Magic's offensive woes continue in loss to Pistons
A rare sellout crowd in TDW failed to help the Magic as they saw their record fall to ten games under .500 and lost their 7th game of their last 8 overall in an ugly offensive display as the Pistons win 84-73.
The Pistons pulled away in the second half after leading by just 1 at the half. Rasheed Wallace (26 pts) and Rip Hamilton (23 pts) led the way. Ben Wallace (10 rebs) and Billups (14 assists) also had solid games. Only 3 Magic players (Howard, Turkoglu, and Stevenson) scored in double figures, led by Howard (19 pts 17 rebs). Howard grabbed 12 of those boards in the first qr, setting a Magic record for most boards in a quarter. The Magic, even though they outshot DET 45.6% to 40.5%, were outscored from the field 78-63. The key stat here is that DET was 10 of 22 from 3 pt range, while the Magic were a mere 1 of 5 (why didn't Diener play?). The Magic were also woeful from the FT line, shooting a laughable 52.6% on 10 of 19 FT (Howard, Battie, and Stevenson shot a combined 2 of 10). DET was held to 6 of 9. Once again, the bench had a poor game, as Dooling and Garrity scored only 13 pts on 5 of 17 shooting. Augmon was the only other reserve to see action, as he scored 2 pts in just 3 minutes. The Pistons bench also scored 15 pts.
Perhaps the most telling stat as to how poorly the Magic offensively played is this: only 10 assists the whole game, compared to 17 TOs; that's how badly they're struggling on offense. The Pistons had a whopping 26 assists to just 11 TOs. Francis had his third straight game of scoring under 10 pts (9 pts on 4 of 12 shooting). Howard and Turkoglu combined for 11 TOs. Again, BHill has no clue on how to use the bench. What an ugly loss in front of a sellout crowd.
The Pistons pulled away in the second half after leading by just 1 at the half. Rasheed Wallace (26 pts) and Rip Hamilton (23 pts) led the way. Ben Wallace (10 rebs) and Billups (14 assists) also had solid games. Only 3 Magic players (Howard, Turkoglu, and Stevenson) scored in double figures, led by Howard (19 pts 17 rebs). Howard grabbed 12 of those boards in the first qr, setting a Magic record for most boards in a quarter. The Magic, even though they outshot DET 45.6% to 40.5%, were outscored from the field 78-63. The key stat here is that DET was 10 of 22 from 3 pt range, while the Magic were a mere 1 of 5 (why didn't Diener play?). The Magic were also woeful from the FT line, shooting a laughable 52.6% on 10 of 19 FT (Howard, Battie, and Stevenson shot a combined 2 of 10). DET was held to 6 of 9. Once again, the bench had a poor game, as Dooling and Garrity scored only 13 pts on 5 of 17 shooting. Augmon was the only other reserve to see action, as he scored 2 pts in just 3 minutes. The Pistons bench also scored 15 pts.
Perhaps the most telling stat as to how poorly the Magic offensively played is this: only 10 assists the whole game, compared to 17 TOs; that's how badly they're struggling on offense. The Pistons had a whopping 26 assists to just 11 TOs. Francis had his third straight game of scoring under 10 pts (9 pts on 4 of 12 shooting). Howard and Turkoglu combined for 11 TOs. Again, BHill has no clue on how to use the bench. What an ugly loss in front of a sellout crowd.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 10:40 PM
7 Comments:
At 10:59 PM,
Matt said…
Another embarrassing loss. When does the ownership see the writing on the wall? Let me guess... never. "Coach Hill is our coach", they emphatically believe.
At 11:20 PM,
Ken said…
Will someone PLEASE tell Emperor Hill this is NOT the playoffs, that his allowed to use more than a 2 man rotation. I'm fed up!
At 1:30 PM,
OVERWADED said…
In all the years the Magic have been here, that was the most cheers the Pistons have ever received. I don't recall EVER seeing a standing O at a game for THE OTHER TEAM! It made me sick to my stomach. Once again, it shows you what kind of sports fans we have around here. The Pistons are a great team, and I'm picking them to win the finals, but that was not acceptable. I can only imagine what that felt like...
I know it's still early, but that was pretty much the nail in the coffin for our season. If there is anyway this team can start bettering itself for the future, the time is now.
Still, I'm sure it'll get a little more entertaining once Jameer and Hill come back, but what's the saying, to little, to late???
At 8:43 PM,
Matt said…
That's the same kind of sports fan who would put a price tag on a player of Shaq's caliber, or will turn down the tourist tax for building a new arena without knowing the intricate elements in play. I know plenty of Orlando's transient residents who support teams other than Orlando Magic, some for no apparent reason. Moreover, you have some fans who lose loyalty to their team when the team is failing. This latter kind of fans will come back when the team starts winning, but I am not sure if their loyalty is of any value in a moral sense.
At 10:15 PM,
Matt said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 10:16 PM,
Matt said…
I just spared the time to read Sentinel's articles written by their regulars, Schmidt and Povtak, and I have to say that I am disgusted. All this stuff of being in awe of how good Detroit was is not something that an Orlandonian should care for, and honestly they were insulting the way they are written. I need to know more about my team, and how to improve. I need to see outrage on how badly we were out-coached. I need to know why the same team that we played decent against in Detroit, comes in my home and embarrasses my home town team?
At 10:04 AM,
Big Figure said…
Very well said matt,thats why i dont read their articles for their opinion,i just try to find out the facts about our team,like who's gonna play or not and etc,most of the columnists for the sentinel suck!
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