During each Magic home game, the Baseline Blog will bring you closer to the action - both on and off the court - at Amway Arena. Logon at game time and follow the action throughout the night as we'll be blogging with new updates every 5-7 minutes during the game.

By Matthew Gardner | OrlandoMagic.com

One night after dissecting every inch of the New Jersey Nets en route to a 33-point blowout victory, the Orlando Magic didn't come anywhere close to duplicating that performance on Saturday night. A very poor shooting performance was one of the factors that led Orlando to a loss, falling to the New York Knicks, 94-86.

The Magic fell behind late in the first quarter and were never able to catch up. The trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half, but were able to close within six points in the final minute of the game. Still, time ran out on Orlando as the team fell to 25-23 on the season.

Darko Milicic was one of the few bright spots for the Magic, scoring a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. All-Star Dwight Howard added 15 points and 11 rebounds and Hedo Turkoglu scored 13. Rookie J.J. Redick scored 11 points off the bench in 21 minutes of action.

Orlando had few answers for New York's Eddy Curry, who dropped 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Stephon Marbury scored 14 and Channing Frye added 18 from the bench.

FOURTH QUARTER
Though they've chipped away at the lead on a couple of occasions, breakdowns on the defensive side has enabled to Knicks to stay in this game. With 9:29 left in the game, the Magic still trail by 15 points, 77-62. The minute keep ticking away with not much change in regards to the score. The Knicks have a 15 point lead with 5:39 left in the game and Orlando is still shooting 35 percent for the game.

The Magic had closed within 12 before a Curry hook shot once again made it a 14-point game. Turkoglu hits a shot to again cut it to 12, but only 3:16 left in the game. Darko just hit 1-of-2 free throws and now has a career-high 17 points. He's played some valuable minutes for Orlando tonight. We're under the two minute mark and Marbury is at the line shooting two. He makes both and New York's lead is 13. Darko hits another one and now has 19 points. Redick hits a layup on a fastbreak and the Knicks lead is only nine with 1:19 left. This is the first time since the second quarter that the lead is in the single digits. Curry is fouled and goes to the line and makes 1-of-2. Howard dunks one down and the NY lead is just seven with 1:01 left.

Lee is at the free throw line and hits 1-of-2 and it's now 92-84 in the final minute. Howard with another dunk and the NY lead is down to only six, 92-86. Crawford misses a three, but Turkoglu also misses from beyond the arc and there's just 15.5 left on the clock. Crawford is fouled and goes to the line. He hits the first and the second and the lead is now eight. Magic call timeout. Final attempt for Orlando doesn't fall and the Magic will head home with a loss tonight.

Final: New York Knicks 94, Orlando Magic 86

THIRD QUARTER
After a poor first half performance, the Magic will look to get some more high-percentage shots, take better care of the ball and do a better job on the boards in the second half. Tony Battie takes the first shot of the second half and misses, but Howard grabs the offensive board and is fouled. He goes to the line for the first time tonight and hits the first. His second clanks off the back of the rim, so the Magic deficit is 14, 49-35. Marbury cans a three, but Howard throws down a dunk at the other end. Battie then lays one in to cut the lead to 13. The Knicks turnover the ball, but Howard is striped at the other end. Marbury then drives to the basket and is fouled while making the layup.

The Magic are doing a much better job grabbing rebounds and seem to have a little more spark on the defensive end. But the shots just aren't falling. When you're shooting only 36.2 percent from the field, good things aren't going to happen. Robinson just smacked a three and New York's lead is still 16. Timeout on the floor. Knicks 60, Magic 44 with 5:31 left in the third quarter.

To show you just how uninspiring the game has been so far, they just played the Carlos Arroyo "Magic Minute" and the largest cheer of the night came when Carlos said that his favorite food was rice and beans and steak. It is Latin Night, after all. The Arroyomaniacs are in action tonight as he just hit a bucket to pull Orlando within 12 and the crowd errupted.

Maybe its a message to the starters, or perhaps he's trying to shake things up, but Coach Hill has Milicic, Garrity, Outlaw, Arroyo and Redick on the floor. All five starters on the bench as the Magic trail by 13. Orlando is being outhustled and simply outplayed by New York tonight. It's a 67-52 Knicks lead with 1:32 left in the third.

Darko is having a pretty good night. He just got fouled while making a shot and now has 14 points. He misses the free throw, so Orlando still trails by 11, 69-58. Robinson just fed David Lee and he finishes with a dunk. Knicks have a 13-point lead as we enter the fourth quarter.

