Orlando Magic 114, New York Knicks 102

Mickael Pietrus rebounded the ball along the baseline and flung a shot over the defense as the buzzer sounded. It swished through the net, for Orlando's second buzzer-beating shot to end the quarter. If you add JJ Redick's miracle fling off the backboard for three early in the fourth quarter, and you have a pretty good description of the Magic's offense Sunday night in their only trip to Madison Square Garden.

Orlando used a couple of quick 3-pointers in the third quarter from Rashard Lewis and Pietrus to help turn a one-point defitict into a nine-point lead the team would not surrender. In fact, both teams shot an identical 42 of 83 from the field but the Magic hit three more 3-pointers (10 of 33 to be exact) for what turned into a 114-102 win.

After the third quarter, the teams pretty much exchanged shots in an up and down fourth quarter that saw Nate Robinson score 22 of his 24 points in the final period. Stan Van Gundy did not seem to mind.

Defense was an issue, but tired legs and a versatile and dangerous New York Knick lineup made things difficult. Orlando was slow rotating on the pick and roll early in the game but progressively got better. The team made enough stops to win.

Offensively, the Magic got what they wanted starting with Dwight Howard. For the third straight game, Orlando made a concerted effort to get the ball into the post to Howard and he rewarded the team's efforts to get him the ball. Superman posted 24 points on eight of nine shooting and grabbed 16 rebounds.

Howard struggled with New York's versatile big men -- David Lee had 20 points and 12 rebounds but cooled off after a big first half and Jared Jeffries did a good job keeping Howard away from the basket -- on defense. But they struggled with him on offense as Howard got into the lane and shed double teamers like he had done the previous two games.

Howard hit eight of his 15 free throws (not great, but good enough) and did what he needed to do to establish the offense around him.

It certainly helped as Rashard Lewis continued to look like he is almost completely back from his suspension. Lewis made his shots when he was open and continued to look to attack -- something he cannot do enough of. Lewis had 26 points and eight rebounds.

Vince Carter also did his part with 23 points (on nine of 20 shooting), getting a steal late in the fourth quarter that all but ended any chance of New York making a comeback.

In the end, the game was a simple matchup of offenses. Orlando, playing its fourth game in five days, can be somewhat excused for the poor defensive effort. Robinson yo-yoed his way through the lane and got open shots in the fourth quarter. But the Knicks looked equally flat-footed throughout the entire game and the Magic are too good not to take advantage of it.

New York just did not have the firepower to keep up in this track meet. Kudos to Orlando for muscling out a win on the road and extending its road winning streak and completing a tough stretch in the schedule.

What They're Saying: Magic vs. Knicks 11/29

-Tim Povtak did a similar story a while ago, but George Diaz of The Orlando Sentinel catches up with former Magic player David Vaughn and is happy to report he was volunteering at the Salvation Army soup kitchen this Thanksgiving.

-Dwight Howard has learned sharing is indeed caring. "Big Bird" had another 20-20 performance last night in Milwaukee displaying an array of offensive moves. He then shared his thoughts on Charles Barkley's criticism of his offensive game.

-Stan Van Gundy is hoping to see a change in the way the NBA schedules back to backs, according to Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel.

-Darko Milicic is unhappy and finds himself in Mike D'Antoni's doghouse as the Knicks try to feature Eddy Curry in their offense. He vents his frustration with Marc Berman of the New York Post.

-Matt Gagne of the New York Daily News says not to expect a change in point guards as Nate Robinson still comes off the bench behind (the now hobbled) Chris Duhon.

-Other teams and the media may not be overlooking the Magic as a team anymore, but in the talk of the game's greatest stars, Dwight Howard might be left behind as he continues to struggle offensively and at the line.

-It was a very quietly efficient night for the Magic last night in Milwaukee.

-Posting and Toasting wonders whether Darko Milicic is ready to head home.

Magic Wands: June 12, 2009

-Why Dwight Howard is such a nice change of pace from the tyrannical reign of Shaquille O'Neal.

-Interesting compilation of NBA Finals coverage on ESPN. I am still working my way through everything, but it seems like there are a lot of nice factoids inside here.

-Once again, vote for your all-time favorite Magic player. And don't just pick someone on this year's team because you have only been following the Magic for the last three months.

-Something will have to change in this rule in the near future. Ricky Rubio is suing his team in Spain to allow him out of his contract -- or to reduce his buyout -- so he can play in the NBA. NBA teams are only allowed to contribute $500,000 to buyouts. Rubio's buyout is expected to be $4-5 million.

-Want to live next to Dwight Howard and golfer Chris DiMarco? Here's your chance.

-The other 28 teams are in offseason mode. And it looks like the New York Knicks will zero in on Marcin Gortat.

-The Magic are winning the tug-of-war battle with the Heat for the state's affection right now, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel says.

-Irsraeli league champion Carlos Arroyo is cheering on his former team.

-Apparently Reebok is all of a sudden unhappy that their client Marcin Gortat has a Michael Jordan tattoo on his right leg. He has had that ink for a while now. Don't know how they didn't notice.

