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Pistons drive another nail; Loss all but eliminates Magic from posts
Topic Started: Apr 8 2005, 11:51 PM (212 Views)
iceveins333
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The Orlando Magic's playoff hopes aren't over after Friday night' s 114-102 loss to the Detroit Pistons, but here comes a pregnant pause.

Very pregnant, in fact.

As if the season hasn't had enough soap-opera drama and real-life trauma, two Magic players are preparing for immediate fatherhood. One of them will not be available for an upcoming game and the other might miss two games.

Orlando (35-41) suffered its third consecutive loss and is 3½ games behind the Philadelphia 76ers (38-37) and the slumping Cleveland Cavaliers (38-37) with six games to play. The Sixers, who own a playoff tiebreaker over the Cavs, currently have the No. 7 spot and the Cavs No. 8.

Forward Pat Garrity will miss the club's rematch against the Pistons next Wednesday to be with his wife, Paula, who will deliver their son by c-section. Three weeks ago, she escaped serious injury in an auto accident.

Guard DeShawn Stevenson might also be called away at any time to join his girlfriend. She's expecting next Saturday, the day the Magic play the Bucks in Milwaukee. Orlando faces the Bulls in Chicago the night before.

"Crazy, isn't it? Especially after everything that's happened this season," Stevenson said. "I could miss two games."

It's nice, warm and fuzzy, but probably not the kind of playoff birth that Coach Chris Jent had in mind.

"We got some things going on. Some new additions," Jent said.

The Magic have had so many players subtracted from the roster they hardly know who's coming and going.

Gone, as expected, is Grant Hill. He officially bid goodbye to his terrific comeback season before the game against his old team, grudgingly agreeing to take the cautious route with his sore lower left shin.

Hill's doctor, James Nunley of Duke University Medical Center, advised that he stop playing after CT scans showed inflammation. Hill said he expects his shin to be fine with rest and that his left ankle -- the site of five surgeries since 2000 -- was sound and unaffected.

Hill joins forward Hedo Turkoglu (fractured left wrist), forward Andrew DeClercq (right knee surgery) and guard Doug Christie (left ankle surgery) on the injured list.

Arriving, via a special league injury exception, was former UCF guard Mark Jones, who replaced Hill.

Not surprisingly, the Magic didn't have enough horses to run with the defending champion Pistons (48-27) in front of the seventh sellout crowd of the season at TD Waterhouse Centre.

"Pride has to carry you into a situation that looks bleak," Jent said. "Maybe we're mathematically out of it [they're not], whatever it may be, we have to play to win.

"It's our job, our obligation and the way we need to play."

Stevenson led Orlando with 25 points, hitting 10 of 20 shots. Steve Francis added 23 and rookie Dwight Howard had 21 points and 13 rebounds, his 30th double-double.

Detroit placed six players in double figures, led by Tayshaun Prince's 26 points and Chauncey Billups' 23.

The Magic trailed by 13 early with their skeletal crew, but rebounded. They were then reminded why the visitors foiled Shaq and Kobe last June to win the NBA title.

Detroit outscored Orlando by 11 in the third quarter to take a 17-point lead into the final period.

The Magic made the Pistons a little nervous with four minutes remaining. They cut the lead to 10 on Jameer Nelson's 3-pointer -- one of five 3-point baskets -- in the fourth quarter. But Detroit pushed the margin back to 18 in two minutes with an 8-0 run, and Orlando struggled to find offense.

"We're undermanned. To lose that many key people, it's tough to win," Francis said. "You can fight all you want, but we've got two or three of our people out."

And, baby, the ranks are about to grow thin again, making it hard to deliver.

Brian Schmitz can be reached at bschmitz@orlandosentinel.com.


did they really have to say garrity's wife is having a c section??...too much info X0
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Black and Blue
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lol, great choice for the smiley face at the end.
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dxwwf3
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Man we are really going to be undermaned the rest of the way, but those things are more important than the games anyways. I hope everything goes well for the mothers and the families.
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iceveins333
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yeah but I don't want to know garrity's wife is having a c section...I'm sure he doesn't want everyone in Orlando to know that either
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dxwwf3
Apr 9 2005 01:03 AM
Man we are really going to be undermaned the rest of the way, but those things are more important than the games anyways. I hope everything goes well for the mothers and the families.

I like that avatar by the way, lmao. Posted Image
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