Last season, the Magic surrendered season-high scoring totals to not a few shooting guards. They signed Mickael Pietrus last month to fortify their weakest overall position last season and, more importantly, to give them the lock-down defensive presence they lacked last season.

Based on the Magic's schedule, they'll know fairly quickly if they made a wise investment.

Here are the players we presume Pietrus will be asked to guard in the first ten games of the season: Joe Johnson of Atlanta; O.J. Mayo of Memphis; Kevin Martin of Sacramento; Derrick Rose of Chicago; Andre "Don't Call Me Iggy" Iguodala of Philadelphia; Gilbert Arenas of Washington; Brandon Roy and Jerryd Bayless of Portland; Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City; Josh Howard of Dallas; and Jason Richardson, a former teammate of Pietrus' in Golden State, of Charlotte.

Potential All-Stars, or at least All-Rookie team selections, await Pietrus in each of the Magic's first ten games. Bearing that fact in mind, how do you think Pietrus will fare defensively in those games?

	vs.
45-25		34-34
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
Sun Sports
Probable starters:
Jameer Nelson	PG	Andre Miller
Maurice Evans	SG	Willie Green
Hedo Turkoglu	SF	Andre Iguodala
Rashard Lewis	PF	Reggie Evans
Dwight Howard	C	S. Dalembert
Season series:
1 Feb 2008: Magic 108, 76ers 106
22 Feb 2008: Magic 115, 76ers 99
27 Feb 2008: 76ers 101, Magic 89

Let's see: we're at home, playing a .500 team we may later face in the first round of the playoffs. Where have I heard that one before?

Oh. Right.

Can we agree that it's not safe to overlook Philadelphia? The 76ers don't stand a chance at defeating Boston or Detroit in a seven-game series, but they'd give everyone else in the East absolute fits. We just match up poorly with them, particularly at point guard; Andre Miller and Louis Williams routinely destroy us. In fact, Miller's average of 24.7 points per game against us is his best against any Eastern opponent, and nearly 8 points higher than his season average. Ditto for Williams, who averages 15.3 points per game against us, a shade over four points higher than his usual output. So, to state the obvious: stopping Philadelphia's point guards will go a long way to securing a victory for us this evening.

Even with all that, I think we stand a good chance of winning tonight. If being limited by foul trouble and outplayed by Brendan Haywood (?!) Wednesday won't motivate Dwight Howard to punish Philadelphia, I'm not sure what will. Philadelphia is ill-equipped to stop Howard, and Rashard Lewis is due for a big night as well. I sincerely like our chances in this one.

Note that Matt Guokas, the first coach in Magic history, will be honored this evening as part of the Magic's "Commitment to the Past" program. A banner bearing his likeness will be unveiled in the concourse. I love that we're honoring Matty, and I'm not trying to take anything away from him, but I wish this organization could think of a more dignified way to honor its most important historical figures. A banner in the concourse. Great. We can be reminded of these men's greatness each time we head down to grab some nachos or to use the john. Retire some uniform numbers already! Goodness.

My buddy Lane and I will be there tonight to make complete asses of ourselves cheer the Magic, and Hedo Turkoglu in particular. We love us some Hedo. Tip's at 7 on Sun Sports. Go Magic.

	vs.
25-32		37-22
Wachovia Center
7:00 PM
FSN Florida
Probable starters:
Andre Miller	PG	Jameer Nelson
Willie Green	SG	Maurice Evans
Andre Iguodala	SF	Hedo Turkoglu
Thaddeus Young	PF	Rashard Lewis
Samuel Dalembert	C	Dwight Howard

I'm really sick of playing Philadelphia. We've played the 76ers twice already this month, including one game just five days ago. Tim Povtak noted the 76ers' inability to win if their opponent scores more than 100 points. They're just 1-19 when that happens this season. Philadelphia just isn't equipped to outgun anybody, especially since trading three-point assassin Kyle Korver to Utah. Surprisingly, the 76ers do have an above-average defense; they rank eighth in the league in defensive efficiency.

