After February ended, the regular season entered March.
Before the start of the March schedule, ESPN's predictions were very optimistic about the Magic's game in March. Because the Magic do not need to face too many strong teams in the March game, it is recognized that they are most likely to win in March.
The only teams that have blocked the Magic in this month are the Toronto Raptors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs.
The San Antonio Spurs are a veteran team that had a slow start to the season, but now as we approach the playoffs, everyone looks up and realize that the San Antonio Spurs still firmly occupy a place among the top four in the Western Conference.
The Toronto Raptors are currently ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference, but the gap between them and seventh place is not big. In order to secure their playoff spot, they will definitely strive for more wins in March. Golden State
The same is true for the Warriors. They are currently ranked ninth in the Western Conference, but they are only one game behind the Denver Nuggets, who are eighth in the Western Conference. They have not lost hope of the playoffs. Like the Raptors, they were ranked eighth after March.
They will definitely try their best to win games. The Cleveland Cavaliers are currently ranked fourth in the Eastern Conference, and the win gap between them and the Magic is not very big. There is still hope of overtaking the Magic to improve the ranking. The Cleveland Cavaliers definitely want to win in the Eastern Conference.
Stop the Magic in March to gain possibly more home court advantage in the playoffs.
As for the Magic's other opponents in March, there is no need to mention the super bad team the Knicks. If the Magic lose to the Knicks at home, it will definitely be the most shocking upset at the beginning of March. Wizards general Arenas continues to
Without Antawn Jamison, he may not be able to support himself alone. The Philadelphia 76ers lost to the Magic twice in a row at home and away in February, and again on the road in March. Not many people are optimistic that they can stop the Magic on the road.
Others such as the Pacers, Bucks, Hawks, and Clippers are all outside the playoff list. This season has determined the opportunity to mess up in order to get a high draft pick.
Moreover, because the Magic played many away games in the first half of the season, in the last two months of the season, the Magic played fewer away games. In the entire March of 14 games, the Magic played 10 home games, including
There is a wave of three consecutive home games and a wave of four consecutive home games. There are only 4 away games, and there are no consecutive away games. The most important thing is that the three teams that are likely to stop the Magic, the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors,
All games between the Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs against the Magic are away games. The Magic can have the home court advantage and sit at home waiting for these competitors to challenge.
This schedule arrangement is undoubtedly very beneficial for the Orlando Magic to win games in March, strive for a good position on the playoff list, and strive for home court advantage.
The Magic are currently ranked third in the Eastern Conference. The two strong teams ahead of the Magic are the Boston Celtics, who have formed the Big Three lineup this season, and the veteran strong team the Detroit Pistons. It is temporarily possible to surpass the Celtics and Magic.
I no longer have this idea. The main reason is that the gap in wins is too big. Unless the Celtics suddenly lose ten games in March, there is no chance that the Orlando Magic can surpass the Celtics in the next schedule.
Celtics. But the gap between them and the Detroit Pistons is not as big as the gap between them and the Celtics. It is not very difficult to tie up and overtake the gap of only two games. In the end,
The important thing is that the Detroit Pistons' March game will not be easy.
They have a total of 15 games in March, 7 of which are away games, accounting for almost half of the schedule. More importantly, among the Pistons' away opponents, there are such players as the Boston Kyle who currently have the league's best record.
Special, the veteran Western Conference powerhouses such as the San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors. Unlike the Magic, the Pistons' strong dialogue in March is basically away from home, and the away game against the Celtics is still first.
Playing Seattle and then playing Celtics in back-to-back games.
With such a schedule, it is normal to accidentally lose the game.
After serious discussions between Stan Van Gundy and Adrian, both of them agreed to go all out in March to win more games in order to surpass the Pistons and finally rank second in the Eastern Conference.
Whether ranked second or third, if the Magic enter the second round, the opponent they will face is very likely to be the Detroit Pistons. Against such a tenacious team as the Pistons, even if it is just a home court advantage in one game
Both may be very important. Neither Adrian nor Van Gundy believes that any of those famous playoff teams can cause any trouble to the Pistons.
The Magic's March schedule starts at home. On March 3, the Orlando Magic sit at home and welcome the New York Knicks, who have been playing poorly for several consecutive seasons. On the road, they face the Magic, who are ranked among the top three in the Eastern Conference.
