ORLANDO MAGIC
Recap Rewind: Schizophrenia, thy name is Orlando. The Magic had only one win this week, and it came on a dramatic buzzer-beater Friday against the San Antonio Spurs. The other three games were road losses to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, and the New Jersey Nets on Friday.
Notable News: The Magic continue to middle around the bottom of the playoff picture, and have not played well since a 13-4 start. In Grant Hill's 16.9 million dollar expiring contract, they also have arguably the most valuable commodity on the trade market. Yet no team has talked to Magic GM Otis Smith about Hill, according to Saturday's Florida Today.
Starting power forward Tony Battie is likely out until the All-Star game after suffering a thumb injury in Tuesday's loss to the Bucks. This will open up more playing time for much-maligned 2003 second overall pick Darko Milicic.
Not only is Dwight Howard making his first All-Star appearance, but he also will highlight the participants in the Slam Dunk contest. The 6'11" center will be joined by Boston's Gerald Green, Chicago's Tyrus Thomas (despite his comments), and the defending champion Nate Robinson.
Fast Forward: The Magic play host to the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday before the All-Star break.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS
Recap Rewind: Sunday's game against the Portland Trailblazers was supposed to be a blowout for the Wizards, and it was supposed to be the latest example of Gilbertology on the court. Instead, the Wizards scored only 73 points in a 21-point loss, and have started pointing fingers. They also lost to the San Antonio Spurs by 27 on Wednesday, although they did beat the Seattle Supersonics on Monday.
Notable News: After guaranteeing a 50-point performance in his NBA.com blog a couple weeks ago, Gilbert Arenas fell short by a mere 41 points in Sunday's loss to the Trailblazers. In response, Arenas pointed a finger at Eddie Jordan's strategy to emphasize defense more heavily. "When you tell a team: 'Hey, we don't have Antawn anymore. We can't outscore people. You've proven that we can't outscore people anymore. We have to go out there and stop people,' for a scoring team, it kind of takes that air out of you," he said.
Eddie Jordan's response: "That's just plain stupid. The whole idea of us having to have to play defense better, is that a problem or is that a question? That's ludicrous."
That wasn't the only sign of a breakdown in team chemistry this week. Centers Brendan Haywood and Etan Thomas got into another fight Saturday, their third in the last two seasons. Thomas, reacting to what he felt was a purposeful elbow, started punching Haywood, and the two kept fighting. Said Thomas, "Whatever the reason, the bottom line is, I'm not putting up with any garbage from Brendan Todd Haywood. Period. I don't like having these altercations with him and really am upset with myself for allowing him to get a reaction out of me, but he needs to know that certain actions are unacceptable."
In the last two games, the Wizards are 2-25 from three-point range.
Fast Forward: The Wizards travel to Philadelphia to play the 76ers on Wednesday before the much-needed All-Star break.
DIVISION REPORTS
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
Western Conference