Lots of buzz hubbub surrounding last night's Magic/Hornets game. Let's check out the reaction from around the web...

• First, if you missed Keyon Dooling swatting Jannero Pargo's fast-break layup attempt, click here for the NBA.com highlight. I promise you won't get Rick Roll'd.
• Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don't Lie in today's Behind the Boxscore feature:

  I wrote a lot about this game, and I'll get to it in a sec, but the best summation about the back-and-forth comes from an email from Matt at Hardwood Paroxysm:

  "These two in a Finals would be fascinating. It may not be as interesting as Kobe vs. KG, but the basketball may not be better."

  Just the thought of the Lakers and Celtics (regardless of roster makeup) in the Finals leaves me giddy, and the thought of the Boston and Los Angeles rosters (forgetting, for a second, that the franchises in question are the Celtics and Lakers) in the Finals leaves me swimming. Either one works.

  And yet, for the two and a half hours of actual game action, man, it might be hard to top Orlando and New Orleans. I know we've seen some real crackers from the C's and Lakers games this season, this is just a hypothetical, but it's worth understanding that this was a terrific, terrific pairing.

  In case you missed it, Pat Garrity played 14 minutes last night. More from Dwyer:

  Pat Garrity cannot help an NBDL team.

  From another email, this one coming from a prominent scribe from another major sports site who also invented something called PER:

  "They have to sign another 4 to a 10-day. HAVE TO. This is ridiculous."

  Garrity's PER of 1.3 puts him below the lowest designation on the PER reference scale, which is "On the next play to Yakima." Maybe the Sun Kings could use a power forward...?

• Matt sent me an email as well:

  I take it back, you're not going to get swept in the first round. You have way too many offensive weapons and too much pure talent for that to happen. And the best part is, if you can get one on the road, you'll actually be in a pretty great spot, even against the beasts from the East.

  Nothing to be embarrassed about from this loss. Learning process, and a good one against a great team.

  Nothing to be embarrassed about except being outhustled when it counted, I guess. Still, losing to the Hornets by only a point is a result most teams would be happy with.

• At the Hive:

  Nothing like winning a game you have no business being in.

  Given our pathetic rebounding effort, we had no business winning either.

• Hornets247:

  • The Magic have some impressive pieces. I knew what to expect from Howard, but I didn't realize Lewis could D up like that, or that Hedo was so versatile. That dude has great handles for a guy listed as 6-10, and he has those big lunging steps that help him get by guys and finish in the lane. Very nice player.

  Nice to see some recognition for Lewis and Hedo. Something tells me they won't sneak up on people in the postseason, though.

• Basketbawful:

  Hedo Turkoglu cordially invites you to visit Peja Stojakovic's man region, and Peja's welcoming expression seems to say: "Go to that fertile land of gentle breezes where the peaceful waters flow."

  While Matt and John Hollinger emailed Dwyer with observations on the game itself, I emailed Basketbawful a silly picture of Hedo and Peja before the game. Perhaps I don't have my priorities quite in order.

Before last night's game, DeShawn Stevenson talked to Keyon Dooling. After last night's game, Stevenson talked to the media. Read some of his comments below.
Photo by Fernando Medina, NBAE/Getty Images

Not a traditional open thread today, guys. Instead, I thought we could take a look at some postgame comments from the players after last night's Magic/Wizards game. First, from the victorious Washington team:

"I don't know what Dwight was eating, but he had a horrible game," said Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson, who drew the first foul against Howard with a driving layup. "He usually doesn't do that."

He's been doing that more lately, actually. Dwight's averaging 3.8 fouls in his last five games, up from his season average of 3.4. He's been whistled for five fouls or more four times this month, after just one such game in February. To be frank, it's ridiculous how much Dwight's defenders get away with defensively. The difference between what they're allowed to do and what Dwight's allowed to do is astonishing. One would think that after four years in the league, and two straight years as an All-Star, Dwight would get the benefit of the whistle every now and again.

