Orlando Magic Blog

Group Blog talking about the NBA 2009 Eastern Conference Champions. Due to the amazing success of the 2009 playoff run comments are now frequently deleted to kill offensive comments, incoherence, or asininity. Comments can no longer be anonymous and require either a Blogger or OpenID account.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Bench plays strong in Magic win over IND

In a turnover-filled, foul-filled game that lasted nearly 3 hours, the Magic (34-39, 22-14 home) were able to outlast IND (31-41, 11-25 away) 95-87, thanks to 37 pts from the Magic reserves. This was IND's 17th loss in 19 games, and the Magic's 5th win in 8 games.

The Magic were led by GHill with 22 pts on 14 of 16 FTs; TAriza off the bench 17 pts on 6 of 7 FGs and 4 steals; DHoward 10 pts, 8 rebs, 5 blocks but with 7 TOs; HTurkoglu 10 pts, 8 rebs; TBattie 9 pts, 10 rebs, CArroyo off the bench with 8 pts in just 12 minutes, and JRedick also off the bench added 7 pts. IND was led by Jamaal Tinsley with 27 pts, 10 rebs; and Danny Granger added 13 pts. Jermaine O'Neal, playing with various injuries, struggled, shooting just 4 of 18 for 10 pts, along with 8 TOs.

IND (32 of 76, 42.1%) actually outscored the Magic (29 of 61, 47.5%) from the field 68-60. IND hit on 4 of 16 3 pt FGs, while the Magic were 2 of 7 from long range. The Magic (35 of 45) dominated from the FT line over IND (19 of 24). The Magic won the rebounding battle 43-33. Both teams had poor AST/TO ratios, with the Magic ratio at 16/24, and the IND ratio of 12/22. The Magic bench was a big factor, outscoring the IND bench 37-22.

With NJ losing to DET, the Magic are now back in the 7th spot, 1/2 game ahead of NJ. With IND and NY losing, the Magic are 2 1/2 games ahead of both teams in the standings. Magic have a chance to continue to solidify a playoff berth SUN, hosting another sub-.500 team, MIN.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 3:40 AM  

2 Comments:

  • At 4:20 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    I bet ESPN was proud to present this scintillating matchup to a national TV audience (just kidding).

    Like Matt would say, this win is nothing to gloat about. It sure didn't come easy against a team currently playing the worst ball in the NBA. Also, it's not very often one sees a team commit 24 TOs, yet manages to win the game.

    However, despite the negatives, there were positives that came out of the game for the Magic... 1) the strong play of the bench, led by Ariza, Arroyo, and Redick. Arroyo seems to be playing with a large chip on his shoulder since being taken out of the regular rotation by BHill; as a result, he has been a huge spark off the bench the last few games and might be playing his best basketball of the year. 2) GHill slashing and driving to the basket drawing fouls, and he was able to hit on 14 of 16 FTs. Grant was able to play 28 effective minutes after playing 48 minutes just 2 days ago. 3) Ariza's strong and energetic bench play. His 4 steals were just as impressive as his 17 pts. Also, Trevor's awesome slam over O'Neal was the number 2 play of the night on SportsCenter. 4) The defense of the Magic, forcing IND into 22 TOs and just 42.1% FG shooting.

    Also, I was glad to see BHill bench an ineffective JNelson for a majority of the first half, put in Arroyo, and let him play the rest of the first half. However, wish Carlos could have gotten some playing time in the second half also.

    Well guys, like it or not, this Magic win only makes it a matter of time now before they officially clinch a playoff spot, since we're 2 1/2 games ahead of IND and NY, with only 9 games left. If the Magic hang on to the 7th spot, they would play either CLE or the fast-charging Bulls. They had success against both teams this season, and could possibly win a couple games before going down.

     

  • At 12:32 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Indiana was missing players,plus they arent the same team they were before the trade,but the magic did what they had to and won,we're lucky jermaine was hurting most of the night.

     

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