Rashard Lewis Makes His Season Debut for the Orlando Magic
After a 10-game suspension (and not being able to attend any game) All-Star forward Rashard Lewis will make his season debut against the Charlotte Bobcats tonight at seven o'clock pm.
The Magic began the season with five new players on their roster, two coming from the offseason transaction with the New Jersey Nets (Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson) and three coming from offseason signings (Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, and Jason Williams).
Throughout the first 10 games of the season Orlando enjoyed the emergence of forward Ryan Anderson, who is averaging 15.0 PPG and 5.0 RPG on 46.4 percent shooting from the floor and 43.6 percent shooting from beyond the three-point line in only 24.8 minutes of action.
Anderson has missed the last four games due to an ankle injury, and it is clear that his impact has been missed dearly.
With a newly assembled roster one would expect a team's chemistry to take time to build to its peak, but that has not been the case for the Magic as they already look beyond mid-season form.
Tonight's starting lineup will be something close to this: Jameer Nelson at the point, Vince Carter at the two, Rashard Lewis at the three, Ryan Anderson at power-forward, and Dwight Howard at the center position.
This starting five is arguably the strongest and deadliest lineup in the entire NBA today as the five athletes are composed of exceptional speed, versatility, aggressiveness, and most importantly a chip on their shoulder to make it back to the NBA Finals.
Lewis, who lead the league in 3PTM last season, will without a doubt give this Magic team's offense a serious boost, ultimately improving their 100 PPG (14th in league) to somewhere between 110-115 PPG before mid-season.
With a completely healthy roster the Orlando Magic are undoubtedly the deepest team in the NBA. Tonight will be the first time this season that the entire team will be dressed in their numbers and ready to play ball.
Even though the Magic are matched up against the Bobcats, tonight's game should be a little preview of what is to come this season.
Orlando 125 - Bobcats 88
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