Orlando
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
DeShawn Stevenson's career-high 29 points and an injury to Mavericks MVP Dirk Nowitzki weren't enough for the Magic to sneak out a win last night. Orlando lost114-105to Dallas to fall half a game behind ninth-place New Jersey and a game and a half behind eighth-place Philadelphia. With just eight regular season games left, do the Magic have enough time, and enough magic, to make it into the postseason?
Steve Francis had a strong passing game last night, notching 11 assists to go with his 16 points on a solid 6-of-10 shooting. He also recorded 4 steals tying a game-high with Josh Howard of Dallas. But the injury late in the game to Dirk Nowitzki was nothing compared to the big pile of injuries piling up on the Magic. They simply ran out of personnel to get the job done while Dallas still has a ton of depth. Six Mavericks scored in double-figures; only four Magic did.
Jameer Nelson played but now Grant Hill didn't, and is likely to miss tonight's game as well. Nelson had a strong showing as well, getting 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting, but only one assist.
Tony Battie seems to have secured his starting position under the new regime with a 14-point, 9-rebound effort last night. Kelvin Cato contributed 4 points and 3 rebounds in 14 minutes off the bench.
NEXT GAME
The Orlando Magic (35-39, third in the Southeast) kick off a three game home stand by hosting the Chicago Bulls (41-32, second in the Central) TONIGHT. The game starts at 7:00pm Eastern and will be broadcast on Sun Sports and NBA League Pass. The Bulls are coming off of huge loss in Miami last night and could be vulnerable to a spirited Magic attack.
TEAM NOTES
Full season ticket holders: The deadline to renew is April 7. Renew now.
INJURY UPDATE
Hedo Turkoglu(wrist) is on the injured list and out for the remainder of the season.Doug Christie(ankle) is also on the injured list and out indefinitely.Andrew DeClercq (knee) is on the injured list.Grant Hill(shin) is unlikely to play tonight's game.
Brian Schmitz ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites: SF Grant Hill (left shin bruise) will be a game-time decision but likely won't play. . . . Tony Battie looks to be interim coach Chris Jent's choice at center the rest of the season. Kelvin Cato started 48 games and missed 15 games because of injury. . . . The Magic lost to the Bulls 105-90 Jan. 1 in Chicago.
Jerry Greene ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites:My hunch concerns the No. 1 reason many sports fans in our area don't support public funding for Waterhouse renovations or building a new playpen. My hunch is that you just don't want to give anything to Magic owner Rich DeVos and the Magic roster because they are a whole lot richer than the rest of us.Am I right or am I right? A frequent point made by the Magic is that they are not the only occupants of the arena. In fact, the Magic will tell you they use it less than half the time it's in operation.
Linda Kleindienst and Sarah Talalay ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrite: The biggest problem: It's not only the Marlins asking for help. There's also the Orlando Magic, NASCAR and a handful of cities, including Fort Lauderdale, that want state money to upgrade spring training facilities.