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.

Monday, December 31, 2007

Turk's last-second bucket leads Magic to dramatic OT win over CHI

In a tight game throughout, where both teams made clutch plays and hit big shots, the Magic held a 110-107 lead in the final 10 seconds of OT, when CHI's Ben Gordon hit a clutch three to tie the game with about 6 seconds left; but HTurkoglu then hit a running pull-up jumper with 0.7 seconds remaining to stick a dagger into the Bulls (11-18) and their fans, as the Magic (22-11, 15-5 road) won their 4th game in a row 112-110.

Again, a great team effort by the Magic with six players in double figures, led by JNelson off the bench with 22 pts (8 of 15 FGs), 4 asts; RLewis led the starters with 19 pts (7 of 13 FGs), 6 asts; DHoward 17 pts (4 of 11 FGs), 22 rebs, 5 blocks, 3 steals; Turkoglu 17 pts (7 of 19 FGs), 5 rebs; and CArroyo (7 of 7 FGs), along with KBogans (4 of 7 3 PT FGs) 14 pts each.

The Magic once again survived a huge game from an opposing SG, as the Bulls' Gordon came off the bench and scored a season-high 39 pts (16 of 27 FGs); Luol Deng added 21 pts.

The statistical breakdown:

FGs... CHI 42 of 97 (43.3%) ORL 41 of 83 (49.4%) ORL 93, CHI 90
3 PT FGs... ORL 11 of 25 (44.0%) CHI 6 of 18 (33.3%)
FTs... CHI 20 of 24 (83.3%) ORL 19 of 26 (73.1%)
REB... CHI 47 ORL 41
AST/TO... CHI 26/12 ORL 20/12
BENCH... CHI 60 ORL 31

Brilliant play from both Magic PGs Arroyo and Nelson; they combined to score 36 pts on 15 of 22 FGs, 8 asts, and just 3 TOs in 53 minutes. Magic return to ORL and host NJ WED night.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 7:02 PM  

14 Comments:

  • At 7:28 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Now you guys know why I was so worried about this game in my preview; the Bulls looked so much better with their new style of play, with Ben Gordon along with Andres Nocioni coming off the bench hitting basket after basket. Not only were the Bulls hitting their jumpers, they also had a lot of buckets in the paint, too.

    CHI played as well as they could in the first half, as they shot over 51% and had a brilliant AST/TO ratio of 16/2, yet the Magic only trailed by 7. The Bulls came back down to earth some in the second half; the Magic's long-range accuracy from three was a key factor in helping the Magic to the victory.

    What more can you say about our PG play from Arroyo and Nelson? Now that's the Jameer we all know and love! Carlos acquitted himself very well again as the starter (I can't believe anyone would still want Dooling as the starting PG after what we've seen from Arroyo the last several games, and Nelson today).

    I have to admit, I was hoping SVG would put Arroyo back in the game halfway through the fourth, as I wasn't sure that Nelson would continue to play as well as he was, just coming off the strained back. But Jameer justified SVG's faith in him, and made several clutch plays in the final mins and the OT. Who should start at the pt next game?

    How about Dwight's steal off Gordon to lead to the tying pts in the final minute of regulation? Clutch!

    Magic are winning lots of close games, games they no doubt would have lost last year... very, very, encouraging! They are also beating the teams they should be beating, which I'm sure is really helping their confidence level. I know they're not blowing anyone out, but I won't be negative and question it, as a win is a win, especially on the road in front of a hostile crowd.

    I called it right again in my preview... Magic by 2 :-)

     

  • At 7:37 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    Don't anybody assume that the situation with PGs is settled for two obvious reasons:

    1 - Once again a SG run off big numbers on us, and that shows that our perimeter defense is not right, responsibility of which falls on both guards not only the defending SG on our side.
    2- We had another close game which fortunately went our way. But close games have a way of evening out in a long NBA season. Remember when at the start of last season many close games went our way leading to an impressive start, and I cautioned that as a fools' gold. Elite teams - which we claim to be amongst - are supposed to have blow-out games against inferior competitions. When was the last time that we had one?

