Orlando Magic vs. Dallas Mavericks - NBA Preview
On Friday night, Orlando Magic will be hosting the match against Dallas Mavericks at the Amway Center. Both teams will be facing each other for the 1st time in this season.
Mavs enjoy a supremacy over Magic, winning 12 of the last overall 17 games; however both teams will be stepping inside the arena after facing back to back losses. Orlando have had an inconsistent record at home and after losing
5 straight games there and will be fighting to avoid the 6th on Friday.
They received a huge 108-86 defeat from New York Knicks on Wednesday; the game in which Jameer Nelson tallied 17 points and JJ Redick had 15. The Knicks, extremely short-handed, were always in control and what was more worrisome
was that they completely shut down Dwight Howard, as he had only 12 points and 5 boards.
He was frustrated after the loss;
"When we want to play, we're a great team. We just have to bring that effort every night," Howard said. "It should be frustrating for everybody. We just have to step up and play the right way. When we don't, we have games like
this."
The Magic will hope that D-12 takes out his frustration on the NBA champions, who themselves are facing a similar plight, having lost 9 of the last 11 on the road.
They were swept by Miami Heat on Thursday and looked completely hapless against a tight Miami defense. On Friday, they will be up against some of the same, if not better. Dirk Nowitzki was the only happening thing for Dallas in
that game as he tallied a game high 25 to go with 6 boards.
The Mavs will be relying on their talisman heavily once again. However, they will also need the decent contributions from the likes of Jason Terry and Delonte West. If the duo can provide impact from the bench, the Mavs can easily
rattle the Magic plans. Lamar Odom and Brendon Haywood will also have to be at their best if the Mavs are to stop the Howard monster.
The Mavericks also need the win to add security to their playoff hopes. Dallas are currently on the 6th spot in the Western conference with 29 victories and 23 defeats and a win at Orlando could take them past the Memphis
Grizzlies.
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