"This is like a statement to them that we are not going to be pushovers," Haywood said. "After D.C., they probably thought they could do whatever to us."

It's not like your team stomped us, Brendan. We didn't take you lightly or anything; we just had a rough night. Kudos, though, for outplaying Dwight Howard for the second time in three meetings this season. [Insert Kryptonite joke here].

And from our guys:

"When he's in foul trouble like that, it throws off his rhythm, and to some extent it throws the rhythm of the whole team off a little because he's such a big part of what we do," said Jameer Nelson. "We just have to do a better job of playing without him."

Jameer is absolutely right about rhythm. Dwight is easily flustered when he thinks the officials are treating him unfairly. It reflects in his body language and in the way he plays. There's not much the Magic can do when he's not on the floor. I love Adonal Foyle, but he's not going to draw defenders away from our outside shooters, nor is he going to hit 60% of his field goals. I'd like to see Rashard Lewis post-up on the left block when Dwight isn't in the game. Sure, it means one less shooter on the perimeter for us, but Rashard is a crafty scorer down there, and not a bad passer.

"Other than Turkoglu and [Keith] Bogans, it was a miserable, miserable, miserable offensive night," Coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We had trouble getting good shots, and when we got them, we couldn't make them."

It doesn't sound like Coach is worried, nor should he be. We aren't going to miss our open shots every night. I mean, Rashard isn't going to consistently shoot 2-of-13.

"People can beat up on me and nothing happens," said Howard, who failed to crack double figures in scoring for just the third time all season. "But when I touch somebody I get calls. I try (to talk to the referees) but it doesn't seem to do any good. I really can't focus on that."

Richie Adubato, a former Magic coach and current radio analyst, thinks Dwight should stop complaining to the officials after every call. His theory is the officials will tune Dwight out if he does that, and may even get so annoyed with him that they'll call him for a technical foul. There's probably some validity to this line of thinking. Maybe Stan Van Gundy and Otis Smith should take up the fight on Dwight's behalf by sending tapes of questionable calls to the league office, if they haven't already.

For your consideration: a YouTube video of Pau Gasol flopping THREE TIMES in the Magic's loss to the Lakers last month, and getting away with it each time. I wish there were similar videos to document the similarly cowardly, disgraceful, reprehensible "defense" of Joel Pryzbilla and Al Harrington. At least we have a photo of Baby Al doing the deed, courtesy Phelan M. Ebanhack of the Associated Press.

Sources: Nelson and Stevenson quotes from this article in the Orlando Sentinel. Haywood and Van Gundy quotes from this article in the Orlando Sentinel. Howard quote from this article Florida Today.

Dwight Howard hauls in a rebound as Marcus Camby looks on in the Orlando Magic's 109-98 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Howard regained the league's lead in rebounds per game with his 24-rebound performance.
Photo by Fernando Medina, NBAE/Getty Images

Okay, I'm taking my All-Star break early. Enjoy these other takes on last night's 109-98 Magic win over the Nuggets, as well as a few other odds-and-ends. See you on the other side of Sunday.

• Basketbawful included Maurice Evans in his Worst of the Night feature:

  Maurice Evans: If there's a wink link in the Magic's daisy chain, it's their backcourt. And that weakness was on display last night, as Evans scored 2 points on 1-for-8 shooting. You know, starting 2-guards are supposed to score. That's what they do. But Evans is averaging 7.6 PPG. And it's not like he's much of a playmaker, either (1.1. APG).

  And yet I still think the Magic would be wise to re-sign "Mogans" to a short-term deal this summer. Despite last night's egg, he's played well as a starter overall, and his defense is still above-average.

