The Nets did not look like a team that wants to make the playoffs Saturday night. Orlando clogged the middle of the lane with a zone that the Nets could not penetrate. On the other end, the Magic shot 60% from the field and got unusually big games from Kelvin Cato and Jameer Nelson. It was a complete lack of effort by the Nets that decided the game, however. They had very little energy on either end, and seemed a step slower than the Magic all night. Vince Carter scored 20 points on 7 of 16 shooting, but he never could get into a good offensive flow against the zone. Ron Mercer was the only other Net that could put points on the board, and the game was over early in the 3rd quarter when the Magic spread a 22 point halftime lead to 30 just 3 minutes into the 2nd half.
- Boxscore - NBA
- Magic Make Quick - NBA
- Orlando 105, New Jersey 81 - Ira Podell - AP
- Nets Fail to Come to Life Against Orlando - Jason Diamos - New York Times
- Five observations: Magic vs. Nets - Will Weiss - YES Network
- Momentum for playoffs makes a giant U-turn - Rich Chere - Star-Ledger
- Offense loses its aim, energy - Rich Chere - Star-Ledger
- Nets lack motivation in blowout loss to Magic - Bob Considine - Asbury Park Press
- Nets are way off on playoffs - Ohm Youngmisuk - New York Daily News
- Disappearing Act - Fred Kerber - New York Post
- Magic roll to 3rd win in row - Tim Povtak - Orlando Sentinel
- It's Magic: Nets disappear - Al Iannazzone - Bergen Record