End of Third Quarter: New York Knicks 71, Orlando Magic 58

SECOND QUARTER
Magic start off the second on a bright note as a feed inside to Darko ends wih a dunk. However, the Knicks have added three buckets since to take a nine point lead. Darko breaks the New York run with a jump shot and it's now a 29-22 game with 8:39 left until halftime.

Bogans rebounds an Arroyo miss to cut the lead to five, but Channing Frye hits a two for New York. The Magic are shooting just 38.5 percent from the field and another field goal from Frye gives the Knicks a 10-point lead, 34-24, with 6:39 on the clock.

Things aren't getting much better for the Magic as its now a 14-point deficit with 2:53 left. Hedo was among the league's best free throw shooters last season. But this season, he's struggling - big time. He just hit 1-of-2 and is now 1-of-4 for the game. Hedo hits a three-pointer in the final minute to cut the lead to 12 and Richardson is called for an offensive foul at the other end. Magic will find down the half now, but Arroyo is called for an offensive foul. Knicks will have the ball with 9.4 seconds left until halftime. Frye hits a three at the buzzer and the Knicks walk back to the locker room holding a 15-point lead.

Halftime: New York Knicks 49, Orlando Magic 34

FIRST QUARTER
The tip goes to New York and its a miss by Quentin Richardson on the first possession. For the Magic, Dwight Howard goes baseline and then reverses for a fancy layup. Magic strike first and it's 2-0. New York gets on the board as Howard is called for goaltending on a Jerome James attempt. Jameer Nelson breaks the tie as he dribbles through traffic and kisses a layup off the glass and just over the outreached arm of Eddy Curry.

After a pair of Stephon Marbury free throws put New York up by a deuce, Hedo Turkoglu hits a three to give Orlando a one-point lead, 9-8. Curry gets behind Howard and a backdoor pass enables him to get an easy layup. The two teams begin trading buckets with Bogans going in for a layup, a tip from Curry, followed by a jumper by Tony Battie. The Knicks have a 14-13 lead at the 3:37 mark. J.J. Redick and Darko Milicic check into the game for Bogans and Battie.

A foul by Marbury sends Turkoglu to the line to shoot a pair. Hedo misses the first one and the second as the Magic trail by two, 15-13. Jamal Crawford then hits a three to give the Knicks a five-point lead. Turkoglu chips away at that lead with a jumper and it's a 18-15 game inside 2:00. New York adds a bucket and then Richardson is fouled and sent to the free throw line with 46.1 remaining in the quarter. Richardson hits 1-of-2 and the Knicks lead is six, 21-15. Redick is fouled while shooting a three and goes to the line where he hits all three free throws to cut New York's lead in half. Richardson knocks down a little layup and the Magic will wind down the clock. Nelson shoots a three, but it doesn't fall and the Knicks lead at the end of one by five.

As a side note, Steve Francis is in the building. He just walked onto the court (in street clothes) and joined the rest of his teammates on the bench.

End of First Quarter: New York Knicks 23, Orlando Magic 18

PREGAME
The Orlando Magic will look to build on last night's 33-point blowout of the New Jersey Nets when they welcome the New York Knicks to town. Steve Francis, who was traded from Orlando last February, is inactive and not with the team tonight due to tendonitis in his right knee. Jared Jeffries, an offseaon acquisition from Washington, is also inactive tonight. For the Magic, Grant Hill (right knee), Keyon Dooling (right thumb) and Trevor Ariza (MCL) will sit this one out.

Because of last night's large lead against the Nets, the Magic were able to rest all five starters throughout the fourth quarter. The Magic will once again start Dwight Howard, Tony Battie, Hedo Turkoglu, Keith Bogans and Jameer Nelson. The Knicks will put Quentin Richardson, Jerome James, Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford and Stephon Marbury.

TONIGHT’S OPPONENT:
Feb. 3 vs. New York (Orlando, FL): Orlando is 33-34 all-time vs. New York (19-15 at home, 14-19 on the road) during the regular season, including 3-1 last season...Orlando has won five of the last seven meetings and 13 of the last 21 overall in the series...The Magic have won the last three outings at home, and won six of the last nine at MSG…Trevor Ariza spent the first 116 games of his NBA career with the Knicks, before being acquired on Feb. 22, 2006…For last season’s stats and Magic career numbers vs. New York, see p. 273 of the media guide.

BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. KNICKS: 41 pts., Shaquille O’Neal (@ Orlando, 2-28-95; @ Orlando, 2-5-95; @ New York, 11-10-94)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 39 pts., John Starks (@ New York, 1-4-94)