• Basketbawful, writing this time at Deadspin, has the following to say about Dwight Howard's monster performance. Superbad references abound:

  Okay, calm down. Calm down, she likes you. She wants to [perform fellatio]. That's a good thing. It's the best. I'm guessing a lot of people will want to [perform fellatio on Dwight Howard] after he sunk the Denver Nuggets' battleship with 23 points and 24 rebounds, and that includes his coach, Stan Van Gundy, who called Howard out for a lack of effort after the Magic lost to Cleveland on Monday. During the postgame press conference, Van Gundy said, "We've seen games like this out of him before. It's not like Stan Van Gundy's a motivational genius and got Dwight to play." Hm. Maybe, maybe not. But Matt McHale wonders why Van Gundy speaks in the third person. Matt McHale thinks that's weird, but then, what does Matt McHale know? (I'll tell you: He knows that the Magic won 109-98.)

• Brian Schmitz says in his game recap Dwight's teammates want him to wear a Superman cape in the dunk contest this weekend.
• Lost in the commotion over Dwight's stellar night are the great second-half performances of Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. Sweet Lew had arguably his best game in Magic white-and-blue, scoring 14 of his 25 points in the decisive third-quarter; he also added 7 rebounds. Turk, meanwhile, recovered from foul trouble to score 12 points in the fourth to put the Nuggets away for good.
• Also don't forget to note Jameer Nelson's poor game: 6-of-15 shooting for 13 points. Yuck. Still, can I legitimately complain when we managed to beat one of the league's better teams despite our starting backcourt going 7-of-23 for 15 points?
• After last week's loss to the Lakers, I wrote that Pau Gasol got away with some flops. Hardwood Paroxysm has video evidence that Gasol is, indeed, a flopper.
• More from Schmitz, who wonders if Carlos Arroyo and J.J. Redick are on the trading block. I don't think Redick will have to be included in every possible trade scenario, but he almost certainly will have to go if the other team is willing to take on Pat Garrity.
• Kurt Thomas, a potential Magic trade target, figures to see his playing time decline in Seattle during the second half of the season, as the Sonics want to play the kids a little more. From the Seattle Times (via SuperSonicSoul):

  Coach P.J. Carlesimo intends to use the second half of the season to evaluate players such as C Robert Swift, C Johan Petro, G Luke Ridnour, swingman Delonte West and Gelebale at the expense of others, including starters.

  Might be time to make that phone call, Otis.

Enjoy your weekend, the All-Star festivities, and Valentine's Day. For those of you who are interested in the Nets potentially trading Jason Kidd to Dallas, check out Mavs Moneyball. Wes Cox was not too happy with the deal when it was announced.

Dwight Howard throws down a dunk in the Orlando Magic's 107-91 victory over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night.
Photo by Fernando Medina, NBAE/Getty Images

There were two big blowouts in the NBA last night: the 76ers crushed the Bucks by 43 points, and the Raptors downed the Wizards by 39. Considering the Magic are more talented than both the 76ers and the Raptors, and considering the Heat dressed only 10 players last night, the Magic should have won by more than 16 points. The game was an anomaly in that it was unsettlingly close before we put it away in the fourth quarter, as you can see in this GameFlow from PopcornMachine. Typically, we'll take a big lead, then give it all back late in the fourth, as we did versus New Jersey and at Charlotte. Oddly enough, those games also took place on Wednesdays. I write this on my brain.

This game illustrates two main points: Hedo Turkoglu is having an amazing season and our point guards are playing pretty terribly.

It's too bad the coaches already turned in their All-Star reserve votes, because Hedo Turkoglu played like an All-Star last night. However, I don't think he stands a chance at making the team. One of the reserve spots went to Joe Johnson (Atlanta Journal Constitution via FanHouse), who is completely undeserving. To be fair, I also left Turkoglu off my hypothetical ballot, but that's only because Josh Smith caught my eye with his incredible defense. He, not Johnson, is the reason Atlanta is in the playoff picture. If Johnson made the team at Turkoglu's expense, it will be a true injustice. Maybe I'm taking this All-Star thing too seriously, but pardon me for wanting players more deserving than Joe Johnson (Jose Calderon, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Turk, Gerald Wallace...) to get the recognition they deserve. I am, quite frankly, disgusted with the coaches' ignorance in this selection.

