All Pistons in blowout over Magic
Things looked promising for the Magic after the first qtr, when they led DET, who was without Rip Hamilton, 30-28. However, it was all downhill from there as DET led 64-55 at the half and the Magic never challenged in the second half, scoring just 37 pts on 10 of 36 FG shooting, losing 116-92.
Six Pistons scored in double figures, led by reserve Ronald "Flip" Murray with 19 pts. Chauncey Billups added 18 pts, 7 asts, Tayshaun Prince 17 pts, and Rasheed Wallace 16 pts. Four Magic players scored in double figures, led by RLewis with 21 pts (5 of 11 FGs); HTurkoglu 17 pts ( 6 of 15 FGs), 4 rebs; DHoward 16 pts (6 of 15 FGs), 13 rebs; and KBogans 14 pts (4 of 4 3 pt FGs). TAriza led the bench with just 5 pts in 9 mins.
The Pistons dominated statistically. DET (43 of 73, 58.9%) outscored the Magic (31 of 77, 40.3%) from the field 93-70. ORL shot 8 of 18 (44.4%) from 3 pt range, while DET shot 7 of 15 (46.7%). DET (23 of 30) had the edge at the FT line over the Magic (22 of 33). DET had the rebounding edge 42-34, and also a better AST/TO ratio 22/13, compared to 16/12 for the Magic. The DET bench was superior, outscoring the Magic bench 45-17.
Quote from Coach Van Gundy after the game: "We couldn't stop anything that they did and we couldn't score on them and we couldn't rebound with them. That's how far we have to go right there to play with the best teams in the East."
Six Pistons scored in double figures, led by reserve Ronald "Flip" Murray with 19 pts. Chauncey Billups added 18 pts, 7 asts, Tayshaun Prince 17 pts, and Rasheed Wallace 16 pts. Four Magic players scored in double figures, led by RLewis with 21 pts (5 of 11 FGs); HTurkoglu 17 pts ( 6 of 15 FGs), 4 rebs; DHoward 16 pts (6 of 15 FGs), 13 rebs; and KBogans 14 pts (4 of 4 3 pt FGs). TAriza led the bench with just 5 pts in 9 mins.
The Pistons dominated statistically. DET (43 of 73, 58.9%) outscored the Magic (31 of 77, 40.3%) from the field 93-70. ORL shot 8 of 18 (44.4%) from 3 pt range, while DET shot 7 of 15 (46.7%). DET (23 of 30) had the edge at the FT line over the Magic (22 of 33). DET had the rebounding edge 42-34, and also a better AST/TO ratio 22/13, compared to 16/12 for the Magic. The DET bench was superior, outscoring the Magic bench 45-17.
Quote from Coach Van Gundy after the game: "We couldn't stop anything that they did and we couldn't score on them and we couldn't rebound with them. That's how far we have to go right there to play with the best teams in the East."
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 11:33 PM
3 Comments:
At 12:05 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
For as many positives as there were opening night for the Magic, there were just as many negatives FRI night against the Pistons...
1) Howard shooting under 50% for the second game in a row
2) Ariza and Redick combining for just 13 minutes played, mostly in garbage time
3) Garrity being one of the first players off the bench, and who didn't contribute anything in 12 minutes
4) The bench shooting a collective 8 of 28 on FGs
5) The Magic's failure to be able to compete with a team that was without one of their top players and who had played the previous night
The Pistons look like they are going to be a real threat to win the East this season; their depth seems a lot better than last season.
It looks like it's going to take a while for the Magic to develop chemistry and an effective player rotation off the bench, with a new coach and a new system. Still, it was discouraging to see such a lopsided loss to the Pistons, and the Magic have to play a WAS team SAT night that will be looking for their first win.
At 9:56 AM,
Matt said…
Magic attempted to do what they needed to do which was matching up DET's offensive output. They failed mainly because of guards' production. With the exception of Keith - who was a perfect 4-4 on 3-pointers - all others had an awful night shooting. If Garrity could duplicate his preseason shooting, it could have been different, but he couldn't. DET exploited the two areas, as I predicted, namely PG and PF.
I would like to see Keyon used mainly as a back-up PG right after Jameer, and J.J. to back up Keith. If Garrity continues to struggle hitting his shots, anybody would be better than him for a substitute. I am sure coach SVG is still tinkering with different line-ups and rotations and just hope that he would have them down as soon as possible.
At 1:49 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
All valid points, Matt. Also, the Magic bench being outscored 45-17 by the DET bench really stands out. Coach Stan can't be too happy when he sees that, and I'm sure he'll continue to tinker with the rotation off the bench in coming games.
Last season, the Magic bench was a strength, as in many games they would score a collective 25-40 pts.
This season, with a high scorer like Rashard in the starting lineup, the bench wouldn't figure to score as many points as last season, but they need to do better than they did against the Pistons.
Post a Comment
<< Home