Carlos Arroyo looks none too pleased during the second half of the Magic's game against the Spurs on Tuesday night. Arroyo scored 17 points, but the Magic fell to the Spurs, 107-97.
Photo by Phelan M. Ebanhack, the Associated Press

When Jameer Nelson (chin contusion) and Hedo Turkoglu (sprained wrist) went down in the first period -- here's John Denton's report -- our guys knew they had to step up, and they did:

• Keyon Dooling responded off the Magic bench with 19 points.
• Carlos Arroyo added 17.
• Rashard Lewis put together another fine game and played Hedo's usual role of aggressor, with 24 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the line.
• Dwight Howard piled-up 24 points and 21 boards on the league's best center.

But not even those fantastic offensive efforts were enough to hold-off the defending champion Spurs. We held an 8-point lead in the third quarter before San Antonio scored 15 straight points, quickly silencing what was a raucous Amway Arena crowd and demonstrating why it has won four of the last seven NBA titles. We had no answer for Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, or Michael Finley (?!), wasting an unusually solid bench effort -- our reserves outscored the Spurs', 42-40 -- and an uncharacteristically horrific shooting night from Tony Parker (4-of-13).

Our guard play undid us tonight. Arroyo and Dooling scored alright themselves, but our other guards combined to score 11 points (3-of-15 FGs, 2-of-6 3FGs, 3-of-7 FTs) in 63 minutes. Sure, Jameer Nelson's absence skews that figure a bit, but that doesn't change the collective ineffectiveness of Keith Bogans, Maurice Evans, and J.J. Redick. On the other end, Finley's corpse played out of its his body mind, scoring the first 2 points of the game -- and the first 2 of his season-high 24 -- on a give-and-go with Tim Duncan. The Magic are obviously taking notes on how to run their offense through a big-man, but Dwight has neither the court vision (to pass out of the post effectively) nor the shooting touch (to keep defenses honest when he's pushed off the block) to be a viable post playmaker in the Bill Walton/Lakers Shaquille O'Neal/Duncan mold.

This loss drops us to 46-27 on the season and losers of 3 out of our last four games... and 0-2 in games I predicted we'd win. Hopefully, a few days' rest will get us going again, as we have to get motivated to face the Bucks on Friday night. Hedo and Jameer, we're counting on you two to get healthy.

Other notes

• It was a night for season-highs. In addition to Finley's and Dooling's scoring outputs, Evans posted a career-high 7 assists.
• Howard had another 20-20 game, his first since March 1st versus New York. His previous 20-20 effort came February 13th versus Denver. Perhaps not coincidentally, Stan Van Gundy called Howard out before that game as well.
• The Spurs were called for 18 fouls and the Magic were called for 25, yet the Magic shot more free throws.
• Evidence that the plus/minus stat doesn't accurately tell the whole story when it's applied to only one player: Howard was a minus-14 and Arroyo a minus-15; Parker was a game-best +19. Don't trust it unless it's applied to a unit of players.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this game on the whole, though. On the one hand, we only lost to the World Champions by 10 points even though we were without two of our top-four players; on the other hand, it took superhuman efforts from Arroyo, Dooling, Howard, and Lewis -- not to mention an impressive 41-35 rebounding advantage -- just to pull to lose by 10... at home... when we shot more free throws. Your thoughts?

	vs.
46-26		47-23
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
FSN Florida
Probable starters:
Jameer Nelson	PG	Tony Parker
Maurice Evans	SG	Michael Finley
Hedo Turkoglu	SF	Bruce Bowen
Rashard Lewis	PF	Fabricio Oberto
Dwight Howard	C	Tim Duncan
21 Nov 2007: Spurs 128, Magic 110

The last time we played the Spurs, they pretty much killed us. How great were they? Well, we shot 56% from the field, hit 10 threes, and turned the ball over only 11 times... and we still lost by 18. The Spurs had just 3 turnovers, the Tim Duncan/Manu Ginobili/Tony Parker trio combined for 79 points on 30-of-56 shooting, and the team kept us off the offensive glass.

