Game Night # 30

The Sonics could catch a break tonight, as the Magic have stumbled to only 2 wins in their last 10 games heading into their matchup tonight.

Grant Hill, everyone's feel-good story of the season, is beginning to tail off, but the biggest difference for Orlando appears to be on the defensive end, where the Magic are allowing 106 ppg over their past 10 outings. And it's not like the Magic are playing champions, either. The past 4 losses have come against the Knicks, Bucks, Bulls and Raptors.

The Magic are definitely deep, though, with six guys capable of scoring in double figures. But here's a weird one for you - Stevie Franchise has made 2 3's in the past 10 games.

Good Sign: Magic in a tailspin, the Sonics looking for a clean sweep on their road trip.

Bad Sign: Reggie Evans is out with the flu.

Notes: Francis' 3-point decline is an odd one. After attempting at least 250 in every season of his career, he's on pace to take 140 this year ... The Magic's most effective 5-man unit is Francis-Hill-Turkoglu-Howard-Cato ... Cato was activated from the DL a few days ago ... The Magic like to put it up quickly, as 45% of their shots come within the first 10 seconds of the shot clock; the Sonics take 34% of their shots in that same time frame ... Both teams are averaging more than 100 ppg ... The Magic are last in the league in points allowed.

Trivia: Who is Orlando's all-time leader in coaching wins?

Vegas line: Sonics by 3
Prediction: Sonics 108 - Magic 98
Record Against the Spread: 11-5

Murray Moving?

Looks like Flip Murray may be on the move ...

From ESPN Insider:

"Murray, the SuperSonics' darling last season when his high-scoring ways helped compensate for an injury to Ray Allen, might be trade bait.The Detroit News reports the SuperSonics are thinking of trading "Flip", who might be anxious about getting playing time.

The third-year pro can become a free agent this summer, and the Pistons were fond of him coming out of Shaw University, a Division II school in North Carolina.But Murray's not a defensive ace, which would make minutes hard to come by in the Pistons' rotation.

The Nuggets also reportedly were interested in Murray, though the team denied that rumor.

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I'd have to think that these are only rumors with little basis in fact. I'll say it again: Murray is incredibly cheap insurance for Allen and it just doesn't make sense for the Sonics to deal him unless they can get something useful in return.

Around the Net

This stuff is all meaningless rumors and speculation, but, hey, isn’t that what the internet is all about?

A website that tracks the upcoming NBA draft has the Sonics selecting UW’s Nate Robinson with the 29th pick in the draft ... In between checking on his 6,700 business endeavors, Magic Johnson found time to check out the Sonics/Heat the other night. Apparently, Ridnour is the sole reason for Seattle’s success this season. Anyone else wondering if the fact Magic played PG has any influence on his opinion? ... Reggie Evans is out with stomach flu for a couple of nights. That sound you just heard was Nick Collison’s agent dialling Nate MacMillan. ... Radman has a backhanded swipe at GP’s leadership skills in relation to Allen’s same in the Washington Times. Wonder if Radman thought Ray-Ray was such a great leader last season, when the Sonics had to watch the playoffs on TV? Funny, it seemed like GP was a good enough leader to take the Sonics to the Finals; it’s just too bad everyone in the organization seems to have forgotten that. And I’m guessing that all this warm and cuddly crap regarding Ray’s contract wouldn’t be so warm or cuddly if the Sonics were 6-23 instead of 23-6 ... Allen has moved up to 5th in the Roland Rankings, trailing only Bryant, Nowitzki, Kirilenko, and Marbury.