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, December 01, 2007

Magic comeback falls just short in PHO

The Magic (14-4, 9-2 road), trailed by 15 at the end of the first qtr and by 10 at the end of three qtrs and were forced to play catchup in the fourth against PHO (12-4). The Magic nearly made it all the way back, but RLewis's missed 3 pt FG with under 5 seconds remaining, which would have given the Magic the lead, missed the mark and the Suns added FTs to win 110-106, sweeping the 2 game season series.

Three players scored in double figures for the Magic: DHoward once again led the way with 30 pts (13 of 19 FGs), 23 rebs, but 8 TOs; HTurkoglu 25 pts (9 of 17 FGs), 8 rebs, 6 asts; and RLewis with 18 pts (6 of 19 FGs). JRedick led the effort off the bench with 8 pts (3 of 5 FGs). PHO had better balanced scoring, with six players in double figures lede by Raja Bell with 20 pts. Steve Nash added 15 pts, 14 asts and Amare Stoudemire 19 pts, 10 rebs.

The statistical breakdown:

FGs... PHO 43 of 87 (49.4%) ORL 40 of 87 (46.0%) PHO 93 ORL 90
3 PT FGs... ORL 10 of 34 (29.4%) PHO 7 of 17 (41.2%)
FTs... PHO 17 of 25 (68%) ORL 16 of 25 (64%)
REBS... PHO 48 ORL 43
AST/TO... PHO 29/13 ORL 21/17
BENCH... PHO 24 ORL 20

Nice effort by the Magic to come back in the last qtr and nearly take the lead late, but as it turned out, the Magic dug themselves too big a hole to climb out of. Magic have SAT off, followed by two tough back-to-back games against LAL and GS.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 12:40 AM  

6 Comments:

  • At 1:19 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Certainly the Magic were much more competitive this game against the Suns than the first game, but the Suns were the better team tonight. They beat the Magic in virtually every major statistical category (the Magic only had an edge in 3 pt FGs made), yet the Magic still came within a 3 pt FG of taking the lead late in the final seconds.

    Lewis is now in an extended shooting slump. His stats for the last 5 games:

    CHA... 4 of 12 FGs, 1 of 5 3 pt FGs, 12 pts
    MIA... 7 of 18 FGs, 0 of 6 3 pt FGs, 19 pts
    a POR... 6 of 15 FGs, 2 of 8 3 pt FGs, 20 pts
    a SEA... 3 of 19 FGs, 1 of 8 3 pt FGs, 9 pts
    a PHO... 6 of 19 FGs, 3 of 12 FGs, 18 pts

    Total... 26 of 83 FGs (31.3%), 7 of 39 3 pt FGs (17.9%), 15.6 ppg

    The fact the Magic have won 4 of those 5 games is indicative how deep the Magic are, that the other players are picking up Lewis. I have no doubt that he will snap out of this sooner rather than later, as I'm sure everyone realizes that even the best outside shooters go into slumps.

    I re-read a post by WeRDevos from back on NOV 15, where he summarized the rest of the 9 game Magic schedule for NOV and how the Magic might do. He speculated that if one looks at it pessimistically, the Magic would finish 4-5 in those games; optimistically, 6-3. I think we would have been happy with 5-4, and here the Magic go 7-2 in those games, surpassing even the most optimistic outlook, to finish the month 13-4 (14-4 overall).

    The DEC schedule won't be easy, as the Magic play 9 games on the road and 6 at home, including games at DAL, HOU, and BOS.

    Magic were 14-5 last season, then went 8-9 in their next 17 games, then plummeted after that. With a much-improved offensive system and a coach who has everyone's confidence, that won't happen again this year.

     

  • At 3:32 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    Magic Clear Locker After Jameer Breaks Down
    By: Brian Schmitz

    The Magic cleared the locker room of media and closed their door after point guard Jameer Nelson received news via a text message and became upset following the Magic's loss to the Suns.

