Last night in Los Angeles, the Magic pulled off a stunner with their 113-103 victory over the Lakers. The win was understandably emotional for Orlando as they proved their worth against their former franchise anchor Dwight Howard. Guard Arron Afflalo led the way with 30 points and also chipped in five rebounds and five dimes. Glen Davis was also key in the win with 23 points and 12 boards to help power his young team. Here’s more on the Magic..
- Nelson made sure after the game to point out that he could have left Orlando as a free agent, but stayed because the Magic organization and fans have been true to him, tweets John Denton of NBA.com. “I definitely want to be in Orlando. I could have gone somewhere else, but this organization has been so, so true to me,” said Nelson (Twitter link). Nelson signed a lucrative three-year deal with the Magic in the offseason that could pay him more than $25MM.
- Last night’s focus was obviously on Howard facing off with his former team, but former Lakers forward Josh McRoberts has fit in well with his new team in Orlando, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. McRoberts’ numbers have improved across the board even as he is being asked to guard three different positions. The former Duke product didn’t see much playing time in L.A. but is averaging 16 minutes per game for the Magic.
- The Magic have put the drama of the Dwightmare in the rear view mirror, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Glen Davis admitted that Howard’s potential departure dominated the locker room conversation last year but says that the cloud no longer hovers over the team.
- Nelson also confessed that last night’s win meant a little extra to the Magic after the drama that they went through at the end of Howard’s run, Denton tweets.