The majority of the national media picked the Indiana Pacers to beat the Orlando Magic in 4 games, and the Florida sports media is so convinced that the Magic are going to lose quickly that they just stuck to making up news about Dwight Howard instead of predicting the series outcome. But on Saturday night, the Magic had other ideas, as they defeated the Indiana Pacers 81-77 in the first game of their incredibly boring first round matchup.

The Magic went on an 11-0 run to close out the game, and the victory was sealed when Indiana’s Danny Granger traveled with less than 8 seconds left and down by just 3. And all the way at the end of the Magic bench, Chris Duhon, of all people, turned Granger’s one stupid play into the weekend’s best sports meme not involving Dontari Poe trying to make out with Roger Goodell.

So of course the crafty minds of the Interwebs took some musical liberties with the original video of Duhon’s travel dance. And if they get in trouble for using unlicensed music, maybe Duhon can help them out with the bills with his $3.5 million salary.

Read the rest of this entry »

With a 1.5 game lead over the Milwaukee Bucks for the 8th playoff spot in the East, it seems like the New York Knicks are in good position to at least make the playoffs. They’re still sitting at .500 (27-27) as they have been for most of the season, and even the energy of a new coach and system isn’t helping them get over the hump and back into serious contention, despite some analysts who have the Knicks pegged as a title contender hiding in the best spot possible. Because any team, regardless of talent level, really wants to play the No. 1 seed in the first round of the playoffs.

But over in China, an old Knick is proving that he had some gas left in the tank to get himself a championship. Stephon Marbury and the Beijing Ducks – mmmmmmmm, Beijing duck – are the new Chinese Basketball Association champions, after Starbury scored 41 points in Game 5 to oust the defending champions, Guangdong Hongyuan. Marbury also scored 52 points in Game 2 and 53 points in Game 3, so if you were wondering how the New York sports media would pass the time with Jeremy Lin out for the season… stop.

Read the rest of this entry »

Get some.

Last night, the Orlando Magic advanced to 10-3 on the season, good enough for first place in the Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and you think people would be talking more about it but two things are stopping them:

1) Only one of their wins has come against a team with a record above .500 (Portland).
B) Dwight Howard wants out of Orlando ASAP so that’s the only thing worth talking about.

The latest rumor surrounding Howard and his request to be traded has him looking at the Los Angeles Clippers, but that rumor shrank like Miami Heat owner Micky Arison’s net worth in 2011 when it was debunked by Howard himself last night after the game.

“Right now, I’m with the Magic,” Howard said. “That’s the only thing that matters.”

In December, Howard told Magic officials that he wants a trade. At the time, Howard and his agent told the team that Howard would welcome a trade to the Mavericks, the Lakers or the Nets.

After Tuesday night’s win, Howard joked about what he views as saturation coverage of his future plans.

He quipped: “Sources say Dwight Howard is signing with the Harlem Globetrotters.”

(Via the Orlando Sentinel)

Haha, hilarious joke, guy who has hijacked his franchise and doesn’t think 44% from the line is a bad thing.

I get a big kick out of everyone talking about Howard’s intentions, desires and plans, because he’s the only person who actually knows and it seems like half the time he doesn’t even know what he wants. Magic fans are super pissed because the team is winning and he claims he wants to play for a team that is built to win, but even this 10-3 squad was spanked by Oklahoma City, Chicago and freaking Detroit, so it has failed to prove that it can win when it matters.

So I assume that Howard is more aware of this than anyone and that’s why he wants out. Or maybe it’s something more serious like him possibly seeing an increase in child support payments in the near future, as Magic guard Chris Duhon told some of my friends at an Orlando bar last weekend. Or maybe he’s just tired of my buried ledes.

We may never know.

Read the rest of this entry »