    It was not known what upset Nelson, but according to others in the dressing room, he broke down and cried after getting the text. Teammates then tried to console him.

    Nelson has had a traumatic year. He lost his father, Pete, this summer after he was found in the water down the river from a dock where he worked in Chester, Pa. Authorities ruled the death accidental, but Nelson wasn't satisfied with the findings and pressed for an investigation.

     

  • At 4:20 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    My only problem with the team is that our go-to scorer(rashard) seems like he has no offensive game other than making jumpers from everywhere on the court(and lately he's struggled to do that). Rashard should be getting to the line alot more driving by people and deffinitely when the shooting percentage starts to get ugly. SVG called some post ups for rashard and i thought he may put some pressure on the defense by trying to get to the rim,but all we got was fade away hook shots and jumpers. Thats not going to cut it for me! As much as i like rashard,i've been watching him for 9 years now as all nba fans have,and after getting a chance to see him up close and personal there's not as much game there as i thought. Is rashard's outside shooting ability important for us? Of course. But come playoff time playing like this he'll get locked down by good defenders that basically can just play him for the jumpshot. Hedo gets to the basket alot more which makes him much tougher to play,rashard doesnt seem like he has great ball handling skills either to be quite honest,i'm starting to think when you look at their total games that hedo can do more on the court than rashard,but rashard might be the more consistent shooter. Even if we had won last night i ask myself,after veiwing what rashard has to offer on the court,is he worth the money? Keep in mind that hedo makes 70 million dollars less.

     

  • At 5:04 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Im going to dive a little further into rashards game. Here's a couple of things i've noticed. (1)Rashard is a one footed jumper. Usually jumping off of one foot gives you distance not height,and in basketball it drastically cuts down the type of shots you can take if jumping off of one foot. One footed jumpers usually shoot alot of "floaters" when they get close to the rim if being defended well(last night he was defended well by marion). The one time i remember rashard attacking the basket and scoring the bucket he shot a floater right over the defense that hit all net,but if your gonna take your two steps and jump off of one foot thats the only shot you can take when being pressured,and not alot of foul calls will be made becasue your not attacking your defender. Defenders are starting to play him better because they see the limitations. Lebron is a one footed jumper by nature (thats why he dunks so easily on fast breaks),but unlike rashard,lebron has superior ball handling skills which allows him to alter his dribble when he gets close to the basket so that he can jump off of two feet and get the contact if needed. Which brings me too my next point.(2) Rashard's handle. Doesnt look that great,average at best. He doesnt seem to have that trait that great scorers do that gives them the ability to make themselves small while dribbling to get to the basket,he seems like he's stuck in an up-right position at all times not wanting to bend over and get as small as his defender (which would help him get to the basket),there's no reason a 6ft5 bruce bowen should lock down a 6ft10 guy,but it happened. Its like we have a three inch shorter version of dirk. (3) Rashard doesnt get dirty. What i mean by that is where are the hustle plays,it seems like he's never involved in things that truely give you some grit in a game. Points-reb-assists you can count on,but diving on the floor,steals,blocks,taking charges etc,we're not getting alot of and i understand that our best perimeter player has alot on his plate,but every now and then even the great one's do some dirty work. Kobe for example will play defense on the other teams best player,bottom line is rashard has to show some worth other than just hitting timely shots.

     

  • At 10:09 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Good analysis of RLewis's overall game, Big Figure. When a player has a bad string of games offensively like Lewis had had, that player's weaknesses will definitely be exposed.

    I agree that Lewis should try to get to the basket more (like Turk does) when his outside shot isn't falling, but I'm confident he'll snap out of this soon, and when all is said and done, he'll average right around 20 ppg.

    Even with the slump Lewis is in, opposing defenders still have to respect him and can't leave him alone because he has such great range from the outside.

     

  • At 10:10 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Hope everything's well now with Jameer!

     

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