-The NBA scores high marks for gender diversity in a new study.

-Deconstructing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's historic sky-hook.

-Marcin Gortat has the fastest car in the NBA. Or at least the loudest.

-The Magic have officially hit the big time. Dwight Howard will become the second Magic player to grace the cover of a video game box and the first to do so for the wildly popular NBA Live series. Howard will be the cover boy for NBA Live '10 (wanted to write 010, but that is just wrong). Looks like I will need to buy the newest version of NBA Live.

-John Hollinger uses his fancy stats to rank the NBA franchises. The Magic come in 15th (Insider Only) and Lakers are No. 1.

New York Knicks 105, Orlando Magic 95

The poor efforts late in the season continued. With the playoffs on the horizon, the Magic once again struggled against a non-playoff team.

This time the New York Knicks took advantage of a lackadaisical effort in the second half from the homestanding Magic to take a 105-95 win.

It was not a pretty effort from Orlando. But throughout the first half, it still seemed like the Magic were in control and just waiting to pull ahead. Then the defense, already dialed down, disappeared and the offense sputtered -- a disturbing trend in these late games.

New York has given Orlando problems all season, even though Orlando eventually pulled it out in the end. But the Knicks took advantage of the Magic's lack of effort. They clearly were playing for something bigger than themselves while the Magic were looking forward to the end of the season and the postseason beyond.

I have no doubt that Orlando will be ready in one week for the playoffs. But the way the team is playing heading into the postseason is very discouraging. It seemed after Dwight Howard called a players-only meeting after a home loss to the Raptors, things were righting.

But uninspired efforts in the last three games have me believing that the team is young and not ready to put in the focus to win a title. Title teams take every game seriously.

That is asking a lot. This is a point of the season where guys want to rest up for the war ahead. But honestly, the Magic needed to wrest the second seed from the Celtics. I do not see them winning that series without it against an experienced, title-defending team.

Orlando had something to play for and did not play like it. It is somewhat encouraging to see that the team can turn the switch on and off -- nearly coming back in tonight's game before ultimately falling short because of poor defense. But it is not a good habit to have with three games left in the regular season and postseason battles up ahead.

Orlando Magic 106, New York Knicks 102

Orlando trailed by nine points entering the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden on Monday. By the end of the game, it was clear that the Magic are in a much different class than the Knicks.

For the second straight game, New York hung with the Southeast Division-leading Magic and had every chance to win it. Unlike Saturday's meeting in Orlando, the Knicks held the lead the entire game and looked in complete control. But New York could never quite put the game out of reach.

Then Hedo Turkoglu and the Magic started hitting the shots -- namely 3-pointers -- that they were missing. Turkoglu scored 10 in the final period to help Orlando comeback and win the game.

But more than that, the effort significantly increased in the fourth quarter especially on the defensive end. It seemed the entire game that Orlando was just coasting. Dwight Howard was getting his looks and keeping the Magic in the game with 29 points and 14 rebounds. But the defensive intensity was not there as New York controlled the pac eof the game and kept it at a frenetic pace.

Then Howard started blocking some shots, the rotations got sharper and New York's field goal percentage began to dip.

It fed to the offensive end where the team just played better. Even then the Knicks still had plenty of opportunities to win the game at the end.

An unsettling win... but like Saturday, it does not have to be pretty, it just has to get done.

New York has given Orlando some problems so it will be nice not to see them in a while. But with a big game against Boston on Wednesday, it would be nice to feel a little more confident about a full 48 minute effort. We will see what happens Wednesday.

Either way, it was nice to see the offense run through Howard. It really set the pick and roll up in the fourth quarter and he took advantage of the Knicks' lack of height. David Lee and Jared Jeffries both fouled out in the game and he dominated the scoring column.

Courtney Lee hit some big free throws at the end and the Magic proved what a clutch team they are again. Lee had 22 points to support Howard on a relatively lifeless offensive night.

If it were not the Knicks, I have a feeling things would be different.

A win is a win though and the "Magic number" to clinch the division is now one.

Orlando Magic 110, New York Knicks 103

I really don't want to talk about this game. It was frustrating to watch and continues to be frustrating to think about. The bottom line is that Orlando got the job done despite the ugliness of the game.

It looked like Orlando would run away with this one early too. Dwight Howard had eight points in the opening quarter and seemed to have an easy time scoring down low. If he did not score, it at least left shooters open. And they were hitting shots.

But New York frustrated him to no end throughout the night. He was grabbed and pulled by defenders the entire night. He was double teamed and trapped every time he touched the ball. Orlando fell into New York's trap by not continuing to go to him, rendering Howard almostly completely useless.

And Howard played like it. He struggled to get rebounds and was a ghost offensively. The only thing he did was keep players out of the paint. But the rebounding was so bad, New York scored a lot off of second chance opportunities.

It was not pretty. Any way you look at it.

