Tampa Bay Sports Blog

   It was a strange night in Orlando. The Magic hosted Toronto last night and were without starting twoguard Mickael Pietrus so that means Keith Bogans gets in there to take up the slack, right? Oops, there was a JJ Reddick sighting and he was shockingly in the starting lineup. Reddick hadonly logged 48 plus minutes in the team’s ten games this year and didn’t play at all in 4 of those games. Getting the start tonight Reddick scored 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting in just over 34 minutes tonight. He didn’t turn the ball over and did a decent job defensively against the Raptor’s guards. Not a bad night for JJ I guess. The Magic again had to overcome an off night from Dwight Howard, who found himself in foul trouble again and finished with an 18/9 line. Hope this doesn’t become a trend. Hedo, Lewis and Nelson all stepped up again in scoring 22 a piece and were able to do enough to hold off Toronto 103-90. The game was closer than it appeared and Chris Bosh was abusing anyone who got in his way in getting off for 40 points and 18 boards. Howard and Battie did a good job on Jermain O’Neal and no one else could step up for Toronto, even with the late run in the fourth quarter. It’s good to see Orlando off to an 11-3 start atop the Southeast in spite of really getting any sort of offense to click consistently. The Magic head to Indiana Friday and it’s gonna be a tough one with Danny Granger and TJ Ford to contend with.

Technorati Tags: Chris Bosh, Danny Granger, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, Indiana Pacers, Jameer Nelson, Jermaine O'Neal, JJ Reddick, Keith Bogans, Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, TJ Ford, Tony Battie, Toronto Raptors

   The Orlando Magic have won three straight now on the road after they beat the Charlotte Bobcats 90-85 on Sunday. It was a game that could have been ugly had everyone not stepped up forDwight Howard who was the focus of the Bobcats and ended up fouling out after only playing 7 plus minutes in the second half. Howard only scored four points on 4 of 6 free throws and was 0 for 3 from the field. Tony Battie played well in Howard’s absence with 9/7 and played great defense in helping limit Emeka Okafor to 8/9 who also was in foul trouble all night. Turk ended up with 20/4 despite shooting 6 of 15. Hedo drew fouls driving the lane and ended up 8 of 9 at the free throw line to offset his poor shooting. Rashard Lewis played decent on both ends and finished with 17/6 in spite of his poor shooting, 6 of 16. Lewis hit some big three’s along with Mickael Pietrus, who had a line of 18/4 while shooting 7 of 13. Pietrus has been improving offensively and we can only hope that he continues to do so. Jameer Nelson had 15/5 and Keith Bogans contributed 7 points off the bench. The Magic had to win this one with defense and Howard added five blocked shots to his league lead before fouling out. It wasn’t pretty, but it works.

Technorati Tags: Charlotte Bobcats, Dwight Howard, Emeka Okafor, Hedo Turkoglu, Jameer Nelson, Keith Bogans, Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, Tony Battie

   The Magic have kept their momentum going at home with a 98-88 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. It was a game that gave me a sense of disappointment and excitement at the same time. I was very disappointed to see big Dwight Howard’s double double streak end five games into the season. He had previously stated that he wanted to get a double double every game this year. Well, not this year Dwight. It was early foul trouble that got him last night, which is not uncommon for a big man, and he was limited to 14 and 8 in just over 28 minutes. I’ve always had problems with guys saying things like this. I only dislike it because if you publicly say it it comes off cocky and you pigeon hole yourself. If you just set the goal for yourself and then go out and try to get it, no one but you is disappointed. If you get it then everyone will come looking for more things out of you like that and you end up on that slippery slope everyone talks about. Anyway, I felt good about the game because the rest of the team, especially Turk and Lewis, stepped up in Howard’s absence. That’s always a good thing to see. Lewis and Turk both had 20/8 and Tony Battie filled in admirably for Howard as well. There were a couple other things I took from the game also. Pietrus did a nice job in Andre Iguodala and didn’t turn the ball over. That’s exactly what the Magic want from him, some more offense would be nice but as long as he gives them the ‘D’ we’ll be happy. This game also marked the second straight game JJ Reddick didn’t see the floor. Has he really been that bad? Maybe there’s something else going on here. Any way you slice it, he needs to go. We need to stop torturing the fans and Reddick. Everyone wants to see him play and he can’t seem to find a way off the bench. Trade him for a case of Gatorade already and move on.

Technorati Tags: Andre Iguodala, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Reddick, Mickael Pietrus, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Rashard Lewis, Tony Battie