What They're Saying: Magic vs. Blazers 12/9

Orlando still has not faced a whole lot of quality opponents, but began its yearly December West Coast road trip with a big win in Los Angeles... against the Clippers. The Magic lost to the Trail Blazers about a month ago at Amway Arena. Now they head to the Rose Garden.

This is a big game for Orlando. The team got a solid effort in its first game of this road trip. A win against a good team on the road at the beginning of this road trip will make the Magic more confident heading to the rest of it. Last year, the first West Coast road trip of the season was when the team really bonded and set the tone for the rest of the season. You will find out a lot about the team tonight, win or lose.

-Dwight Howard got some mad love from ESPN's J.A. Adande and Kevin Arnovitz of ClipperBlog after his 23-point, 22-rebound, six-block performance against Los Angeles on Monday.

-Also word from Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel that Brian Cook is Howard's new enforcer.

-Interesting note from NBA.com, Portland just finished a junket out East while Orlando heads West.

-This will also be the first time Dwight Howard faces off against Greg Oden. The No. 1 picks have had completely opposite careers. Howard has played every game and Oden... has not. But one thing they do have in common is rebounding. John Hollinger's Insider Gems (box at the bottom) notes that Oden is rebounding at a higher rate than Howard. I guess this is why they play the games.

-More fun links for tonight's game from OregonLive.com's Sean Meagher.

-Remember Raef LaFrentz? He still plays for Portland, but the team has allowed him to rehab in his hometown in Iowa. Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune caught up with the veteran big man... and perrennial Magic killer.

-Magic blogger Ben Q Rock of Third Quarter Collapse adamantly defends Jameer Nelson who got slammed on a post in another blog (and is generally being slammed by other Magic fans). I think Nelson is a good player and a serviceable starter. But ultimately his defensive shortcomings will always hurt Orlando against bigger guards. Now that Chauncey Billups is gone, maybe it doesn't matter. Either way, there are bigger problems the Magic have to fix than point guard. Nelson has played great this season.

-Portland blogger Casey Holdahl of Trail Blazers Center Court by tells the story of assistant coach Maurice Lucas, who returned to practice after fighting bronchial pneumonia the last two months.

This should be an interesting game for sure. Both teams are pretty good. Orlando did not play great last night and had to use a lot of energy. Throw on top that Portland is very tough to beat in the Rose Garden. It should be a close game though, but the Blazers hold home court. Portland 103, Orlando 95