Magic's old nemesis Billups may be licking his chops
<dl class="byline">By Kyle Hightower |Sentinel Staff Writer<dd> February 11, 2009</dd></dl> This same time last month the
Orlando Magic were about to embark on one of their best stretches of the season.
It was just mid-January that the Magic capped an impressive four-game West Coast road trip with a 106-88 slaying of Denver to go along with wins over both San Antonio and the L.A. Lakers.
A month later, however, the Magic's situation at point guard has changed completely. With it so has their immediate outlook as they host the Nuggets tonight in their final game before the all-star break.
Including the Dallas game on Feb.2 that saw starter
Jameer Nelson go down with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, the Magic are just 2-2.
During that spurt — which has included a loss to Central Division cellar-dweller Indiana— the Magic have also been lit up by a pair of the Eastern Conference's best point guards in the Pacers' T.J. Ford (21 points) and New Jersey's Devin Harris (28 points).
But there's no rest for the weary with one of the best in the game and a Magic nemesis up next in Denver's
Chauncey Billups, who gave Orlando fits for years when he played for Detroit, which traded him to Denver earlier this season.
"Chauncey's different than T.J. Ford and Devin Harris," Magic Coach
Stan Van Gundy said. "He can break you down off the dribble, but he's certainly more of a 3-point shooter than either one of them. ... But he's primarily a guy that's going to organize his team and get everyone involved.
"I'm glad he's in the Western Conference now to be quite honest with you."
In January's road win the Magic held "Mr. Big Shot" fairly in check offensively. Billups mustered 18 points but was just 6 of 17 from the field.
Meanwhile the Magic's top guns were dead-on, with all five starters reaching double figures, led by
Hedo Turkoglu's 31-point night.
With Nelson now out and
Anthony Johnson running the offense, it will be a completely different approach for Round2.
Van Gundy said it would definitely feature fewer pick-and-roll starters for the Magic's shooters and depend heavily on Johnson to make sure there's good ball movement.
As far as dealing with Billups, Johnson said that defensive assignment won't change much.
"Chauncey is an all-star-caliber point guard," Johnson said. "He's a guy of size and is able to post up a little bit. One thing I want to do is try to make it as uncomfortable as possible for him."
Johnson said that would specifically include trying to make Billups take shots in the 16- to 20-foot range.
"If he's going to have a good shooting night," Johnson said, "he'll have to do it consistently by knocking down those shots."
Since last month's setback to Orlando, the Nuggets have been on a tear.
They are 8-3 in their 11 outings since then.
And that's even with Billups having injured his right ankle last week.
But teammate Carmelo Anthony has picked up the slack, averaging 24.8 points per game in the past five before Tuesday and 21.6 points and 6.9 rebounds for the season. Anthony missed January's game with Orlando with a fractured metacarpal in his hand.
It's why Van Gundy said it's extra important for
Dwight Howard,
Rashard Lewis and Turkoglu to steer the ship right now.
"I think that's really the key while Jameer is out," Van Gundy said. "I think we've always been a team that's had four guys scoring pretty similar — 17-to-20-point range. No other team really has that and it took pressure off guys.
"Now when you take Jameer's 17points and assists numbers out of it, it's more imperative for those guys to play well."
That's an edict that hasn't been lost on the most important of the Magic's go-to players.
"I know that the way we should be playing, we should have a pretty good record," Howard said.
"But we're not satisfied with what we have now. We want to get better. ... We know this year we have a chance to do something special."
