Dwight Howard
NBA Playoffs Update — Land of the Sweeps for Lakers, Magic & Suns
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010 | Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Charlotte Bobcats, Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Sports, Utah Jazz | No Comments
Except for the epic Celtics-Cavs battle which resumes tonight in Cleveland, the NBA Conference Semi-finals have been a major disappointment. The Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns have all won in easy 4-game sweeps.
Orlando Magic – 4 games against the Hawks was about 4 too many. Couldn’t the Hawks have just forfeited the games instead and saved us the misery of having to watch these games? The Magic are clearly the hottest team in the NBA right now. They have won 28 of 31 games and are on a current 14-game winning streak. They have yet to lose in the playoffs after sweeps of the Charlotte Bobcats and Hawks. The Magic defeated the Hawks by an average of 25.3 points per game – which is believed to be the greatest margin of victory in post-season series NBA history. With Vince Carter and Jameer Nelson complementing big man Dwight Howard, the Magic look like they could advance to a 2nd straight NBA Finals. Carter had this to say about the Magic’s current level of play — “Guys are just focused. It’s unbelievable to see. This is my opportunity for a championship.”
Los Angeles Lakers – After pushing themselves to the limit against Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in Round 1, they club needed an easy series to rest up for the Conference Finals. That’s just what they got when they got to square off against the Utah Jazz. Beyond Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, the Jazz just don’t have the depth to compete with the Lakers. The Lakers seemed to be re-invigorated after their Game 6 win over the Thunder in Oklahoma City and that carried over into this series. Head Coach Phil Jackson summed it up best — “We had one of our better games tonight… This is the first really consistent game we have played, except for a six-minute stint in the 3rd quarter. We controlled the game and forced our will on our opponent.” The Lakers played good defense The Lakers played good defense (the Jazz averaged just 102 points in the series, well below their series average). The Lakers limited their own turnovers (just 6 on the road in Game 4) and they shot well from the free throw line. Although Kobe Bryant (32 points) and Pau Gasol led the way (33 points), 3 other Lakers players also scored in double-digits. Now it’s on to face the Phoenix Suns in what should be one of the best series of the 2010 NBA Playoffs schedule.
Phoenix Suns – The Phoenix Suns overcame their “San Antonio Spurs demons” with a convincing series sweep of the Spurs. Although the Suns had lost to the Spurs 4 times in the last 7 post-season schedules, they wouldn’t allow it to occur a 5th time. Amar’e Stoudemire turned in a solid effort against his west nemesis, averaging over 20 points per game in the series. Steve Nash also showed just how good a big game player he can be with 4 great performances against the Spurs’ Tony Parker. Nash scored at least 16 points in each game and he also averaged just under 8 assists per game to dictate the flow of the game in the Suns’ favor. It will be the 3rd Conference Finals for the Suns in the last 6 years and if they can knock off the #1 seed Lakers, it would be their 1st NBA Finals since 1993.
We’ll keep you posted how the Cavs-Celtics series turns out – we know we have at least 2 more games – tonight in Cleveland and Thursday night in Boston. Will we have a Game 7 over the weekend in Cleveland? Stay tuned…
Rose Hurt, Bulls Lose in Home Blowout to Magic 107-87
Thursday, February 11th, 2010 | Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic, Sports | 1 Comment
Not a good night for Bulls fans, as Derrick Rose was injured at the start of the Bulls 107-87 blowout loss to the Orlando Magic at the United Center. Just over 2 minutes into the game, Rose was fouled hard by Magic star Dwight Howard. Rose landed awkwardly on his right hip. Rose made the basket and then the free throw, but the Bulls took him out of the game after that for precautionary reasons. Rose went to a hospital after the game to have an MRI done on the injure right hip and results will be forthcoming. Head Coach Vinny Del Negro had this to say about the hard foul and Rose’s status – “I don’t think there was anything intended there at all, just try to block a shot… Let’s see what the MRI says. Let’s see how much discomfort, how stiff he is tomorrow. Usually, those things tend to loosen up rapidly, and luckily, we do have the All-Star Break. I just hope he’s all right to participate because he deserves it and I want him to enjoy himself.”
After that play, the rest was history for the Bulls. The Magic outscored the Bulls 41-17 in the 1st quarter. Ouch! The Bulls outscored the Magic in the 2nd and 4th quarters, but it wasn’t enough. The Bulls fell back under .500 at 25-26 and they are tied with the Miami Heat for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Milwaukee Bucks are just 1 game behind the Bulls and Heat, so it is going to be a dog-fight the rest of the way for the Bulls. They will need to get back a healthy Rose and Joakim Noah after the break if they expect to make a real post-season run during the next 2 months…
Christmas Day NBA Action – Celtics @ Magic & Cavs @ Lakers – Enjoy!
Friday, December 25th, 2009 | Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, General, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, Orlando Magic, Sports | No Comments
Merry Christmas from your friends at Ticket Chest – we hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season and a great 2010!
Enjoy some great NBA action today:
The defending Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic host the 2008 defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics at 2:30PM Eastern time on Christmas Day. Paul Pierce leads the way for the 21-5 Celtics who have the best record in the Eastern Conference to date. Vince Carter and Dwight Howard lead the way for the Magic who are 21-7 overall and right no the heels of the Celtics.
At 5PM Eastern time, the defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers host the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kobe Bryant is averaging over 28 points per game and has had some incredible game-winning shots of late to lead the 22-4 Lakers. Lebron James will be making his last appearance in a Cavs uniform in L.A. (unless the 2 teams meet in the NBA Finals this year) and continues to lead the way for the Cavs by averaging over 28 points per game.
Can’t ask for better NBA game action than this…
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