The story with Sacramento, like every other lower-rung team, is that it doesn't have the personnel to limit Dwight Howard inside. The Magic really ought to win big tonight, especially with no potent scorers in Sacramento's backcourt. DeMarcus Cousins might pop off for 25 points, or he could shoot 4-of-17 and get ejected for throwing his headband at a referee. It's hard to tell with him, as he's less consistent than fellow rookie Derrick Favors, but his highs are much higher.
I'd like to use this opportunity to call your attention to the Kings' tenuous situation in Sacramento. The Kings are losing money like mad and may file for relocation. A group of dedicated--and that word doesn't really do justice to the work they're doing--Kings fans, under the banner Here We Stay, is trying to sell out Sacramento's last home game before the relocation deadline in order to demonstrate how badly they don't want the team to move. They've got a plan and everything.
I feel an affinity for the Here We Stay folks, whom you can follow on Twitter and like on Facebook, because Sacramento's position isn't unlike Orlando's from several years ago. The small-market Kings have an outdated arena and, to date, their plans for a new one have fallen through. Were it not for constuction on Amway Center beginning just months prior to the collapse of the economy, the Magic might be in Kansas City by now, and that's not hyperbole.
Support sustaining the NBA in small-town markets. Support the Here We Stay movement.
| 2010/2011 NBA Season | ||
|---|---|---|
 | @ |  |
| 13-41 (6-19 road) Lost 3 | 36-21 (21-8 home) Won 2 | |
| February 23rd, 2011 | ||
| Amway Center | ||
| 7:00 PM | ||
| Fox Sports Florida | ||
| Probable Starters | ||
| Pooh Jeter | PG | Jameer Nelson |
| Beno Udrih | SG | Jason Richardson |
| Omri Casspi | SF | Hedo Turkoglu |
| DeMarcus Cousins | PF | Brandon Bass |
| Samuel Dalembert | C | Dwight Howard |
| 2010/11 Advanced Stats | ||
| 94.2 (7th) | Pace | 92.1 (16th) |
| 102.9 (26th) | ORtg | 108.0 (13th) |
| 108.7 (17th) | DRtg | 101.7 (3rd) |
| Game Officials | ||
| Bennett Salvatore | ||
| Courtney Kirkland | ||
| Leroy Richardson | ||