Orlando
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Jameer Nelson's game just keeps improving with more minutes. In a game-high 39 minutes last night, he recorded game highs in field goals made (10) and attempted (18, tied with Steve Francis), three-pointers made (5) and attempted (8), assists (8), steals (5), and points (30). He was by far the MVP of the game. But Orlando fell to Detroit 103-94as the Pistons kept going to the line as their superior interior passing forced the Magic to foul often. Despite all that, the Magic arestillnot out of the playoffs.
What other team could you imagine losing five straight games at this point of the season and still be in the running, however remotely, for a playoff berth? The downside, relative to where they were before the Detroit loss, is that their fate is no longer entirely in their hands. A win by Philadelphia over any of their remaining competition would eliminate the Magic entirely, regardless of how well they perform from here on out. On the other hand, Philadelphia's next opponent is Miami, so a divisional and intrastate foe could become an unintentional friend.
The Pistons team was incredibly efficient. The second highest scorer after Nelson was also a Magic, namely Dwight Howard. The two rookies were the highest scoring players of the game! And not because they threw up bad shots: each had a fairly good field goal percentage. The highest scoring Pistons were a three-way tie between starters Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince and the bench's Carlos Arroyo, each of whom had 14 points. There were three other Pistons in double-figures and Ben Wallace had nine.
For Orlando, after the two rookies, Stacey Augmon was the only other player in double-figures, and he had 11 points. Brandon Hunter was next in line, chipping in with nine points and four rebounds in just 12 minutes of action off the bench. He is going to be a solid role player for the Magic and could conceivably fight his way into the starting position if Howard is moved to the center spot.
NEXT GAME
The Magic (35-43, third in the Southeast) continue their road trip in Chicago as they take on the Bulls (44-34, second in the Central) on Friday. The game starts at 8:30pm Eastern and will be broadcast on Sun Sports and NBA League Pass. The last time these two met, just one week ago, the game went into overtime and victory was a mere one point margin.
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.
Tim Povtak ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites: Orlando Magic guard Doug Christie won't ask to be traded publicly, but it sure sounds like he wants to be.Even though he has another year left on his contract -- paying him $8.2 million -- Christie and agent Bradley Marshall expressed serious reservations Wednesday about the guard returning to Orlando next season... "I'm going to be 100 percent by next season. But to come back and play under the circumstances I've been put through [in Orlando] would be very difficult," Christie said in an interview with WFTV-Channel 9, the ABC affiliate in Orlando. "The situation doesn't fit the type of person I am."
John Denton ofFlorida Todaywrites: Injured guard Doug Christie said Wednesday that it would be "extremely difficult" for him to return to the Orlando Magic next season and he also openly questioned the truthfulness of general manager John Weisbrod in a 35-minute rant.Wearing a cast on his surgically repaired left ankle and flanked by his wife and agent, Christie conducted a news conference via satellite from Seattle with an area TV station and Florida Today. He said he hoped to clear up the reasons as to why he hasn't been with the team since he was put on the injured list on March 5. Also, he bashed Weisbrod and the organization for allegedly not backing him up when questions arose about his absence from the team.
John Denton ofFlorida Todaywrites: Laimbeer, 48, has emerged as one of the top coaching candidates in the NBA and could be of interest to both Orlando and the Cleveland Cavaliers, which defeated the Magic on Monday night. It has been reported that Laimbeer could be a favorite to get the Cleveland coaching job because of his relationship with Cavs' owner Dan Gilbert, a Michigan native. "It's totally overblown," said Laimbeer, a television analyst for the Pistons. "It's not an issue at all and that's the wrong way to look at it." Laimbeer said the Magic would be an appealing job for any prospective coach because of the deep talent base already in place.With Steve Francis, Grant Hill, Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu under contract, the Magic likely aren't far from the playoff race.