Hopefully, Jameer Nelson will get back on track tonight. He's scored 10 points in 50 minutes over the last two games, shooting just 3-of-16 in that span. In the first game against Philadelphia this season, which marked the first time he played in his hometown since his father's unexpected death, Jameer played only 7 minutes. He was probably rattled a bit. Let's see if he's recovered enough. Luckily, we have Keyon Dooling available to back him up. He's en fuego lately and clearly our best bench player.

The tip is at 7:00. Go Magic.

UPDATE: Happy 24th birthday, James Augustine!

UPDATE 2: The Philadelphia Daily News reports that Samuel Dalembert may be unable to play for the 76ers tonight due to some nagging injuries. Calvin Booth may start in his place. Don't laugh, though; Booth did a commendable job guarding Dwight the other night, and he's a veteran type who can draw offensive fouls. (HT: Hardwood Paroxysm.)

Keyon Dooling throws down a tomahawk slam on Louis Williams in the Magic's 115-99 victory over the 76ers on Friday night.
Photo by Sam Greenwood, Getty Images

It's been said that teams that live by the three also die by the three. The Magic certainly lived by the three last night, drilling 15 of their 33 long-range attempts to crush the 76ers, 115-99, at home. Hedo Turkoglu set a career-high with seven triples, and Jameer Nelson matched his career-high with five. Here's the GameFlow, and here's the boxscore.

Let me say the following, though: the Magic weren't overly impressive. This win had more to do with Dwight Howard's defensive dominance and Philadelphia's offensive ineptitude than it did with anything else. The 76ers looked lost offensively for the first three periods. Were they even running plays? It seemed as though a typical Philadelphia offensive possession consisted of somebody overdribbling, then passing to someone else, who would overdribble before taking a perimeter jumper. On the rare occasion that they drove the lane, Dwight Howard was there to swat or alter their shot. Dwight finished with three blocks, and would have had at least three more if his teammates hadn't fouled the shooter on those plays. He owned the paint last night. And ohbytheway, he also had 24 points and 18 rebounds. Solid.

The game was not as close as the final margin might indicate, which, given the way the Magic seemed to sleepwalk through long stretches, makes me wonder how good they'd be if they played their hardest all the time. Philadelphia went into gunning mode in the final two minutes, in which they made their only three three-pointers on the evening. After letting the 76ers hang around for the first three periods, they went for the jugular in the fourth. Turkoglu and Lewis combined for 24 points in the final frame, overcoming a hot-shooting streak by Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala, who went 5-of-7 for 13 points in the fourth.

A few other notes:

• The 76ers feature Calvin Booth and Kevin Ollie (remember him?), two players who made my dad exclaim, "They're still in the league?!" when they checked in. Booth played a solid game, snaring four rebounds and even blocking one of Howard's shots. Ollie was less impressive, but nearly got Howard ejected.
• Pat Garrity, not James Augustine, was on the active roster. I can't think of a rational explanation as to why.
• Tuesday in Detroit, the Magic nailed 70% of their three-pointers; then they laid an egg in Toronto the next night. Let's hope they don't cool off tomorrow night against the Kings.
• The Keyon Dooling slam pictured above elicited this hilarious reaction from the bench.
• The Magic are now 24-2 when Dwight blocks 3 shots or more.

That's all. See you tomorrow for the Kings game.

	vs.
34-22		24-31
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
Sun Sports HD
Probable starters:
Jameer Nelson	PG	Andre Miller
Maurice Evans	SG	Willie Green
Hedo Turkoglu	SF	Andre Iguodala
Rashard Lewis	PF	Thaddeus Young
Dwight Howard	C	Samuel Dalembert

The Magic will try to capitalize on the beginning a favorable late-November schedule which includes no games versus teams with records above .500, including two games against Philadelphia. The 76ers gave the Magic quite a bit of trouble the last time they played, with reserve point guard Louis Williams (20 points, 7-of-12 FGs) doing most of the damage. Fortunately, the Magic won, thanks to Hedo Turkoglu's free throws in the final seconds. But given Williams' strong play, and the Magic's inability to contain Toronto's Jose Calderon, it's going to be a long night for Jameer Nelson and Keyon Dooling. Maybe we'll have a Carlos Arroyo sighting? For better or for worse, he's here for the rest of the season. Might as well use him.

