KG dominates as T-Wolves cool off Magic
The Magic held a 53-49 halftime lead and a 58-52 third quarter lead over the T-Wolves, but faded the rest of the second half as MIN, led by Kevin Garnett, snapped the Magic's 4 game winning streak 103-91.
Garnett had a huge game, with 27 pts, 19 rebs and 6 assists. Ricky Davis scored 26 pts along with 10 assists, Mark Blount 14 pts, and rookie Rashad McCants 13 pts. For the Magic, six players scored in double figures, led by DHoward (15 pts 12 rebs) and HTurkoglu (15 pts). TBattie added 14 pts, Darko 12 pts, and CArroyo and DStevenson with 10 apiece. The two pt guards, Nelson and Arroyo, combined to score just 16 pts on 5 of 13 shooting after combining for 37 against the Bulls. However, both combined for 10 assists to just 1 TO; the points just weren't there for them.
MIN outscored the Magic 87-73 from the field on solid 55.3% shooting. The Magic shot 47.3%. The Magic were mediocre from the line, shooting just 60% (18 of 30). MIN shot 72.7% from the line (16 of 22). Rebounds were nearly even as Magic had one more rebound 37-36. TOs were even at 14, but MIN passed the ball well with 27 assists, compared to 21 for the Magic. The Magic bench outscored the T-Wolves bench 31-15.
With the Sixers loss tonight, the Magic would have pulled to within 4 games of the last playoff spot with a win. Maybe fatigue was a factor, judging from their second half performance and poor FT %. Magic have to get ready for a tough home game FRI against DAL.
Garnett had a huge game, with 27 pts, 19 rebs and 6 assists. Ricky Davis scored 26 pts along with 10 assists, Mark Blount 14 pts, and rookie Rashad McCants 13 pts. For the Magic, six players scored in double figures, led by DHoward (15 pts 12 rebs) and HTurkoglu (15 pts). TBattie added 14 pts, Darko 12 pts, and CArroyo and DStevenson with 10 apiece. The two pt guards, Nelson and Arroyo, combined to score just 16 pts on 5 of 13 shooting after combining for 37 against the Bulls. However, both combined for 10 assists to just 1 TO; the points just weren't there for them.
MIN outscored the Magic 87-73 from the field on solid 55.3% shooting. The Magic shot 47.3%. The Magic were mediocre from the line, shooting just 60% (18 of 30). MIN shot 72.7% from the line (16 of 22). Rebounds were nearly even as Magic had one more rebound 37-36. TOs were even at 14, but MIN passed the ball well with 27 assists, compared to 21 for the Magic. The Magic bench outscored the T-Wolves bench 31-15.
With the Sixers loss tonight, the Magic would have pulled to within 4 games of the last playoff spot with a win. Maybe fatigue was a factor, judging from their second half performance and poor FT %. Magic have to get ready for a tough home game FRI against DAL.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 11:08 PM
5 Comments:
At 7:04 AM,
Ken said…
I really thought we had a chance to win this one, right up til the very end. To me, the Magic just looked out of sync for some reason. I know they just beat the Bulls the previous night, but no one really played a ton of minutes in that game either. Free throw shooting was abysmal, and that never helps also. Jameer had a very un Jameer like game, and that happens, but the thing I've thought about for the last month or so is DHoward hasn't been his dominating self lately. I know its a 82 game season, and it probably seems it can drag on forever. But Dwight is 20 years old, he's still a kid, and in great shape. I've mentioned this in other posts, but to me, he just seems to be getting pushed around to much in the post. For someone who is 7' and almost 270lbs he seems to be getting outplayed a bit lately. I'd be nice to see him develop a little mean streak, a scowl, not a Ron Artest or Latrell Sprewell mean streak, just a little bit of one.
At 9:51 AM,
Matt said…
Couldn't we win this game if we haven't turned all average jump shooters like Davis, Banks and, worst of all, Blount into colons of Ray Allen? There is always something that goes awry, isn't it? Is it all players or we have to look deeper into the lack of a system and/or improper mindset & mental preparation?
At 11:01 AM,
Big Figure said…
Tale of two teams,the night before the magic valued each possession and beat the bulls in the fourth quarter,but last night the magic for whatever reason got turnover crazy in the fourth quarter,maybe it was fatigue b/c even though the minutes were average against the bulls,the minutes magic players played were tough minutes b/c the bulls had a defensive mindset on,i guess after playing so well for 4 or 5 games a bad one was bound to happen,but i will say this,if jameer is himself we probably win,markus banks out played jameer which was a surprise to me,which means to me jameer was either hurting or tired,one of the other b/c jameer when himself can outplay banks in his sleep,he'll bounce back and were gonna shock dallas Friday!
At 9:19 AM,
Matt said…
I have given up on reading something meaningful on Sentinel. From time to time, I just use some of the factual data from them, yet with caution and after checking the validity of the source.
At 4:04 PM,
Ken said…
I'm with ya tragicfan and matt. I don't think I read the slantinel more than twice since I joined this blog, and each time I did it just agrivated me. All of the regulars who post here are better writers and are more imformed than any on the sentinel staff..
Post a Comment
<< Home