Magic, Lewis hold off MIN in fourth for third win
The Magic looked to be on their way to a comfortable win, as they led MIN 92-76 in the fourth qtr, but then the T-Wolves scored 14 pts in a row to close within 2, but RLewis (27 pts, 7 of 9 3 pt FGs) hit 3 3 pt FGs down the stretch to lead the Magic to a 111-103 win, their third in four games.
Missing JNelson (concussion) and JRedick (back spasms), other players stepped up for the Magic. In addition to Lewis, DHoward led with 28 pts (12 of 16 FTs), 16 rebs; CArroyo, who started for Nelson, 18 pts, 6 asts and just 1 TO; and HTurkoglu 14 pts, 6 rebs. PGarrity led the reserves with 9 pts (4 of 6 FGs), 4 asts. MIN was led by Al Jefferson with 25 pts, 10 rebs, and Greg Buckner 18 pts.
A statistical breakdown of the game:
FG... ORL 35 of 73 (47.9%) MIN 40 of 81 (49.4%) MIN 85 ORL 80
3 PT FG... ORL 10 of 24 (41.7%) MIN 5 of 13 (38.5%)
FT... ORL 31 of 44 (70.5%) MIN 18 of 25 (72%)
REB... MIN 42 ORL 40
AST/TO... ORL 21/9 MIN 26/14
BENCH... MIN 39 ORL 15
Magic don't have much time to rest, as they play at a tough TOR team WED night.
Missing JNelson (concussion) and JRedick (back spasms), other players stepped up for the Magic. In addition to Lewis, DHoward led with 28 pts (12 of 16 FTs), 16 rebs; CArroyo, who started for Nelson, 18 pts, 6 asts and just 1 TO; and HTurkoglu 14 pts, 6 rebs. PGarrity led the reserves with 9 pts (4 of 6 FGs), 4 asts. MIN was led by Al Jefferson with 25 pts, 10 rebs, and Greg Buckner 18 pts.
A statistical breakdown of the game:
FG... ORL 35 of 73 (47.9%) MIN 40 of 81 (49.4%) MIN 85 ORL 80
3 PT FG... ORL 10 of 24 (41.7%) MIN 5 of 13 (38.5%)
FT... ORL 31 of 44 (70.5%) MIN 18 of 25 (72%)
REB... MIN 42 ORL 40
AST/TO... ORL 21/9 MIN 26/14
BENCH... MIN 39 ORL 15
Magic don't have much time to rest, as they play at a tough TOR team WED night.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 11:35 PM
5 Comments:
At 11:57 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
What a difference having a clutch 3 pt shooter in there when the game was in doubt... great long-range shooting by Lewis to put the stubborn TWolves away.
Even though MIN shot a better pct than the Magic and made more FGs, the Magic's 3 pt shooting (thanks to Lewis) and 13 pt advantage at the FT line made the difference; also great job of taking care of the ball with just 9 TOs.
Outstanding job by Arroyo starting in place of Nelson with a 6/1 AST/TO ratio in 37 mins. Also, it's not often Pat Garrity deserves credit, but he does for coming off the bench and making 4 of 6 FGs, along with 4 asts and 3 rebs.
Very encouraging to see different players step up for us, and for not folding in the final minutes of a close game, like what happened so often last season.
In my preview, did I really predict the Magic to win by 8? About time I got one right :-)
At 3:35 AM,
OVERWADED said…
It's late, so I'm not going to say much; but as I was watching the game to conclusion, I found myself thinking...didn't Mike predict an 8 point victory?
Good pick Mike!
At 8:29 AM,
WeRDevos said…
Lewis has been incredibly efficient so far. His shot stroke is a thing of beauty.
The team does not play well with Howard on the bench. Either they get more big help or DH plays 45 minutes against the better teams.
Need to call out Garrity. He made two or three outstanding hustle plays. He did not look like a wooden indian last night.
3-1 is a good start, but Magic haven't beaten any good teams yet. But last year they would have lost at least one of the two road games.
Randy Wittman reminds me of B.Hill. He seems to put the wrong combination of players on the court together.
The Davis for Walker trade has hurt both teams. Davis is killing Miami with too many shots and Walker looked like a fat pig last night.
If you have DirecTV the HD version of the game was on 96, the regular broadcast on 632. I spent half the game not realizing this. Sports in HD is worth every penny.
At 1:42 PM,
Big Figure said…
Good game by the guys. With the big three on the floor even when it got close i still felt we were in good hands,rashard,turk and dwight make a very difficult front court to outscore. Watching them for the first time was a treat,and one huge difference between all other max players we've signed is rashard can hurt you without even dribbling the ball,he hit big shot after big shot and they all came from ball rotation which is in turn why the magic are much better protecting the ball. Alot less dribbling and alot more passes that lead to open jumpers while being given the green light to shoot from long distance,priceless!
At 2:11 PM,
Matt said…
Last year we would not have won a game like this because the coach would not allow 3-point shooting even if Rashard was on the team. Brian Hill's idea of basketball was "taking it to the rack" at all costs. What a difference good coaching could make. Well done, guys.
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