Interesting thing for which to watch: will Pat Garrity be active? He had been for the past several games leading up to the trade deadline. Now that the deadline's passed, it doesn't make sense to activate him over James Augustine, who had been in street-clothes to facilitate showcasing Garrity.

Check out Sixers4Guidos for the view of Philadelphia from Italy (!). Ricky, who runs the site, is running a campaign for the 76ers to bring back their classic uniforms, which I fully endorse.

I'll be away from the computer for most of the day, which means I won't get a chance to respond to the comments in the Otis-bashing trade deadline thread until later. Leave love.

Or vitriol.

Um, go Magic!!!1

File Photo by Red Huber, the Orlando Sentinel

Otis Smith has finally seen the light.

The Magic's General Manager told reporters, including John Denton of Florida Today, that he is indeed looking to acquire a power forward before the playoffs:

"It would be really nice to have another big body, but quite frankly we've played really well with what we've had," Smith said. "You'd be crazy to not want to help your team get better. But you have to do something that's going to make sense and not just because you feel like you have to make a move."

I wrote earlier this week that power forward was the Magic's weakest position. Let's take a look at which power forwards might be available, and what it might take to acquire them:

• Reggie Evans, Philadelphia 76ers:
  • The Good: Based on rebound rate, he's the best rebounding power forward in the NBA.
  • The Bad: He doesn't do anything else, and he's an exceptionally poor free throw shooter. Additionally, his contract runs for another four years.
  • What It Would Take: The 76ers are better than their record indicates and have plenty of young talent. However, they're pretty thin up front, so trading Evans would be difficult for them to do.
  • My offer: Keyon Dooling, J.J. Redick, and the draft rights to Fran Vazquez for Louis Amundson and Evans.
    • Why it works for us: The Magic need rebounding, and Evans is an exceptional rebounder. Amundson is a throw-in to make the salaries match.
    • Why it works for them: Dooling and Redick can provide solid backup minutes to two-guard Willie Green, whose current backup is the woefully inept Gordan Giricek. Additionally, Dooling's expiring contract combines with Giricek's to give the 76ers a bit more cap room this summer, which they earmark to re-sign restricted free-agent Andre Iguodala. Fran Vazquez sweetens the deal and gives the 76ers a decent backup power forward whenever he chooses to leave Europe.
• Chuck Hayes, Houston Rockets:
  • The Good: He's a fantastic rebounder (16.0 rebound rate) for his size (6'6"), even in the big-man-heavy Western Conference. Think of what he can do out East!
  • The Bad: Like Evans, he's a non-factor offensively. Like Evans, he's also a poor free throw shooter, connecting on 27% (!) of his attempts this season.
  • What It Would Take: Not much, which is surprising given the Rockets' eagerness to re-sign him last summer. He's regressed a bit and is losing power forward minutes to rookies Luis Scola and Carl Landry. The Dream Shake, the best Rockets blog on the internet, has an entire section entitled, "I like you, Chuck Hayes, but I like winning more."
  • My offer: Carlos Arroyo for Steve Francis and Hayes.
    • Why it works for us: Hayes can give us 15-20 solid minutes a night. Honestly, I feel better about our chances with him in the lineup than I do with Brian Cook, who is two inches taller but a much worse rebounder. Francis, who is out for the season, is a throw-in to make the salaries match. The Magic would buy him out.
    • Why it works for them: Arroyo is much more consistent than any of Houston's other point guards (Rafer Alston, rookie Aaron Brooks, Mike James) and can distribute the ball well.
• Joe Smith, Chicago Bulls:
  • The Good: Although not much of a rebounder, he's leaps-and-bounds better than Rashard Lewis in that regard. He also has good range on his jump-shot; that is, he won't hog the painted area from Dwight Howard
  • The Bad: There are indeed better rebounders available.
  • What It Would Take: Not as much as one might think. The Bulls want to make a playoff push, and the best way for them to do that is to upgrade their point guard rotation. Chris Duhon may have scored a career-high 34 points Thursday night, but he's still Chris Duhon.
  • My offer: Arroyo and James Augustine for Smith.
    • Why it works for us: In addition to getting a solid, reasonably priced (~$10 million over 2 season) veteran, the Magic free up a roster spot by trading two players for one.
    • Why it works for them: I'll let Matt from Blog-A-Bull explain:

