Orlando
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
The Magic won one on the road against Atlanta 117-99and one at home against the Philadelphia 105-99to briefly lay claim to kings of the Southeast Division. With Miami's victory last night, though their percentage record is identical, the Heat have played three more games, so the Magic are listed as half a game behind the Heat. Who would have thought the Magic would be contending for the third seed of the playoffs so early in the season?
Of course a large part of the reason is the heath and talent of Grant Hill. I find it so amazing that even in the highest echelons of this sport, it is still a mental game. Hill's talent is not in his knee, his leg, or his ankle. It's in his head. Look at how many people were more physically adept the last several years than Hill was. None of them can hold a candle to Hill's virtuosity.
If you have a broken car and you tweak it up and it keeps breaking and you finally get it to run, you don't expect it to be as sleek or as fast or even as quiet as before. But a basketball player is more than just his body. He's more than just an athlete. He's a player, and a player with a lot of heart.
He and Steve Francis combine for one of the best one-two scoring punches in the NBA. One or the other of them tends to lead the Magic in scoring and in big shots, and they are both unselfish when it comes to finding open teammates. The Magic are having a terrific season so far.
NEXT GAME
The Magic (8-4) host the Boston Celtics (4-8) who will be playing the second of a back-to-back Florida road trip. The Heat beat them. Why can't the Magic? Doc Rivers coaches against Orlando for the first time since being fired last year. The game starts TONIGHT at 7pm and will be broadcast on Fox Sports New England, the Sunshine Network, and NBA TV in High Definition.
TEAM NOTES
The NBA announced that Steve Francis, Grant Hill, Dwight Howard, Cuttino Mobley and Tony Battie will represent the Orlando Magic in All-Star Balloting, giving fans around the globe the opportunity to vote for their favorite players as starters in the 54th NBA All-Star Game to be played in Denver on Sunday, February 20, 2005. All-Star balloting continues through January 23.
INJURY UPDATE
Cuttino Mobley(groin) is listed as day-to-day but will miss his ninth consecutive game tonight; Michael Bradley(knee),Brandon Hunter(Achilles) andAndrew DeClercq(knee) are on the injured list.
Brian Schmitz ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites: The Magic didn't have eight victories last season until they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas. They then lost six consecutive games and didn't record their ninth victory until Jan. 9... WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Rivers should get a nice reception from the fans. Make no mistake: Doc would love to win to tweak Magic GM John Weisbrod, who engineered his firing.
Tim Povtak ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites: Getting fired by the Orlando Magic really hurt.And tonight he wants some revenge. "You really want to win a game like this," he [Rivers] said Sunday. "Sure it would mean something special to win in Orlando. That's only natural. I'm a competitor."