Something with which I am more disgusted is our point guard play. We're winning in spite of it, not because of it, as some Carlos Arroyo fans would like you to believe. Both he and Jameer Nelson have played terribly lately, which should concern Otis Smith. He says he doesn't want to make any moves before the trade deadline, but if a reasonable offer for a point guard comes along, he might have no choice but to pull the trigger. A title-contending team would probably be happy with either Arroyo or Nelson as its backup point guard, but not at its starter. Every title-contending team gets All-Star-level production from its point guard: Dallas has the one-two punch of Devin Harris and Jason Terry; Detroit has Chauncey Billups; New Orleans has Chris Paul; Phoenix has Steve Nash; Portland has Brandon Roy, who plays point forward; and San Antonio has the flop-happy Tony Parker. The only exception to the rule is Boston, which has three future Hall-of-Famers in its starting lineup. If we're going to contend, we need to upgrade that position. Period. Last night, Jason Williams -- Jason freaking Williams!!! -- had 11 points and 8 assists against us. Darrell Armstrong -- Darrell freaking Armstrong!!! -- came off the bench for the Nets four weeks ago and went absolutely bananas against us. Anthony Carter -- Anthony fre... you get the idea. Run-of-the-mill point guards routinely torch us, and we won't be facing too many of those in the playoffs.

Okay, we won the game. Lovely. But we should have won by a lot more, and there's no reason to think our season is going any better than it was. Yes, I am indeed complaining about playing .617 ball, which is about a 51-win pace. The fact is, we can do better. And I'm not going to be satisfied with anything less than the team's best effort. But hey, at least we've beaten the Heat eight straight times.  

If you've ever wanted an up-close view of Brian Cook's quads, you're in luck.

As promised, here's my recap. I had too many things to do yesterday after the game to write it yesterday.

What a game. I guess it's not a Magic win unless it involves coughing-up a double-digit lead, but obviously, we're happy with the result.

Kelly Dwyer writes the following in his Behind the Boxscore post today: "I mean, at home, and with Kevin Garnett on the bench, the Magic should be beating the Celtics. And probably by more than three points."  That's true. The win certainly could have been -- and should have been -- more decisive. But between Rajon Rondo's suffocating defense and the team's inexplicable reluctance to throw the ball to Dwight Howard late in the game, it's remarkable we even won at all.

Celtics fans, as you can see in the comments section of this post on CelticsBlog, took issue with the officiating yesterday. From my vantage point in the upper bowl, the game was called fairly on both sides. I respect that what was a foul on one end was also a foul on the other end, I respect that Paul Pierce and Hedo Turkoglu were allowed to defend each other physically and without penalty, and I respect that no ticky-tack fouls were called down the stretch.

What Boston's defeat really comes down to is the Celtics having plenty of chances -- the Magic turned the ball over 20 times for 22 31 Celtic points -- and still not being able to win. Furthermore, the Celtics had a 13-8 rebounding advantage after the first period, but ended the game with a five-rebound deficit. The Celtics, even without Kevin Garnett, should have been able to rebound better than they did, so they can also point to that as a reason they lost.

Even if we had lost this game, I would have been pleased with the individual efforts.

• Rashard Lewis was invisible offensively, but worked harder for rebounds than I ever recall him doing.
• Keith Bogans might have been the goat had we lost, as he left Ray Allen wide-open in the left corner when Allen made his game-tying trey, but he also played hard; I counted three loose balls he chased down for us.
• Brian Cook and Maurice Evans combined for 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-6 on three-pointers, making the Ariza trade look pretty good.
• And Dwight Howard didn't score too much -- 18 points is below his season average -- but he made up for it with five highlight-reel blocked shots. The Magic are 21-2 this season when Dwight has 3 swats or more, and it's probably not a coincidence.

Perhaps the most telling example of how focus and team-wide effort played a role in our victory was our free-throw shooting: 19-of-20, or 95%. Outstanding.