      The Bulls don't get a 'prospect', but would I really want [J.J.] Redick? I'd rather see if they could re-sign Arroyo cheap enough to where bringing Duhon back is definitely not an option.

• Kurt Thomas, Seattle SuperSonics:
  • The Good: He's a strong, powerful banger of a big-man averaging 7.5 points and 8.8 rebounds for a woeful Seattle team in the midst of rebuilding. He boasts a robust 18.8 rebounding rate and defends the post well. He's in the last year of his deal, which is worth approximately $8 million.
  • The Bad: At 35-years-old, he's creaky; indeed, health is an issue.
  • What It Would Take: This part is where it gets tricky. Carlos Arroyo and Keyon Dooling are two solid trade assets, but they're both point guards. The SuperSonics have a log-jam at that position already, and there's no reason for them to add to it. Additionally, there's no incentive for them to want to trade Thomas' expiring contract when they can keep it and let it come off their own books.
  • My offer: Arroyo, Augustine, Keith Bogans, and Redick for Thomas and Delonte West.
    • Why it works for us: Thomas bolsters our frontcourt for the rest of the season and for the playoffs, and West can play combo-guard a la Keyon Dooling.
    • Why it works for them: Arroyo is a huge upgrade over West and has an expiring contract to boot; Augustine and Bogans also have expiring contracts, and Augustine would instantly become Seattle's third-best big man (after Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox, ahead of Johan Petro, Mouhamed Sene, and Robert Swift); and Redick is a sweet-shooting prospect who would get the chance to flourish playing ahead of Damien Wilkins.
• Charlie Villanueva, Milwaukee Bucks:
  • The Good: He's a tall, versatile four/three with decent range. He's also an underrated rebounder.
  • The Bad: He's having the worst season of his young career, and his contract runs for another two years.
  • What It Would Take: Probably not a heckuva whole lot. He's losing minutes to Yi Jianlian and the Bucks don't seem too impressed with him.
  • My offer: Augustine and Redick for Villanueva.
    • Why it works for us: We get a solid "buy-low" option without giving up anyone who sees significant playing time.
    • Why it works for them: Redick instantly becomes the Bucks' backup two-guard; he won't lose minutes to Charlie Bell (having arguably the worst season in NBA History) or to Awvee Storey, that's for sure. Augustine has a small expiring contract and provides the Bucks with the sort of hustle coach Larry Krystkowiak admires.

Which of these deals sounds most appealing to you?

It really wasn't that great of a game last night. I mean, I suppose it was great from the standpoint that it was close throughout, and probably entertaining for liberated fans on League Pass who had no allegiance to either team. But for us... there's no reason for this Magic team to have to eke-out a win against the 76ers. We're just supposed to be better than that. Here's a highlight reel, and here's the boxscore.

Andre Miller killed us with 23 points and 10 assists. Reggie Evans, a 46% foul shooter, hit 5-of-6 from the line and scored 9 points, almost double his season average. Louis Williams came off the bench and scored 20, and we had no answer for him. Think about that. We're supposedly a contending team, but we had no answer for Louis freakin' Williams?! Absurd.

Thank God for Hedo Turkoglu. He lead us in scoring for the seventh straight game and, for the third time this season, scored the winning points of the game. With the game tied at 106, Turk drove into the lane past Andre Iguodala, the 76ers' best player, who raked him across the arm. If you watch the highlights above, you'll see Turk exaggerate the foul by thwoing his arms up wildly, but his acting paid-off; maybe he learned after that loss against New Jersey last month, when he got hacked twice on late-game drives and didn't get the benefit of the whistle either time. As expected, Turkoglu nailed the ensuing two free throws. After two Philadelphia timeouts -- one to set-up the final play and another to prevent a five-second violation -- Dwight Howard stole Andre Miller's inbounds pass, and time expired.