The Knicks had no hope of winning from the beginning. In the first quarter, the Orlando Magic took an 11-point lead at 33:22. In the second quarter, the lead continued to expand. At the end of the first half, Orlando
The Magic already lead the New York Knicks by nearly 20 points, 59:40.
In the third quarter, Adrian did not play for the entire quarter, and Van Gundy replaced Chris Hunter and Van Wever as substitutes. In the third quarter, Jamal Crawford of the New York Knicks began to show off his power.
In the first half, he only tried one three-pointer but failed to hit it. At the beginning of the third quarter, Jamal Crawford hit two three-pointers in a row, and then broke through and made a pull-up jumper that caused Weaver's injury.
Fouled, made two free throws and scored eight points in one fell swoop.
Although he missed consecutively on defense, Weaver performed pretty well on the offensive end. After a layup and a mid-range shot, Quentin Richardson was fouled. He made one of two free throws and then hit another mid-range shot.
For his first appearance in the Magic's rotation, he showed no signs of stage fright. By the time he was replaced in the seventh minute of the game, he had already scored 8 points and grabbed two rebounds.
However, the performance of another newcomer, Chris Hunter, was a lot disappointing. In the eight minutes he played, he did nothing except pick up one rebound on the defensive end. On the offensive end, he was also grabbed two offensive rebounds by David Lee.
.In particular, he seemed a little at a loss on the court. He was too nervous and gave the Knicks two fouls in vain. Stan Van Gundy then replaced Chris Hunter and replaced him with another new signing.
The next big man is Lance Alred.
Alred's performance seemed much more stable after he came on the court. Perhaps because he had seen big scenes like the All-Star Game, Lance Alred was calm and calm after he came on the court. Alred, who weighs 260 pounds, moved
It's quite slow to get up, but his wide body is also a good barrier. Unlike Chris Hunter, Alred obviously understands his responsibilities very well, resisting the opponent's inside on the defensive end and not letting anyone enter easily.
.When grabbing rebounds, you don’t grab the rebound immediately. Instead, you block your position first to prevent the opponent from grabbing offensive rebounds. On the offensive end, you try your best to block people and create opportunities for your teammates.
Lance Alred, who played for five minutes, only got one statistic, scoring, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, and 1 turnover. But Stan Van Gundy was quite satisfied with Alred's performance. In his opinion, Alred's ability
Not great, but he didn't expect Alred to have the ability to support the inside, but he obviously played very smart and knew how to go all out to create opportunities for his teammates.
Chris Hunter and Lance Alred are preparing to leave only one Stan Van Gundy. Alred currently has the upper hand in Stan Van Gundy's heart, but the only trouble is that Lance Alred is deaf.
He has lost 75% of his hearing ability, and can only communicate with players and coaches with the help of hearing aids and even lip reading. If he is really retained, even arranging tactics will be a big trouble.
Because of his deafness, if he is on the court, it may cause confusion in the Magic's tactical coordination.
At the end of the third quarter, the Knicks narrowed the point difference to less than 5 points, temporarily trailing the Orlando Magic by four points at 79:75. This gave the New York Knicks hope of surviving.
However, in the fourth quarter, Stan Van Gundy sent Adrian, who had rested for a whole quarter, to come on again, and immediately led the Orlando Magic to play a sharp offense, destroying the Knicks' hope that was originally visible and within reach.
Killed.
In the end, the Orlando Magic defeated the New York Knicks 110:98 at home.
Adrian had a great touch today and made 14 of 22 shots, including 4 of 6 three-pointers. In addition, he made 8 of 8 free throws and made 100% of his free throws. He scored 40 points and provided 12 assists.
Grabbed 7 rebounds, 3 of which were offensive rebounds. Lewis performed poorly and only scored 22 points but unexpectedly grabbed 10 rebounds, achieving a double-double. In addition, Paul Millsap scored 15 points and 13 points.
He also scored a double-double with two rebounds. Kwame Brown played 32 minutes with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block. Marcin Gortat had 13 points and 7 rebounds. Turkoglu had 20 points and 13 assists.
Van Weaver, who put on a Magic jersey for the first time, played 16 minutes today and scored 8 points, which is considered very efficient.
Two days later, the Magic continued to sit at home and defeated the challenging Toronto Raptors 102:83. Adrian once again delivered a triple-double with 31 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds.
After winning two consecutive home games at the beginning of March, the Magic packed their bags and headed to Washington DC, the capital, to challenge the Washington Wizards who were missing General Arenas. (To be continued...)
