Two Florida basketball teams came out with figurative wins on selection Sunday but not the one at Amway Arena. On Sunday night, just after the NCAA tournament selection committee announced favorable news for Florida and Florida State , the Orlando Magic became the latest giant the Charlotte Bobcats slayed. Another, the Cleveland Cavaliers, beat the Boston Celtics in a tale of two teams going in opposite directions. All that and more in today’s links. 1. Orlando Magic win streak snapped by Bobcats, Orlando Sentinel, Brian Schmitz The Buzz: Schmitz says the Magic deserved every bit of a loss after lackluster offensive and defensive play. 2. Rashard Lewis keeps positive despite downward March, Orlando Sentinel, Josh Robbins The Buzz: It’s Lewis’s turn for a slump. He’s not really concerned, though. 3. Rough season grows rocker for Lewis, Fanhouse.com, Tim Povtak The Buzz: More on Rashard Lewis’s slump. He didn’t score until a late three against the Bobcats. 4. Denton: Magic-Bobcats analysis, Orlandomagic.com, John Denton The Buzz: Denton’s analysis focuses on the schedule and how two games that started within 24 hours of each other impacted the Magic. 5. Defense, Jackson’s 28 lift Bobcats to 6th straight, The Charlotte Observer, Rick Bonnell The Buzz: The Magic had won 10 of 11 against the Bobcats. 6. Two teams, opposite directions: Celtics aren’t perfect, but still coast past Celtics, 104-93, The Plain Dealer, Brian Windhorst The Buzz: The Cavaliers used to have trouble with the Boston Celtics. They didn’t last night. 7. Thunder beat Jazz 119-111, Associated Press, Jeff Latzke The Buzz: Kevin Durant scored 35, Russell Westbrook scored 30 and the Oklahoma City Thunder gained ground on the No. 4 Utah Jazz. 8. Bucks hold off Pacers at the end to sweep home stand, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Charles F. Gardner The Buzz: Milwaukee beat Cleveland, Boston and Utah, then didn’t fall trap to the Pacers. 9. Canzano: Ease up on Hedo Turkoglu, you know he’s sorry now, The Oregonian, John Canzano The Buzz: Not sure it’s true that Hedo Turkoglu’s wife has never even been to Canada, but in this story Turkoglu refutes the idea that he picked Toronto over Portland per his wife’s wishes. He also doesn’t get all the booing in Portland. 10. Daily Dime, ESPN.com, various artists The Buzz: Here the Dime addresses the Cavs as well as awarding Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis the title of “Sunday’s Worst” for their combined 3-for-17 shooting. Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli or e-mail her at tganguli@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/newsletters.
The Dallas Mavericks’ 13-game winning streak snapped against New York this weekend. Orlando’s eight-game winning streak stopped last night against the Charlotte Bobcats. In fact, the Bobcats have beaten the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers recently as well. Cleveland and Los Angeles lead their respective conferences with Orlando and Denver behind them. The race for second is a little tighter in the west than in the east, though, with Dallas just a half game behind Denver. <br /> <a href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2881425/” mce_href=”http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2881425/”>What is the best team in the NBA right now?</a><span style=”font-size:9px;” mce_style=”font-size:9px;”><a href=”http://www.polldaddy.com” mce_href=”http://www.polldaddy.com”>survey software</a></span><br />
Orlando center Dwight Howard reacts after getting called for goal tending during the first half of the Magic’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats at Amway Arena in Orlando. (Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel) To see more pictures from the game, click here .
Brian Schmitz' Orlando Magic Post-Game Post In a month or so, when the playoffs start, nobody will remember this stinker of a loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday. Stan Van Gundy’s gut will be no doubt churning all night, but that’s how Van Gundy is wired. But even he and the players realize as long as they keep the No. 2 seed, this won’t matter. Now what matters is Rashard Lewis’ game and frame of mind. “He is just not playing well at all right now,” coach Stan Van Gundy said. “You know, it’s not just shooting. I mean, he’s not rebounding the ball. He’s just not playing with much energy. I don’t know.” Lewis is a mess offensively, recording three single-digit scoring games in his last six, including three in a row. He is 18-of-56 (32.1 percent) and 8-of-29 from 3-point range in his last six games. “I have to get myself more involved and just be more aggressive,” Lewis said. “I got to create something.” To his credit, Lewis said that winning games was more important than his stats. His scoring is down to 14.2 after averaging 17.7 points per game, and so are his open looks. No one has suffered more from the departure of Hedo Turkoglu and the arrival of Vince Carter than Lewis. Turk got him open shots by the droves. Carter has taken away many of his attempts — no surprise there. Lewis even now feels like the No. 4 option behind Dwight Howard, Carter and Jameer Nelson….. But Lewis is the wild card who often carried the Magic through the postseason. Look for him to have a bounce-back game Wednesday against the Spurs.
Stephen Jackson and Tyson Chandler collapse on Dwight Howard during Sunday's game / Photo by Gary W. Green As soon as I got the phrase “you got your 14th technical tonight” out of my mouth, Dwight Howard addressed it. “Hopefully it’ll be rescinded,” Howard said. “I just threw the ball like it was a bowling ball. That’s it. I rolled it, pretty fast.” Howard picked up his 14th technical foul in a 96-89 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday. The call came with 8:27 remaining in the fourth quarter just after Howard was called for his fourth personal foul. Players get fined for each technical and once they reach 16 they get a one-game suspension. Magic GM Otis Smith occasionally calls the NBA and asks them to review technical fouls. Sometimes they listen. Howard has had two rescinded already this year from games against Indiana and New Orleans. Still, many of Howard’s technicals aren’t obvious from a distance. Often they’re the byproduct of a few choice words. A few weeks ago Smith joked that he wanted Howard to get to 16 in hope that would quiet him down a little bit. “I think sometimes as a ref they may feel that someone’s trying to show them up when that’s not the case sometimes,” Howard said. “We understand they make mistakes they’re human beings also and our emotions sometimes get the best of us. Sometimes I think there are techs that shouldn’t be techs but we don’t make the rules we just have to abide by them.” Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli or e-mail her at tganguli@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Magic newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/newsletters.
![](http://hikool.com/images/blank.png"){kind=spacer}