Some final notes on the Celtics:

• Celtics fans do not appreciate Hedo Turkoglu.
  • Shamrock Headband called his game-winner "fairly preposterous."
  • Red's Army "hates it" when the Celtics lose because of "the BS 'wait until no time is left, take a crappy shot' play."
  • For what it's worth, the shot looked good all the way, and was nothing-but-net. Pierce defended Turkoglu well and forced him to take a difficult shot, but it wasn't a bad shot.
• Matt from Hardwood Paroxysm doesn't appreciate Celtics fans' disrespect of Turk, and wrote them a brief letter.  Here's an excerpt:

  Dear Boston fans,
  We're sincerely happy that you've turned around your team [....] But seriously. Enough is enough. If it was Paul Pierce/Ray Allen/Rajon Rondo that hit that three pointer yesterday fading away with a Magic player in his face, there'd be nothing but "What a magical player!" and "What a great shot by a great Celtics!" and "I wish Ray Allen would defecate on me!". But because it was the other guy, it was "lucky"? Come, now. You're better than that.

  Matt also emailed me during yesterday's game to inform me about how pro-Celtics the ABC announcing crew of Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown was. Apparently, after a Pierce layup over Howard, Hubie exclaimed, "In your face!" Anyone else care to weigh in on the announcing yesterday?

• Teams like Phoenix and Golden State go into a special gear on offense sometimes, when it seems like they just cannot miss a shot. Boston is the only team in the league, at least that I've seen, that can go into that special gear on the defensive end. When the Celtics were in a full- or half-court press, we had a difficult time just getting a shot off. Frequently, Keyon Dooling or Hedo Turkoglu would be double-teamed with the ball 35 feet away from the basket with just 8 seconds left on the shot clock. Yeah, good luck with that.
• If I'm building a team from scratch, I really want Rajon Rondo on it. It's not just that he came up with 6 steals and played great defense; it's that he did it with effort and skill, not with dirty play. He's also freakishly athletic; one of Dwight's credited field-goals was actually a shot the 6'1" Rondo rejected at its apex, resulting in a goaltend. It was unbelievable, and if he had swatted it cleanly, the highlight would have been on ESPN forever.
• Perhaps the Celtics would have rebounded better if Doc Rivers opted to play Glen Davis, the 6'8", 300-pound rookie forward. Although he would've had trouble guarding Rashard Lewis, he also would have made a big difference on the glass. He's 5th among rookies and 60th overall in rebounding rate (14.2) and would have punished the Magic with put-backs on Boston misses. His DNP-CD, coupled with Brian Scalabrine's astonishing ineffectiveness (22 minutes, 1 point, 1 rebound), must have been vexing for Celtics fans.

The Magic went 3-1 last week and are 5-2 since that disastrous West-coast road trip ended. It's important for us to realize, though, that we just as easily could have been 1-3 last week, and that this team still has not turned the corner. However, it is encouraging that, as Stan Van Gundy pointed out in his post-game news conference, the team only played one quarter of bad basketball this week. It makes me wonder how good we'll be if Rashard Lewis ever awakens offensively.

Hedo Turkoglu, Maurice Evans, and James Augustine mob Rashard Lewis after Lewis' shot at the buzzer lifted the Magic over the Pistons, 102-100, on Monday night.
Photo by John Raoux, the Associated Press

Brett Edwards is a great blogger. In addition to co-writing The Association with Craig Kwasniewski, Edwards regularly contributes to NBA Fanhouse. I've always enjoyed reading his take on NBA goings-on, even if I don't always agree with him.

That's why I find it so odd that he'd make a post like this one at Fanhouse, in which he tries raining on our parade by writing the following:

That's an okay shot by Shard I guess (it did win the game and all) but he sure needed a lot of rim and backboard to get that thing to go down, didn't he? Hey, how about that three by Chauncey though? It was from about 32 feet, and please, he only took two and a half steps, not four as the ESPN goofballs would have you believe. In the end it was irrelevant, as the Magic got the victory, but to me that was a much more impressive shot than the game-winner from Lewis.

