Vince-Sanity!
Just to recap, Vince Carter sucked in January. He has been good in February.

No, he has been G-O-O-D in February.

A night after leading Orlando with 20 points and helping the team erase a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit for a critical win at Boston, Carter had "one of those nights."

By one of those nights, I mean he helped the Magic erase a 17-point deficit in the third quarter and a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter by scoring a season-high 48 points (three of his career high), 34 in the second half, on 19-of-27 shooting, 6-of-10 3-point shooting and seven rebounds.

Those numbers pretty much speak for themselves as Carter took over in the fourth quarter to lead the Magic back. Orlando outscored New Orleans 36-23 in the fourth quarter, finally clamping down with some defense to secure the win.

But I think it is safe to say this is the effort everyone expected from Carter from time to time. Stan Van Gundy said after the second game of the season in New Jersey, that it looked like Carter was getting ready to have one of the nights he dreaded as an opposing coach. Carter, remember, scored 16 points on six-of-eight shooting in 14:43 before leaving with a sprained ankle in the second quarter.

February has been like a new day for Carter. His abysmal January seems to be far behind him as Carter has looked refreshed and rejuvenated offensively through four games in February. He has scored more than 20 points in three of the four games in February. Carter did not score 48 points in the last four games of January (and he only got to 50 points in the last five games). That is the kind of sudden transformation that has happened.

Something has clicked with Carter.

And if anything, this is a message that Orlando now has this kind of scoring capability from a single player -- something the team has lacked since Tracy McGrady left. Don't forget, Dwight Howard added 25 points and 12 rebounds and the Magic scored 123 points. Just food for thought for the rest of the NBA.

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Hornets (27-24) vs. Magic (34-17)
Time/TV: 8 p.m./TNT
Key Matchup: Emeka Okafor (11.4 PPG, 9.5 RPG) vs. Dwight Howard (21.0 PPG, 15.2 RPG last five games)
Season Series: Tonight in Orlando; Feb. 26 in New Orleans

-Stan Van Gundy said Orlando's third quarter yesterday in Boston was the best his Magic team have every played. In that quarter, Orlando made a 25-point turnaround in erasing an 11-point halftime deficit and turning it into a 14-point lead.

-NBA Players Association Vice President Adonal Foyle had some harsh words for the owners' offer to start collective bargaining negotiations. But Foyle said the harshness of the offer has galvanized and united the players as they get set to sit down at the All Star break and begin talks. The collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2010-11 season.

-Vince Carter had a horrible January and is promising to make February better. He delivered with a game-high 20 points yesterday in Boston.

-Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints on winning Super Bowl XLIV.

-Defense was the key as the Magic defeated the Celtics yesterday. Also, Carter reawakens and Orlando struggles with leads.

-The tale of two halves story is very cliche. But Ben Q Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post has some pretty emphatic numbers to prove that yesterday's game against Boston was truly a tale of two halves.

-The Hornets come to town tonight with Chris Paul still on the shelf. They are still finding themselves again behind replacement Darren Collison and top scorer David West. Andrew Melnick of Howard The Dunk has a preview.

-Rashard Lewis tells John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com that yesterday's win was a statement game for Orlando. After the 19-0 run in the third quarter, it is hard to argue with that.

-Chris Sheridan writes in the ESPN Daily Dime about how Stan Van Gundy made a risky decision pay off by keeping Dwight Howard in the game after picking up his fourth foul in the third quarter yesterday in Boston. Also, NBA Players Association Vice President Adonal Foyle has some choice words for the owners' first offer in collective bargaining negotiations.

-In case you missed it, here is Dwight Howard and LeBron James' Super Bowl ad for McDonald's.

-Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don't Lie says what I think everyone has been thinking: "Boston look old. Orlando looks stacked."

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Defense Still Wins
There has been a lot of encouraging signs for Orlando against Boston this season. The Magic won the season series 3-1 and took both games at Boston in the process. Dwight Howard looks more comfortable attacking the Celtics' interior defenders. Even Vince Carter seems to awaken offensively against this team.

But it is still completely evident that when Orlando and Boston get together to expect a defensive slugfest. And the game always turns on which team plays better defense.

Case in point: after falling behind by 11 to end the first half after a 27-17 second quarter, the Magic turned the tables with a dominant 36-11 third quarter. Everyone can agree the Celtics, when healthy or unhealthy, are one of the top teams in the league. To put that kind of defensive clinic on them even for a single 12-minute period is just hard to imagine.

Boston shot 42.2 percent on the game against Orlando's defense. The Magic also blocked seven shots with two each coming from Dwight Howard, Ryan Anderson and Marcin Gortat.

For comparison, last year in the regular season the Celtics shot 45.8 percent from the floor (holding the Magic to 40.3 percent) and scored 89.5 points per game. In the postseason, Boston averaged 91.7 points per game on 44.1 percent shooting.

This year, Orlando put the clamps on them, holding them to 86.8 points per game and 41.3 percent shooting. Against any team that is good. Against an elite team like Boston, it is downright scary.

The Celtics are obviously a good defensive team too. Each game was relatively close because they were able to keep the Magic to 90.3 points per game and 41.0 percent shooting this season (which includes the Christmas Day defensive masterpiece remember).

Defense wins championships, but never has it meant more than against a team like Boston.

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The way things started it looked like Brandon Bass might get his playing time after all. The way things ended, it left Magic fans blindsided by an untimely -- and uncharacteristic? -- loss to one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference.

After Rashard Lewis hit a go-ahead 3-pointer, Caron Butler found some space and hit a jumper over Matt Barnes to give the Wizards a one-point lead with 0.5 seconds left. Lewis could not one up his counterpart as his jumper at the buzzer was no good and Washington handed Orlando just its fifth home loss, snapping a six-game home winning streak and a four-game overall winning streak, 92-91.

The Magic took a 21-point lead in the first quarter after forcing the Wizards into 10 turnovers and getting out on the break. In transition, Washington could not keep up with Orlando and the easy baskets made it seem like the team would not let up and get whatever it wanted against a team that is really struggling.

Orlando was solid in every aspect of the game at this point, taking a 32-13 lead out of the first quarter. Certainly that pace could not keep up and human nature would let the Magic relax as the lead would hover around the 15-20 point mark. That is exactly how the second quarter played out.

But things were not all rosy. The bench really struggled to maintain the same intensity the starters brought in the first quarter. The lead came down uncomfortably to 11 or 12 and Dwight Howard had to leave the game late in the second quarter to avoid picking up his third foul.

It was not Marcin Gortat's fault, but when he tipped an inbounds pass right to Antawn Jamison for an easy layup, something had to be up. No player off the bench had a positive +/- and with the offense all of a sudden struggling, that was not a good sign for the rest of the night.

Things kept getting worse as the Wizards continued to cut into the lead and overtake the Magic in the third quarter. The lackadaisical defense and listless offense seemed to catch on as Caron Butler and Randy Foye knifed through Orlando's defense.

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Wizards (16-32) vs. Magic (33-16)
Time/TV: 7 p.m./Sun Sports
Key Matchup: Antawn Jamison (28 points, 11 rebounds Jan. 8 vs. Magic) vs. Rashard Lewis (17.4 PPG, 53.8% 3FG% last five games)
Season Series: L 104-97 at Washington on Jan. 8; Tonight in Orlando; March 13 at Washington; April 7 at Orlando

-Brandon Bass' agent, Tony Dutt, tells Brian Schmitz of The Orlando Sentinel that he will ask general manager Otis Smith for a trade in the offseason if Bass' playing time does not increase.

-Jameer Nelson and Mickael Pietrus practiced yesterday, but are still questionable for tonight's game.

-Dennis Scott is slowly becoming the Ryan Seacrest (in that he hosts a lot of shows) of the NBA.

-It has been difficult for the Wizards to recover from the uncertainty surrounding Gilbert Arenas' season-long suspension. As Michael Lee of the Washington Post writes, NBA history has shown recovering is not an easy path.

-Wizards Insider Michael Lee writes that if Washington is going to trade Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison or Brendan Haywood that now is the time to pull the trigger and begin the team's rebuilding.

-The mid-Atlantic snow storm is wreaking havoc on games throughout the Atlantic coast (remember when Orlando had a game in Charlotte postponed because of snow in the late 90s?). As of now, the Wizards plan to play the Hawks as scheduled at Verizon Center on Saturday.

-The word of the day at Orlando Pinstriped Post is "plays." And it features the top 10 plays of January.

-Andrew Melnick of HowardTheDunk makes his case for JJ Redick to compete in the 3-point shootout at All Star Weekend.

-Kyle Weidie of Truth About It gets the sinking suspicion that the Wizards don't care and is waiting for the inevitable trades to happen. He has video from the Wizards' recent game with the Knicks to prove it.

-Mike Prada of Bullets Forever with six reasons why Antawn Jamison needs to be traded before the trade deadline.

-Even though Brandon Bass is unhappy with his playing time currently, he is still working hard to find his place with the team writes John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com.

-ESPN Insider Chad Ford lists his players most likely to be traded before the Feb. 18 trade deadline. No Magic players make the list but the Wizards' Caron Butler, Antawn Jamsion and Brendan Haywood have been mentioned in trade talks.

-Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse with more on Brandon Bass.

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A year ago, the Orlando Magic were an unproven bunch, an unorthodox collection of players that few critics believed could truly compete with the big boys.

The same could be said for Orlando Magic Daily, which is celebrating its one-year anniversary this week.

We at Orlando Magic Daily were lucky to pick the perfect time to start this blog, getting a chance to chronicle the most exciting time to be a Magic fan since the mid-90s. The Magic, as you know, made a rousing run to the NBA Finals last spring. And thanks to the play of the Magic, Orlando Magic Daily grew faster and bigger than I or anyone else expected.

Going to the games, interviewing the players, interacting with other blogs and journalists — the experience has been incredible. But real-life jobs and commitments (Woody Wommack works at Naples Daily News; I work at the Orlando Sentinel) have kept us from contributing the amount of time we’d like to contribute.

And that’s where you come in. As we prepare for another playoff run that should extend well beyond Memorial Day, we’re looking for more writers for this site — writers with a passion for basketball, a level head and some writing ability. If you’re interested, email zachomd (at) gmail.com with all the relevant information (writing samples, qualifications, references, etc.).

Thanks.