After a day off, I really thought the Magic would come into this game rested and ready to compete. Well, half the team forgot to show up. The Nets blast the Magic, 98-82 on a long Sunday night. The game was pretty painful to watch throughout. The Nets really didn't play all that well, but the Magic sure did not take advantage.
For starters, after having a few huge games in the last week, Dwight Howard put up only 2 points and 8 rebounds. Howard was left off the floor during critical runs by the Nets. Tony Battie put in some solid minutes on the boards. However, our starting center, Kelvin Cato, hardly played and really had no impact on the game.
Grant Hill returned to action and scored 23 points, matching Hedo Turkoglu's total for the night. In the end, 20 turnovers and a lack of effort is no way to break a streak. The Magic lose a critical game tonight. They really can't afford to lose these games this late in the year. If they are going to play like this, at the very least - get the ball to Howard every other play.
One side note (and a negative one at that), there are reports that Stacey Augmon became enraged over some comments by a local reporter and squirted lotion at the group. Turkoglu also had to separated at the end of the game; Tony Battie went on to the floor before the game ended to pull Hedo back. DeShawn Stevenson, upset at something, decided to kick the ball into the stands. Just not a very good night.