I see Brett's point regarding Rashard's shot: it did bounce around for a while before dropping, which makes it a bit less remarkable. I also agree with Brett that Billups was indeed really freakin' far away from the basket on his shot. But I don't buy his argument that Billups' shot was more impressive. Why? It should never have counted in the first place, and there are two reasons why. First, Keyon Dooling did his best to intentionally foul Chauncey when Billups received the inbounds pass, but the foul wasn't called. Second, Billups took approximately 83,422 4 steps before hoisting that trey, which should have been subsequently waved-off due to traveling. Edwards doesn't think Billups took extra steps, but the tape doesn't lie: watch ESPN's fourth-quarter highlight reel (thanks, YouTube) and you'll see what I mean.

However, I guess we should thank Chauncey for making the basket and the liberal officiating crew for not making the proper calls. In a way, those forces collaborated to make our victory that much sweeter for us, and the defeat that much more bitter for Pistons fans.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch Detroit Bad Boys, Matt Watson concedes in his post-game write-up that Billups traveled. He adds this condescending remark towards the end: "So yeah, unbeknownst to you, me or the Pistons, the Magic viewed this game as their own little Ohio State-Michigan." Yes, the Pistons have every right to talk down to us after having owned us for this entire decade. But is it really so bad that a team celebrates a victory over a tough opponent after years of futility? I don't think so.  

We'll see what happens Friday night in Detroit when these teams meet in a rematch; needless to say, the Pistons will be juiced for that one, especially given our excitement last night. Until then, I'm going to enjoy this victory as I should, and not let other people in the basketblogosphere dampen my enthusiasm.

UPDATE: Two more Pistons-centric views for you.

• Need4Sheed wasn't a fan of Detroit's defense:

  You can't let a team shoot 50% from the floor and expect to win. You can do it...but it's not easy.

• Pistons Nation wasn't happy with the play of the Pistons' reserves:

  The bench, out side of Jason Maxiell (11 pts, 7 rbs / 4 off ), continued to struggle. Jarvis went 0/4 from the field while picking up 4 fouls in 12 minutes of play. Stuckey too continued to struggle matching his point output (2) with his turnovers.

  Until further notice they’re NOT the "Zoo Crew", they’ve been playing more like the animal shelter.

Pistons junkies are lucky enough to have three great blogs chronicling their team. Check them all out.

More notes from Orlando's victory over Cleveland

• Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon-Journal is one of the most well respected NBA journalists on the planet. He offers his thoughts on last night's game in this post. He points out that even if a foul had been called on Hedo Turkoglu on the last play of the game, the Cavaliers would not have gotten free throws out of it. He also gives the Magic some credit for being a good team, but also attributes some of the Magic's success last night to poor Cleveland defense:

  Now, the Magic have a great offensive style. Howard is unguardable, Nelson and Arroyo are too quick for any of the Cavs guards, and when the Cavs help inside on drives or Howard the Magic have 3-point shooters everywhere. They have a chance to be a great team. 31 assists in 40 baskets for Orlando. Part of it is fantastic offensive basketball. But the Cavs are ranked 25th in field goal defense in the NBA, last year they were in the top seven or eight all year. That is where they must improve.

• No team outscored the other team by more than 3 points in any given quarter.
• Visual proof (from NBA.com's highlights) that Keith Bogans had his number called in the clutch last night.
• LeBron James isn't happy that the Magic beat his Cavaliers last night, partially due to a controversial no-call at the end of the game. I respect that he refuses to blame the officials for the final result. From Brian Schmitz's recap in the Sentinel:

  "[Turkoglu] got some of the ball, but he had part of my arm as well," James said. "I never get into referee battles or player battles. I think we had opportunities to win the ballgame and they made more plays than us."

• This gameflow, courtesy of PopcornMachine, really gives a good feel for just how close the game was last night.

And now, more general stuff:

• It didn't take long for Dwight Howard to reach the top of the league's dunking leaderboard. Of Dwight's 67 made field goals this year, 33 have been dunks. Wow.
• Bob Vander Weide is officially in charge of the Magic. He takes over for Rich DeVos.

