Orlando
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Though the Magic hung in the game for a while, it was finally LeBron James who crushed Orlando's gentle spirit as the Cavaliers beat the Magic 114-106to clinch Orlando's second straight losing season and all but assure Orlando of another lottery visit this summer. They are 4.5 games behind the eighth-place Sixers with just five games remaining, and with tough opponents to boot.
Brandon Hunter played the most minutes of the season so far, logging 15, and in that time showed why he was such a prized rebounder on the Celtics last year. He collected eight boards for nearly a rebound every other minute. Triple his minutes to nearly a full game of 45 minutes and at that rate he would have brought down 24 boards.
Steve Francis and Jameer Nelson had nearly identical games. They each had about 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Nelson had a few more fouls and had to leave the game, and he turned the ball over a bit more, but he also had more steals and blocks. If this keeps up, it's hard not to imagine that the Magic brass would think they could replace Francis's production with Nelson's if they can move Steve-O to a team that really wants him.
NEXT GAME
The Magic (35-42, third in the Southeast) kick off their last three game road trip with a visit to the world champion Detroit Pistons (50-27, first in the Central) tomorrow night. The game starts at 7:30pm Eastern and will be broadcast on Sun Sports and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
Q: Hedo, do you want any tattoos?
A: "No, I don’t want any."
Q: Steve, who is the funniest guy on the team?
A: "Dwight Howard"
Read more inside the Orlando Magic Ask-A-Player Archive.
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 out indefinitely.
Dick Scanlon ofThe Ledgerwrites: The Magic, who have lost four straight and 15-of-19, are 41/2 games behind the 76ers' final playoff spot with only five games left to play... The loss clinched a second straight losing season for the Magic, who have had only five losing seasons . . . Howard recorded his team-leading 31st double-double of the season . . . The Magic are 1-16 against winning teams since Feb. 1 . . . The Magic open their final road trip of the season at Detroit on Wednesday night. They are 12-26 on the road.
Ken Hornack ofThe Daytona Beach News-Journalwrites: At 35-42 with five games remaining, the Magic can be eliminated tonight from any possibility of the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference with a victory by the Philadelphia 76ers over the Boston Celtics. If that happens, the only way the Magic would sneak in with the last playoff berth is if they win their remaining games and finish in a three-way tie with the Sixers and the New Jersey Nets for eighth. And with a three-game trip to Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee that begins Wednesday night, it's hard to imagine the Magic not being eliminated by the time they return home.
Brian Schmitz ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites: The Orlando Magic, from the players on the floor to the execs in the front office, predicted the franchise would reach the playoffs this season. After Monday night's 114-106 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers -- their fourth consecutive defeat and 15th in their past 19 games -- they were resigned to predict their new destination. Next stop: Next season. Magic guard DeShawn Stevenson said owner Rich DeVos told the team in the locker room, "He's proud of what we're doing. It's a new team, new players ... It's tough not to make the playoffs, but he told us that next year, we're going to be an awesome team."