I’m live at FedExForum where the Grizzlies will take on the Orlando Magic in about 30 minutes, putting their 10-game home winning streak on the line. This streak is destined to end —Â probably soon. Are the Magic the team to break it? Orlando, at 29-15, is one of the league’s elite teams, a reigning Eastern Conference champion built around the NBA’s most dominant interior force, Dwight Howard (who leads the NBA in rebounding and shot-blocking), and its most prolific three-point shooting attack.
But Orlando, after starting the season 17-4, is only 12-11 since. And though they’ve won three games in a row, they haven’t been terribly impressive victories: Home wins against bottom-dwellers Indiana and Sacramento followed by an overtime win at Charlotte (okay, that one’s pretty good). Prior to that, Orlando’s last quality road win was in mid-December against Miami.
Match-up to watch: Zach Randolph against Rashard Lewis, one of the most paint-oriented power forwards in the league against one of the most perimeter-oriented. Something’s gotta give.
After being sidetracked by other duties Friday night, when the Griz won a decided atypical defensive-struggle against the Oklahoma City Thunder, I should be back with a post-game report after this one, and will provide occasional tweeted commentary during the game.
Let’s do this.
Let’s do this.