In rethinking my initial reaction to yesterday's win against Cleveland, I realized I was entirely too optimistic; I went so far as to write "it's hard not to get excited."

That's the complete opposite of the truth, though. The Magic played sluggishly against a team missing two of its top players and only won because the Cavaliers played their second unit for most of the fourth quarter.

Bearing that in mind, here are some reactions from yesterday's game from around the web:

• Stan Van Gundy told the Orlando Sentinel's Brent Hannon that he liked his team's defense, but not its sloppy play.
• Brian Windhorst, who covers the Cavaliers for the Akron Beacon-Journal, offers his Cavs-sided commentary.
• Henry Abbott posted this report from Mac Lotze, who attended the game. The crowd was pretty wild, the arena announcer had trouble with the players' names, and basketball is really catching on in China. David Stern must be pleased.
• David Friedman of 20 Second Timeout posted this thoughtfully-written review of the game. Among his observations: the Magic went on a 9-2 run when Pat Garrity entered the game for J.J. Redick. He also offers commentary on why J.J. is not going to be a good NBA player.

I like that we're seeing all these reactions. It's too bad the Magic won't get much national exposure during the actual season, when the games actually matter.

The Magic lost to the Hawks last night after Carlos Arroyo threw an errant pass in the direction of Atlanta guard Acie Law, who took the ball to the house to break a 90-all tie. On the Magic's ensuing possession, Arroyo missed one of his two free throws, putting the Magic behind by one and effectively ending the game. Naturally, Arroyo is the goat here.

Or is he?

Last-minute mental flatulence aside, Carlos had a pretty good game last night. He was a difference-maker early in the game: the Magic trailed 17-13 when he entered late in the first quarter, and lead 29-25 when he left midway through the second. His play disintegrated in the second half, but I attribute that to his playing with the second unit. I posted this in my game recap last night, but it bears repeating: with the game on the line and with under 4 minutes to play, Arroyo was on the floor with Trevor Ariza, Torrell Martin, Marcin Gortat, and James Augustine. Carlos is the only player of that group who is capable of creating his own shot; in other words, he was being unfairly relied upon to carry the team, which won't happen in the regular season because he'll be on the floor with better teammates. Hill2Howard at , who attended the game, pointed out that Arroyo was trying to get out and run on the fast break, but had to slow down because no other Magic player could keep up:

They looked confused when running the plays and about 4 different times on the break arroyo had to actually slow down b/c nobody was running with him. Stan WAS PISSED!!!!

Adamosthegreek, who also attended the game, assessed Carlos' performance differently:

ARROYO CHOKED THE GAME AWAY IN THE LAST 2 MINUTES (As the video will show). Still, Stan wasn't too concerned about the last few minutes of the game as he stuck with a lineup of Arroyo, Ariza, Torrell Martin, Gortat, and Augustine. [. . . .] Can't feel too bad about the loss as I blame Carlos (held on to the ball too much throughout the game again; at least he had some nifty assists).

The video of which he spoke typed is Adamos' own footage of the last minute of the game, which also features much Arroyo-bashing from the peanut gallery.

Okay, so Carlos held onto the ball too long at the end. As WDBO's Dante Marchitelli pointed out on the live broadcast, Carlos was actually supposed to hold onto the ball and create his own shot, which is exactly what he did. I can't fault him for that.

That said, all of this talk of Carlos choking late in the game may be irrelevant, because Jameer Nelson, the prohibitive favorite to start at point guard this season, did a good job of running the offense last night, as his 6 assists/0 turnovers can attest. He may have shot poorly, but so did everyone else. Mike from Illinois at Orlando Magic Blog already showed that, taking away Howard's stellar shooting, the Magic were 25-of-72 or 34.7%. Taking away Adonal Foyle's good night, the Magic were even worse, at 21-for-65 (32.3%).

The point: When your wing players are missing more than two-thirds of their shots, you're going to lose, no matter who's running the point.