#orlando-magic

#orlando-magic

The Miami Heat had their doors blown off by the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.And while the same could be said of the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night when it comes to their affair against the Orlando Magic, losing that game by a score of 119 to 106, that doesn't wipe away the terrible taste of what was the Nets' defeat over the Miami Heat on Saturday.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote an article here with the headline, "Do the Heat have a chance at the sixth seed?"The Brooklyn Nets hadn't collapsed since trading Kevin Durant at the deadline, so the Heat needed to make up ground.I said the Heat couldn't afford a loss to the Orlando Magic.That happened, prompting Jimmy Butler to blast Nickelback music in the locker room afterward.

The summer is a busy time in the FIBA calendar, especially in a World Cup year.The FIBA U16 Americas Championship, which runs from June 5 -11, 2023 is the first event this summer for Canada's men's national teams.Canada draws into Group B along with Uruguay, Dominican Republic and Brazil.All teams qualify for the quarter finals, with the 4 semi finalists clinching berths to the FIBA U17 World Cup in 2024.

According to Heavy's Sean Deveney, there is a handful of NBA lottery teams looking to poach Grant Williams from the Boston Celtics in restricted free agency this summer: the Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz, and Indiana Pacers."Orlando is the one that keeps coming up because that team is trying to turn a corner," the executive said to Deveney (h/t Heavy's Mark Nilon).

When: Friday, March 31 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C.
How to watch: NBC Sports Washington, League Pass
WIZARDS - Kyle Kuzma, OUT (ankle); Bradley Beal, OUT (knee); Daniel Gafford, QUESTIONABLE (foot)
MAGIC - Kevon Harris, OUT (elbow); Jonathan Isaac, OUT (hamstring)
The Washington Wizards are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference meaning if the season ended today so would theirs.

After many bad losses in the post All-Star Break, the Washington Wizards somehow, someway pulled off a big win against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, 130-111.No Bradley Beal?No Kyle Kuzma?No problem.Kristaps Porzingis and Deni Avdija made up for the deficit.They scored a combined 57 points with Porzingis scoring 32 and Avdija adding 25.

After losing four in a row, the Wizards took advantage of a classic NBA "get well" game and beat the San Antonio Spurs by a comfortable enough margin that big man Kristaps Porzingis didn't need to play in the fourth quarter.The lineup that blew the game open: Delon Wright, Jordan Goodwin, Corey Kispert, Anthony Gill and Daniel Gafford.

The Nets secured a must-win victory in come-from-behind fashion Wednesday to snap a skid of six losses in seven games.The circumstances behind their comeback, however, leaves an important question that could determine their Eastern Conference playoff odds.Did the Nets - who have statistically struggled in the clutch ever since the trade deadline - somehow get better in crunch time overnight?

Sports fans, much like politicians, like to put things into binary terms.We don't often work across the aisle; a coach is either a genius or has a seat hotter than a skillet.Your favorite player is a stone-cold killer or Mongolian league-bound bench rider.A fanbase's team is tough as nails or, as Patrick Beverley might agree, Charmin soft.

One area the New York Knicks have done a great job in this season is limiting turnovers.Looking at the season, the Knicks average the fourth fewest turnovers per game.In Tom Thibodeau's three years coaching the Knicks, not turning it over is an area they've succeeded in:


2020-21: Sixth-fewest turnovers per game
2021-22: Tied for tenth in fewest turnovers per game
2022-23 (current): Fourth-fewest turnovers per game


Point guard Jalen Brunson has been a spotlight for the Knicks' consistency with the ball.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

Patrick Beverley scored with a baby hook over LeBron James late in the fourth quarter Sunday and then crouched and lowered his hand, the universal sign that "he's too small" for NBA players.Keep in mind that Beverley, a former Laker, is 6-foot-2 and James is 6-9.

It was a game the Nets had to have.And they flew down to South Beach and took it.The stakes were greater Saturday night at FTX Arena than they've been at any point this season: Win and leapfrog the Miami Heat in the standings for sole ownership of the Eastern Conference's final guaranteed playoff seed.

The Knicks left Florida on Thursday night with a supreme 0-2 record in their bags on their Disneyland trip.New York (42-33) fell 106-111 to the Orlando Magic (31-43) on the road at the Amway Center and completed their trip down the East coast with their second loss in as many games on the end of a back-to-back that started Wednesday at Miami.