RealGM

(26-13) Orlando Magic @ (24-16) Portland Trailblazers - 10:30 PM EST on ESPN








Rose Garden - Portland, OR







**Lineups Updated















Series Matchup

"....Carter, whose status going forward is unclear, went 1 of 14 when Portland (24-16) visited Orlando on Dec. 19, but Howard's 20 rebounds - part of a 54-35 advantage overall - helped the Magic overcome 42.1 percent shooting and 33 points from Roy to win 92-83.

That was Orlando's sixth victory in seven games in the series. The Magic have won three straight in Portland, including a 109-108 win on Dec. 9, 2008, behind 27 from Lewis and 21 from Nelson."

continuing the theme of former magic players killing the magic....mr juwan howard goes off for 20 and 10

Running the ball through Howard in the post has evidently been our most reliable way of making plays so far, and the Blazers' front line is thin, so unless they have some crazy post defense scheme that that lets them overcome the talent disparity, or unless Dwight loses focus, we'll be able to run an offense that doesn't feature an abundance of contested threes. The Magic seem to have gotten the memo about how it's a good thing to slash to the paint, so unless they have an attack of amnesia we should see fluid movement. Portland is missing Brandon Roy, but I don't know about the quality of their other guards.

uh, OP you couldn't wait for me to set up my gamethread??

I already signed up for this one.

RvM wrote:uh, OP you couldn't wait for me to set up my gamethread??

I already signed up for this one.

I breezed through the last page of that thread, and I didn't see it. Guess I missed it, my bad.

My prediction for this game is Magic make some shots while Blazers make some as well...defense will be played...maybe...concluding in one team outscoring the other in a 48 minute time frame...unless they don't...in which case an additional 5 minutes will be added to the game clock at which point the two teams will duel it out until one becomes the victor...unless they don't...in which case the 5 minute clock reappears and the vicious cycle continues until a conclusion is reached.

BOOK IT...I have my money on the team that outscores the other FTW!!!!!

@Prolific Scorer

It's all good. No big deal.

Anyways, tough game we'll be facing here.

Luckily Roy imight not play for he has sore hamstring injury. The Blazers are a tough team and play well at home.

There bench is real tight right now, and they have been plagued with injuries all year.
I really hope Nelson and Rashard step up tonight and Dwight rebounds from that 8 point game.

I'm 6-0 when I visit Blazer games, and I had tickets to this game, but I can't make it, so I sold them. It should be all right. I don't want to make it 7-0.

Rudy Fernandez will be back for this one. He came back yesterday, and scored 2 pts in 15 minutes. Martel Webster has been very hot from the field over the past several weeks. Matt Barnes and Pietrus will have to play some solid D on him, or he has the potential to hurt us on the perimeter. As previously stated, Portland is very thin up front. Both Pryzbilla and Oden are out for the season, and Juwan is undersized and undertalented. Go to Dwight early and often. If we get Juwanna in early foul trouble, Portland has almost no one to counter Dwight with.

]

lol i remember those days...

which signing do you think was worse? juwan howard's becuase we sucked afterwards? or rashard's becuase we are paying him up the a$$?

Good thread.


play Brandon Bass !


Magic win by 8



You've Been Warned !!! the Magic are legit

if Juwan takes it to Dwight im changing my sig!

magic will bounce in this game, for sure. i feel bad for the blazers. dwight will be looking to assert himself from the go and with no one but juwan there to stop him - well, its going to be another mvp-type performance from him. like earlier posted, this will be a good opportunity for svg to give bass some minutes, even at center. he can abuse anybody thrown at him.

this has all the makings of a feel good story for the magic. if by some stroke of faith they lose though - management will definitely be out to make major changes. i like this team - magic has to win!

The Howards battle it out. I think he's a magic killer in the making

Is Vince playing? Did he practice?

New rule: Rashard donates a million per missed shot this game to the Haiti efforts.

(not making light of the situation, I hope players ARE donating though. Its going to get bad down there)

I was gonna say just win, but I'll go with "Please win" instead.

crazytown wrote:Is Vince playing? Did he practice?

Limited practice he still has a problem raising that arm up over his head.

As of right now ESPN is saying that Roy will not be playing. If this is true Portland then has a major problem as Roy was their only major scoring threat since the team is battling injuries.

Now does that story sound like something we all have heard this year with lets say the Magic.

That being said we win if Howard decides to play, if the same Howard that showed up for the Denver game then we lose. Simple as that.

Horrible match ups for us.

Hate to say it but Magic get worked.

MAGIC 82
Port 105

BassMaster wrote:That being said we win if Howard decides to play, if the same Howard that showed up for the Denver game then we lose. Simple as that.

I don't think the Blazers have the same post defense Denver was able to employ. That said, it would be nice if somebody besides Dwight was able to create oppurtunities for players to score.

I sure hope Roy doesn't play tonight...not because we can't beat him but because I pulled him from my starting lineup on my fantasy team.