    Last year, I heard plenty of this nonsense to be happy for some wins as a win is a win. Well, I was not happy then, and I am not happy now. Within the flaws of the current team, thanks to GM's foolishness, the PG is where we could do better defensively, and that should matter a lot more than a PG running the offense smoothly. I am surprised that anybody is missing that fundamental flaw that during the slump - which is continuing in my view - we lost games due to bad defense. Average players on crappy teams became all-star caliber heroes. We have enough firepower that we do not need first grade PG to run the offense, but rather a PG who could seal the perimeter alongside the SG, period.

     

  • At 11:33 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Matt as usual being the voice of reason,great post. Carlos the great starting point guard found himself on the bench at the end of the game,boy if i didnt call that. Mike,leave the keyon for point arguement alone,we have no evidence either way whether he would be good or not,and as long as thats the case i can still make a logical case for keyon,and furthermore we already know that SVG wants keyon as his back-up two meaning keyon in his view isnt an option to take over the point guard spot. Just because carlos and jameer played well,doesnt mean with the same minutes keyon couldnt do the same job. Great overtime victory where the magic could have folded,we may not be a super physical team but i think we have great mental toughness and its showing winning close games on the road. This hedo and last years hedo are completely different,with the defense that deng was playing on hedo,last years hedo wouldnt have been a factor late,anytime he struggled he was basically no good/unconsistent for the rest of the game,well we saw hedo shake off all the bad play and finish with 17pts and a game winning shot. Good solid victory,the bulls probably arent as bad as their record would lead you to beleive.

     

  • At 3:37 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Big Figure, at least you and I agree that the Magic win against the Bulls (a team that many experts picked to contend for the Eastern Conference title) was a good, solid victory, and that it says a lot about the Magic's mental toughness to win close games on the road.

    I know Matt's not happy because he brings up what happened last year with the Magic; but a big part of that was we had a coach in Brian Hill who was very stubborn and inflexible, unable to communicate and motivate, and who was unable to make the proper adjustments. With Coach Van Gundy, I think we can all agree that he is a much better communicator and motivator who is more flexible, which should go a long way in preventing a collapse similar to last years.

    I also agree that it's a moot point now about the KDooling for starting pt guard issue. SVG is satisfied with CArroyo/JNelson at the point, with Dooling as the backup SG; and that's the way it's going to stay; the team is winning, and as the game against the Bulls showed, all three players did well in their respective roles.

    I know our defense against Ben Gordon wasn't the best, but Gordon deserves a lot of credit; he was in a zone and simply unconscious with some of those shots he was hitting.

     

  • At 9:54 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    A well deserved road win after an all out aerial attack from ben gordon. The bulls seriously could not of played better other than maybe hinrich fouling with 3 minutes left. Their offense though was still one dimesional running a motion offense which concluded on either a 20 footer or a three. Yes mike you're right they went inside with the ball but when the game was on the line the bulls did not attack the basket as we all expected!

    The point guard play was well above what i was expecting SVG dressed nelson but started arroyo due to his carlos's outstanding contributions as of late. I think that we can all agree that with the miami and charlotte games he earned himself his playing time and SVG gave it to him. Arroyo is playing all around good basketball period end of story. Is he little bit slow on defense.....yes he is but i go back to what i said a couple of days ago................. Our Magic play a stronside/weakside man defense and the heart of this defense is our bright and shining armor..mr dwight howard!!!!! Gents this is NBA!! Yes the natural shooters like the ben gordons and the jamal crawfords of this world are going to score on the magic because we close out on outside shots and allow penetration but as soon as they see howard in the paint the dish is bound to happen. That is why teams like the detroit pistons and the phoenix suns of this league are going to be our biggest obstacles......Because their big men can shoot!!!!!! Lets stop the madness!!!! And this is the reason why in the NBA today we have players like a bruce bowen or a keith bogans because they are there to do what no one else wants to do.............PLAY DEFENSE!!!!!

    Nelson came off that bench like he had a torch on his seat and produced tremoundously!!!! Why you may ask???? Cause arroyo played two great games scoring clutch and not turning the ball over so much not because of arroyos defense!!! Jameer's spot is threatened right now and it isnt because of arroyo's slow feet is because of arroyos ability to run the OFFENSE better!!!! Come on gents defense has nothing to do with this....... We are averaging close to 93 points of offense a game!!!!!!!!

    Guys believe me in not saying defense isn't a vital part of a winning team but in the NBA nowadays you cant emphasize on it and expect it to win you games and if you dont believe me ask Brian Hill cause he seemed to emphasize on defense and it didnt get his ass anywhere but back to jersey where guess what....... THey dont play good defense!!!!!LOL!!!

