Horrible game. I wish it was as easy as saying there was no energy - but the players looked alright on the floor. Some shots were a little short, but overall the Magic could have won this game. Defense was very poor and the intensity of the past 3 games was not present. I would have liked to see Z play more minutes, especially in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Drew Gooden and Juwan Howard had quite games and Tracy McGrady had a below average game for his standards.
I completely expect the Magic to bounce back and kick the living shit out of the Cavaliers on Christmas. The Christmas day game should be entertaining, as Lebron James has quietly been improving his game, especially after Ricky Davis was traded. This should be a good one-on-one matchup with McGrady.
OLD HABITS RETURN - TIRED - UNENERGETIC BASKETBALL!! They reverted to their old ways; e.g., rushing shots, poor passing, no vision of the floor or teammate positions, little or no transition or fastbreak effort; and last but not least as I have said before - 'live by the jumper and die by the jumper' If I am reading the 'tea leaves' correctly, Gabriel is now likely frantically 'cobbling' together another 'patchwork' deal that will divert attention for a while and save his job for a few more months while he peruses deals for another 'roosting' place that can use his talents!!
I think because they were playing so well they just assumed they would beat a bad Iverson-less 76ers. They have to realize they need to play hard every game especially because of their record. I dont care who they are playing they need to bring it all or they will start another losing streak. I hope they learned their lesson. They outrebound Golden State who has Erick Dampier who is top 10 in rebounds then Dalembert on 76ers dominates us. Doesn't make sense. Just because they are riding a hot streak doesn't take away the fact they lost 19 straight games. At 7-22 they need to bring it every night even against the heat and wizards.