The biggest key for a victory tonight is containing Ginobili and Parker, which is easier said than done. Unless our point guards ate a metric ton of Wheaties this morning, they're not going to stop those two from getting into the lane, meaning Dwight Howard will need to protect the rim. He's about due, as he hasn't reached the three-block mark in a single game since March 15th vs. Indiana.

Interesting sideplot to watch: how Spurs backup center Kurt Thomas fares in black-and-silver. I was pissed when the Magic weren't able to acquire him from the SuperSonics at the trade deadline, but Seattle GM Sam Presti, who cut his teeth in the Spurs' organization, seemed determined to send Thomas to his pals in San Antonio. Recall the Spurs shipped Brent Barry and Francisco Elson to Seattle for Thomas. The SuperSonics cut Barry, who then waited the mandatory thirty-day period to re-sign with the Spurs. You'll have a hard time convincing me -- or any reasonable NBA observer -- that the Barry waiving wasn't pre-meditated. Whatever. Barry's return will not drastically alter the crazy Western Conference landscape. He's not that good anymore, but that didn't stop him from going nuts on us last time out. Ugh.

Tipoff's at 7 on FSN Florida, which sucks, because I know a lot of us are eager to see how we play against the defending World Champions. But it's not all bad: tonight's game is the last one televised on FSN for the rest of the season, meaning most Orlando residents won't have any trouble seeing the remaining 10 games of 07/08.

Check out Pounding the Rock for more on the Spurs.

Go Magic.

	vs.
4-1		4-1
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
Probable starters:
Tony Parker	PG	Jameer Nelson
Michael Finley	SG	Keith Bogans
Bruce Bowen	SF	Hedo Turkoglu
Fabricio Oberto	PF	Pat Garrity
Tim Duncan	C	Dwight Howard

25 words or fewer: The Magic make their final tune-up before the regular season starts by facing the Spurs, the defending champions.

Know your enemy: The Spurs are holding their preseason opponents to 91.4 points per game, seventh-best in the league.

Useless information: By defeating Miami on Wednesday night, the Spurs guaranteed the Heat their first winless preseason in the team's 20-year history.

Bullet points:

• Tonight is the final preseason game for the Magic, which means the starters are not likely to see much playing time. As a result, we'll be treated to matchups like Marcin Gortat vs. Ian Mahinmi, James Augustine vs. Matt Bonner, and Kevin Kruger vs. (gulp) Manu Ginobili. Fun times.
• Favorite Spurs-related quote: I can't imagine how anyone could root for the Spurs. It would be like cheering for cancer.
• Rashard Lewis and J.J. Redick will sit out tonight for Orlando...
• ... but Keyon Dooling and Trevor Ariza will play. Dooling has not played yet this preseason, so it will be interesting to see how he fits into Stan Van Gundy's rotation. Can he win the backup point guard job from Carlos Arroyo? I think he will, mostly because he plays better defense.
• The game will not be televised, but you can listen to it for free online on NBA Audio League Pass. That's a site you'll want to bookmark, especially if you don't get Fox Sports Net, which is televising 35 Magic games this year despite the fact that most Orlando residents can't get it.
• Both teams take -- and make, for that matter -- a ton of three-pointers. If the Magic are able to win more, they should win the game... unless Manu Ginobili gets to the foul line 15 times, in which case it won't matter.
• I'm not advocating thuggery, but if Bruce Bowen took an elbow to the face, I wouldn't be sad.

I'm going to be away from the computer for most of the day, so I encourage you to check out John Denton at Florida Today and Brian Schmitz at the Orlando Sentinel for your Magic news. Discussions abound at Magic Madness. And if you're looking to kill a few hours, try this criminally addictive online tennis game. I promise you that you will not get any work done at all.