What They're Saying: Magic vs. Spurs 1/11

Orlando heads to San Antonio to begin a four-game swing out West. The Magic have not fared well in San Antonio -- whether it be the Alamodome or the AT&T Center -- going 3-17 in San Antonio. Their last win over the Spurs was a 92-80 win in April 2006. I remember that game as the one where Tim Duncan told reporters he was glad he was not going to be playing when Dwight Howard was in his prime.

The Magic took care of the Spurs at home earlier this season with a dominating 90-78 win on national television. Don't think Gregg Popovich and the Spurs have forgotten that. But Orlando is playing pretty well right now and own the best road record in the NBA. Should be an interesting one.

-Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel goes into the brutal stretch that the Magic will have until the end of the month. This road trip alone features games against the three division leaders in the Western Conference. After San Antonio, Orlando heads to Sacramento, then to Los Angeles for a match with the Lakers and then off to Denver. When the Magic get home they will see the Celtics and Cavaliers.

-Dave Darling of The Orlando Sentinel reports on the ongoing battle for Central Florida fans to watch Orlando on FSN Florida. At the beginning of the year, Brighthouse Networks and FSN Florida agreed to a deal allowing Central Florida fans to get every Magic game. But Lake County fans with Comcast still do not have Magic games on FSN Florida.

-Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News chronicles how Tony Parker has put behind his worst performance of the season in Orlando last month and become a candidate for the All Star team. Parker is a good player and he simply had an off night against Orlando last time around. Parker is playing a lot better now.

-More from McDonald: the Spurs know Howard usually brings his A-game against them and had two days off to prepare for a now-healthy Superman (remember he was coming off that sore knee before the first matchup). Howard has thrown in some pretty big games against Duncan and the Spurs. Also, both teams are pretty solid behind the 3-point line. It is no coincidence that both teams have surrounded their superstar big men with such great shooters. And former Florida player Matt Bonner is getting ready to appeal to Stu Jackson to make the 3-point shootout at All Star Weekend.

-Ben Q Rock of 3rd Quarter Collapse makes an interesting point with the help of stats from 82games.com. Both the Magic and Spurs are near the top of the league in defense -- more interestingly in forcing jump shots. Sixty-eight percent of field goals taken by Orlando's opponents are jumpers. Sixty-nine percent of field goals taken by the Spurs' opponents are jumpers. More interestingly, both teams rank near the bottom of the league in turnovers per game. That is good defense.

-Graydon Gordian of the Spurs blog 48 Minutes of Hell talks to 3rd Quarter Collapse's Ben Q Rock about the Magic this season. Ben Q Rock, like me, believes Orlando has its first title contender in more than 10 years. Now if only the rest of the world would realize this. They also discuss Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard's maturation as players. Thinking about it now, there are a lot of similarities between Orlando and San Antonio in the way they have built their teams.