It's not quite all about Dwight, but almost. After the Knicks loss to the Warriors late Wednesday night, the Nets, despite their embarrassing loss to the Hawks on Tuesday, find themselves in a four-way tie for first in the Atlantic Division. Only the Celtics (0-3) don't share in the lead. A win in Orlando and a Knick loss to the Lakers would give them sole possession of first place! Who knew?
Of course, that's a big if. The Magic still have Dwight Howard and are no doubt motivated to show the Nets that they want to keep the big guy in Orlando. In addition to Howard, the Nets will have to face their old power forward, Ryan Anderson, who is averaging 16.5 points as the Magic's leading scorer along with 7.5 rebounds in Orlando's first two games.
For the Nets, no change is expected in the starting lineup, but Marshon Brooks, coming off his aggressive play vs the Hawks, may see more time on the court. Same holds true for Mehmet Okur, but with limited practice time during a grueling schedule, don't expect much for a while. One thing that's almost certain, reports Alex Raskin in the Wall Street Journal, is more of a scoring role for Deron Williams.
- New Jersey Nets Game Notes - New Jersey Nets
- Orlando Magic Game Notes - Orlando Magic
- Getting Inside - New Jersey Nets - Sports Xchange
- Getting Inside - Orlando Magic - Sports Xchange
- Ewing warns Howard of N.Y. ‘microscope’ - Fred Kerber - New York Post
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Dwight Howard refuses to talk about possible trade from Orlando Magic to Nets - Colin Stephenson - Star-Ledger
- Dwight Howard pivots around questions on Nets - Andy Vasquez - The Record
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The New Jersey Nets' Best Scorer? He's Their Passer - Alex Raskin - Wall Street Journal
- Magic's goal Thursday: slowing down the New Jersey Nets' Deron Williams - Josh Robbins - Orlando Sentinel
- Dwight Howard declines to discuss his interest in the New Jersey Nets on eve of Magic-Nets game - Josh Robbins - Orlando Sentinel
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Preview: New Jersey Nets at Orlando Magic, 7 p.m. Thursday, Amway Center - Brian Schmitz - Orlando Sentinel