Orlando played at New York's pace and they had a nice performance from Nate Robinson and Quentin Richardson. I do not know if they can put on this kind of performance again. The Magic led the entire way and the game teetered on the edge of completely pulling away and blowing the Knicks out. Orlando simply could outtalent them for a while.

That worked until the end when New York made things interesting while Orlando remained indifferent.

A win is a win. Rashard Lewis looked very good for the first time in a while. And Hedo Turkoglu shook off a poor performance to help seal the game in the fourth quarter. But it was still very discomforting that the ball did not find its way into Howard and he took only seven shots. New York played good defense, but he has to demand the ball more and find other ways to get involved.

The Magic get the Knicks in New York on Monday. The "Magic Number" to clinch the division is now two with Atlanta's loss to Cleveland today.

A forgettable Saturday night

No, not just because both Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard came up short in their respective competitions. It was just a lackluster night.

The Sprite Slam Dunk Contest was the best event of the night by far, but even it lacked the luster that it gained from Howard the last few years.

Nate Robinson was the deserving winner -- taking a 52-48 advantage in the fan vote in the final. And he was certainly playful, donning his green Knicks jersey and green shoes with a yellow elbow sleeve to represent the irradiated kryptonite.

But the dunk of the night was his jump over the 6-foot-11 Howard. It was an impressive feet for the 5-foot-5 former (and now current) dunk champion. Other than that, his dunks were more or less a copy of what he has done in the pass.

Yes Nate, we know you are smaller than most basketball players. And yes, we know you can dunk.

Howard's dunks were largely uninspired. The throw off the side of the backboard and his throw from behind the backboard were nice dunks.

But his now trademark Superman dunk was not worth the setup it received. He has been wanting to bring in a 12-foot rim for two years, he finally did and he did not do anything special. The phone booth was a nice touch and I enjoyed the Magic jersey Under Armour (not sure if that is the brand, but I think it is synonymous by now) he sported (thinking about it, the thing had to be from Adidas).

I am curious if Jameer Nelson's injury ended up limiting what Howard could do in the contest. I am sure Howard had some things planned with Nelson that he obviously could not do with his injury.

Howard looks done with the contest. Hopefully he brings it tomorrow night for the big game.

Lewis did his best in the Foot Locker Three Point Shootout. He reached the finals, but had nothing left for the shootout. He was beaten easily by Daequan Cook.

I do not think Lewis has a shot that really suits a 3-point contest. So, I was impressed by his performance.

Follow the Magic at the All Star Break on their offiicial blog here.

Magic Wands: January 9, 2009

-Marc Stein's Weekend Dime on ESPN.com has some interesting minutiae. Box One is all about how Stephon Marbury might end up a Celtic. But if you scroll down to the bottom of the page you will find another interesting tidbit. Last Friday (when the Magic defeated the Heat) was the first time in 29 years that all NBA teams were in action in one day. Happy New Year.

-Last Friday's win over Miami gave Orlando its best 33-game start at 26-7. That mark ties the 1994-95 club (that went to the Finals) and the 1995-96 team (that lost to the 72-10 Bulls). Pretty good company.

-ESPN has some predictions for the '09 year. Interesting things might be coming down the pipe for the NBA. Mostly the salary cap implications of the recession. For the first time in a long time, don't be surprised that the salary cap actually decreases.

-Mark Cuban is going to save my job and change journalism's and newspaper's future.

-You know that moment after a timeout when the crowd stands up and cheers the team, pushing them to a big win? Well Keyon Dooling would love to know when that moment is in New Jersey. It got so bad that they began booing him after he missed a free throw (a rare moment, they probably should keep that ticket).

-Courtney Lee earned his first start Tuesday against Washington. He has certainly earned that playing time and my nice column this week espousing how awesome it is to get a draft pick right. David Thorpe in his weekly Rookie Watch says Lee has become successful because he is filling the role the Magic need. It is so easy when you do something better than anyone else can on a team.

-Way off topic. But Magic Kingdom without Space Mountain? A crime against humanity... or at least Orlando.

Cuttino Mobley, a heart condition?

J.A. Adande of ESPN.com is reporting that the recent trade between the Knicks and the Clippers is being held up because former Magic guard Cuttino Mobley has an apparent heard condition.

The report is saying that the Knicks raised concerns over his heart condition and are sending him to a specialist. It goes on to say that Mobley had the heart condition his entire career but it was never seen as a major issue. With Eddy Curry on their team though, don't blame the Knicks for double checking.

Mobley had a good half season in Orlando in 2004-05 season before he was traded to Sacramento for Doug Christie (trading an apparent heart case for a head case... I kid, I kid). He was a great 3-point shooter and a solid defender, making the trade somewhat of a head-scratcher.

In any case, it had a huge affect on superstar Steve Francis (writing those words , seems hilarious to me now). Francis and Mobley were good friends and Francis' play suffered significantly since the trade.

All the best to Mobley. I hope to see him in a Knicks (or Clippers) uniform later this season.

UPDATE: today the trade went through. Mobley and Tim Thomas were traded to New York for Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins.