Magic In The Air

The Orlando Magic had lost their last three games, and were hungry for a win coming into a Friday night affair with the struggling Washington Wizards. The Magic were 12-16 so far, and in the midst of their first season without superstar center Dwight Howard, who negotiated his own trade out of Orlando after a long and drawn out saga, that may have sabotaged the position of former head coach Stan Van Gundy.  In a 4 team 12 player deal executed over the summer, the Magic brought back sharpshooter Arron Afflalo and journeyman Al Harrington from Denver, former St. John's standout Moe Harkless and Montenegrin big man Nikola Vucevic from Philadelphia, plus forward Josh McRoberts and guard Christian Eyenga from the Los Angeles Lakers. In addition to shipping Howard to L.A., the Magic shipped guard Chris Duhon and forward Earl Clark to the Lakers, sending Jason Richardson to the Sixers. Orlando also received five draft picks. It became clear with the departure of "Superman" that the future was now in the Magic Kingdom. Orlando was slowly turning the page on the Howard era, and looking to star point guard Jameer Nelson, along with Afflalo to carry the load.

Verizon Center ready for Wizards vs. Magic

The Wizards came into Friday's game still looking to end what had been a dreadful 8 game slide, dating back to December 11th in New Orleans.

I arrived at the Verizon Center administrative entrance at 4:45 P.M., and was greeted by the same desk attendant who'd worked the last game, so I knew I would have to wait til 5:00 P.M. to get into the building. During the 15 minute wait in the lobby, I found time to set up my personal camera, so I could take a few pictures before checking in for work at 5:30 P.M. I was able to watch a few Magic players take part in their pregame rituals, including rookie power forward Kyle O' Quinn, who was greeted by a conglomerate of current students and alums from his alma mater, Norfolk State.

A Magic trainer stretches rookie forward Kyle O'Quinn

I was under the impression that my personal fan photography goal for the night was going to be 200 shots, the same as the previous game, but was challenged to get 300 or more, which I barely accomplished, but succeeded in nonetheless. One of my personal favorite pictures that I took with the Nikon provided to us, on this night, was a quick shot of a young fan desperately hoping for an autograph, who quickly turned and posed with Wizards small forward Martell Webster, who was taking his time, mingling with the crowd on his trip back to the locker room from an early shoot around.

The next superman? Magic rookie forward Andrew Nicholson could be a big part of Orlando's future

By the time the game was under way, I had already eclipsed 100 shots for the night, my fastest accumulation of pregame fan photos to date. By halftime, I was well over 200, when I realized I really had to make a trip to the restroom. I quickly ran back to the office, and deposited my camera, and went on a quick detour in search of a sanitary facility, which I was told by a reliable usher on the 2nd floor, was located all the way up on the 4th floor. So I ran upstairs to what turned out to be another filthy, urine-laced mens room and back downstairs to pick up my camera again and start shooting. It was only then did I realize that there was only one quarter left, and I still needed over 80 shots to reach my goal of 300. I almost frantically rattled off exactly the amount of pictures I needed to reach 301 shots for the night, just in time to hear a raucous roar from the crowd, and see fans spilling into the concourse from their seats, as though their team had just won a title. The Wizards were victorious, finally, by the score of 105-97 over the Magic. Jordan Crawford, still coming off the bench, had a huge game, leading Washington with 27 points and 6 assists. Brazilian center Nene had his best game of the season with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Arron Afflalo led Orlando with 26 points, and lethal shooter  J.J. Redick chipped in 23 points off the bench, 15 of them coming on 3-pointers, but the Wizards prevailed, snapping their 8 game losing streak, and sending the Magic to their 4th straight loss.

The Night After Christmas

After a long day of watching basketball on TV on Christmas day, I was back inside the Verizon Center the next night for a showdown between the two worst teams in the Eastern Conference, the 6-23 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 3-22 Washington Wizards. The Cavs had been without their star point guard Kyrie Irving for 11 games already this season, and to add insult to injury the Duke product suffered a broken bone in his jaw against the Milwaukee Bucks, causing him to sport a protective face mask ever since. The Cavs were also without Brazilian center Anderson Varejao due to a bruised right knee.

Cleveland fan supports the Cavs in a D.C. cafe

The Wizards, on the other hand, who'd been without their star John Wall for the entire season, were just looking for a win, something they had not accomplished since December 11th in New Orleans.

Verizon Center two hours before tip-off

I arrived at the arena at 4:30 again, expecting to be let in early, but was told to wait in the lobby until 5:00. Apparently fan photographers aren't allowed to be in the building too early, even though I was granted entrance at a quarter til 5 for Saturday's game against the Pistons. Nonetheless, I was able to use my own personal camera to get some shots of some of the players warming up. I saw some of the Cavaliers players involved in a 3-on-3 game with their assistant coaches, which was really more of a training session. Back-up big men Samardo Samuels and Jon Leuer seemed to be giving one another all they could handle in the post. On the other side of the court, Cartier Martin and Bradley Beal were putting up as many shots as they could before game-time. Assistant coach Sam Cassell was taking just as many. I went upstairs to the storage room where I pick up my camera, and was told by my supervisor to aim for around 200 shots for the night. Piece of cake. I went back down by the court, and with a half-hour left until fans would begin entering the arena, saw who would be the biggest star in tonight's game, Kyrie Irving. He wasn't on the court for that long, but dribbled up and down the sideline a couple times, before taking a few jump-shots. Then he went back to the locker room, not to be seen until about 10 minutes before tip when all the players take the floor for pregame warmups. I noticed a kid with an Anderson Varejao Brazil jersey waiting patiently for his countryman to emerge from the locker room, before being ushered back to his seats a couple of levels up from the court. I saw Wizards fans take pictures with Martell Webster, Emeka Okafor, and Jordan Crawford, longing to be close to the players they had seen on TV.

3-on-3: Cavs forward Samardo Samuels posts up guard Jeremy Pargo

Cavs forward Omri Casspi, the first Israeli in the NBA

By the start of the first quarter, I had already taken 71 pictures, all with the court in the backdrop, which is a more marketable shot for Printroom, the contracted photography company responsible for getting me this close to the pregame festivities. By halftime, I was up to 150 shots for the night, so I was right on pace, but the game was pretty close so there weren't too many fans roaming the concourses during the third and fourth quarters looking for pictures. A spurt of quick pictures towards the end of the game, coupled with a second half trip to the club level bar, got me up 212 shots for the night. I returned to the office, and dropped off my camera only to hear a roar from the crowd. I took a look outside to see the Wizards down by 3 with just over 7 seconds left and no timeouts. Jordan Crawford dribbled the ball all the way up court off the inbound, pulled up and clanked a 3-pointer off the back iron. The Cavs narrowly escaped for an 87-84 win behind Kyrie Irving's 26 points and 8 assists. Emeka Okafor had a big night for the Wizards with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Crawford, who leads the Wizards in scoring for the season chipped in 17 points off the bench, despite missing the game winner. Crawford had been relegated to a bench role for the game, after showing up late for pregame shoot around. He was replaced in the starting lineup by former Butler University standout Shelvin Mack.  Cleveland picked up their 2nd straight win, while the Wizards continued their slide, dropping their 8th straight game.

Clippers Make It 14 Straight

Clippers forward Blake Griffin rises for an incredible dunk

The Los Angeles Clippers are red hot, and yesterday they continued their torrid streak, blowing by the Denver Nuggets 112-100 for their 14th straight win. The Clippers were led by Jamal Crawford's 22 points off the bench. Matt Barnes contributed 20 points and 8 rebounds in a game that included some incredible highlight dunks by Blake Griffin. Denver trailed for most of the game, but received big contributions from both Kosta Koufos, 16 points 10 rebounds, and sophomore forward Jordan Hamilton who also had 16 coming off the bench.
The Clippers moved to 22-6 with the win, and hold the best record in the league.