Ricky at Sixers 4 guidos isn't too upset, though, calling it (emphasis his) "the best game of the season." He wants the 76ers to tank the rest of the season. More losses = more ping-pong balls in the draft lottery. It's nice that he's happy. Actually, he might be happier with his team losing than we are with our team winning, because damn, that was ugly. To wit:

• With James Augustine at home battling the flu, Pat Garrity was active for the Magic. He played 4 minutes and contributed 3 fouls. He also failed to dunk on Samuel Dalembert. Meanwhile, J.J. Redick was the only Magic player to receive a DNP-CD. Whuh?!
• Jameer Nelson: 7 minutes, 4 points, 0 assists, 2 turnovers in his first trip to Philadelphia since his father died. Brian Schmitz had a touching article in yesterday's Sentinel about Jameer's rough season.
• Dwight Howard had just 10 shot attempts. Give him the ball.
• All our starters scored in double-figures. Unfortunately, so did all theirs. Where Defense Doesn't Happen.

Yeah, that's a lot of negativity after winning a game to put us 12 games over .500 again, so I'll close by congratulating Carlos Arroyo and Maurice Evans for their solid play: a combined 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Arroyo added 5 assists and just 1 turnover. I'll take that from our starting backcourt any night, no matter who the players are.

The Magic travel to Indianapolis to take on the Pacers tonight. The preview for that one is coming up later today.  EDIT: As promised, here's the preview.

	vs.
18-28		29-18
Wachovia Center
7:00 PM
Sun Sports
Probable starters:
Andre Miller	PG	Carlos Arroyo
Willie Green	SG	Maurice Evans
Andre Iguodala	SF	Hedo Turkoglu
Reggie Evans	PF	Rashard Lewis
Samuel Dalembert	C	Dwight Howard

Lots of weird storylines heading into tonight's action. The two teams have combined to play 93 games, yet have not played each other once. The 76ers are 10 games below .500, yet just 1.5 games out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Odder still, they won their last game by 43 points. Yes, the Philadelphia 76ers, post-Allen Iverson, beat a team by 43 points. Next thing you know, Joe Johnson will make an All-Star team.

Oh, wait. Crap.

I'm most interested in seeing how Hedo Turkoglu plays in his first game, post-All-Star-snub. Hopefully, he'll do his best Al Thornton impression. Thornton, who plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, was left off the roster for the Rookie Game at All-Star Weekend. He subsequently dropped 33 points on the Hawks in a 95-88 victory. I hope he dunked on Joe Johnson's head. For more notable examples of players going absolutely apeshit nuts after getting snubbed, check out today's post at 20 Second Timeout.

The player who most worries me is Andre Miller. He's great at posting-up smaller guards, much like Chauncey Billups. He's going to give Arroyo and Jameer Nelson fits. Additionally, he throws some unfairly awesome outlet passes, like this alley-oop to Andre Iguodala from about 60 feet away. But don't let that highlight clip fool you into thinking the 76ers are a running team. Despite having young studs like Iguodala, Willie Green, and Louis Williams, they're only 22nd in the league in pace factor.

Anyway, Dwight Howard gets to compete against one of the few players in the league who can legitimately challenge him for rebounds. Reggie Evans, whom the Magic were reportedly interested in acquiring last summer, is 8th in the league in Rebound Rate, ahead of such luminaries as Tim Duncan, Andris Biedrins, and Carlos Boozer. Samuel Dalembert, who will guard Howard, is 20th. I can't mention Dalembert without throwing in the infamous Pat Garrity Dunk Mix. The following video is completely real. Do not adjust your screen.

For your 76ers fix, check out Sixers 4 Guidos.

See you at 7. Go Magic.