Zaza sits with sore Achilles By SEKOU SMITH The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 04/11/06 The Hawks played without center Zaza Pachulia on Monday in Orlando for the third time in the six games. Pachulia was nursing a sore right Achilles and did not dress against the Magic. He missed two games last week with the flu. John Edwards replaced Pachulia in the starting lineup. ‧ STUMPING FOR BILLUPS: Hawks coach Mike Woodson has formed his opinions about the NBA's most prestigious individual honor. Coaches don't vote for the league MVP; media members do. If Woodson had a vote, he would cast it for Detroit point guard Chauncey Billups, who has directed the league's best team all season. "I think it has to go Chauncey, Steve Nash and then Kobe Bryant," Woodson said. "It's about winning. It's all about winning. So Chauncey has to come first. Nash is having another great year, and then Kobe has singlehandedly led his team to the playoffs. In my eyes, those have to be the top three guys." ‧ MAGIC ON A ROLL: If there is a team playing better basketball these days than the Orlando Magic, Woodson hasn't seen it. Orlando is riding a 12-4 wave with second-year stars Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson leading the way. The Magic has won four straight games, over Dallas, Milwaukee, Detroit and Miami. Orlando has won nine in a row at TD Waterhouse Centre while making an improbable late-season push for a playoff spot. Not bad for a team that was 20-40 a month ago. "I like the makeup of their team, with the inside-out threat they have," Woodson said. "I think Nelson is playing as well as any point guard in the league right now." ‧ FIZDALE TAKES LEAVE: Hawks assistant coach David Fizdale left the team after Sunday's loss in Minnesota to attend today's funeral of Maggie Dixon, the 28-year-old Army women's basketball coach who died on Thursday after suffering heart arrythmia. Fizdale and Dixon, the younger sister of Pittsburgh men's coach Jamie Dixon, are both Los Angeles natives and former basketball stars at the University of San Diego. 资料来源 http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0411hawknotes.html --

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