    We have to stick with the not great but solid team defense which has us on a 4 game winning streak and atop of our division.

    The dooling at point issue is as dead as penny hardaway's career, coming off the bench at the 2 position he is attacking off the ball and causing havoc in the paint which forces offensive rebounds and second time shots. He even looks alot more comfortable at the 2 after all that is the position he has been playing since he was the leading scorer his senior year at cardinal gibbons high school in fort laudardale.

    Well pleasure blogging with you all, hope to hear some pretty interesting feedback!

    Nets at home tommorow is scheduled to be a good one.

     

  • At 10:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Jameer needs to start and thats a fact.
    Yes CHI might have one of the worst record in the League but they are still an attacking offense team. For Example,if we play the Suns or Mavericks Carlos Arroyo is to slow on defense!!
    Also the chemistry between Jameer nd Dwight is like John Stockten and karl malone!!!


    Yes,Carlos has shown that he is a threat. But he is a player who scores 15 points and 7 assists in one game and the next game he has 2points and 3 assists. He is not consistent in his offense.Arroyo is good to threaten on a open shot. But we already have Keith, Hedo, and keyon playing the 2 gaurd.So starting jameer would be smart

     

  • At 10:39 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    Voice of reason…that's ones opinion...

    SVG said after the game that he wanted to get Arroyo back into the game, but he thought "things were going pretty well with Jameer and he didn't want to bring anyone cold off the bench at that point".

    He continued by saying: "they combined for 36 points, 8 assists, and 3 turnovers. That's a heck of a day out of our point guards".

    I agree.

    To criticize either of Arroyo or Nelson after how they both played in this game is absolutely ridiculous.

    I don't understand how we have no evidence if Dooling would be good or not as our point guard? We've seen him play that position more than once. I know-I know, he's never started...and I'm glad he hasn't and will not.

    Obviously you both think Dooling is being used incorrectly? Does that mean Stan isn't a good coach? Is he an idiot? I don't understand? How could something that both you consider so obvious not be realized by Stan?

    And who are you to tell Mike to leave the "point guard argument" alone, and follow up by saying you can continue making your case? O-K...

    As for the victory, any victory on the road is considered a good one. The Bulls were coming off of two wins and had some confidence going into the game. Nice win for the Magic in my book.

    I find it hard to blame Arroyo or Nelson for Gordon, or any of the other two guards that are scoring on us.

    Magicpaul, very well said. I agree with everything you mentioned.

     

  • At 10:45 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I actually enjoyed seeing Nelson come off the bench. It obviously worked pretty well for him. He had his best games in a long time. He reminded me of "the microwave".

    As long as the team keeps winning, I wouldn't mind seeing SVG stick with the current lineup. Either way, both Arroyo and Nelson are going to get their minutes. The only thing that will change will be who gets 20 and who gets 30; and that'll be based on their play from game to game.

     

  • At 1:02 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    Gentlemen, I don't like the tone of how this is going. The worst thing that we could do on this blog is to look at issues in an absolute manner. Nobody has the last and final word on anything. Nobody has called Coach Van Gundy an idiot or something to that effect. We might have slight disagreement on some issues but aren't we living in a democracy where people agree to respectfully disagree?

    A couple of points also that came up last year, as well and if I was going to accept the status quo we were still stuck with Brian Hill:

    1 - I am not going to accept things because someone may think there is no way that a change could be brought about. Any thing could change if there are will and efforts behind it.
    2 - I don't accept that if team is on a winning streak, and barely at that, against losing teams, everything is hanky dory.
    3 - Why is it difficult to comprehend and acknowledge that our recent woes have been due to defensive perimeter lapses? As good as Dwight is, he cannot defend a jump-shooter who has broken down the perimeter defensive player ready to to take a shot off.

    Please be respectful of opposing views. That is what makes this blog different. We cannot afford to turn this into a Sentinel blog.

     

  • At 4:56 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    On this current 4 game winning streak, the Magic are averaging 111.8 ppg, while allowing 103.8 ppg, but two of those games have gone into OT. If you take into consideration just regulation time, the Magic have allowed only 98.5 ppg during those four games.

    There's always room for improvement, but that shows the Magic ARE playing better defense than they were during that dismal seven losses in nine games stretch, when they were allowing a whopping 109 ppg in those seven losses. The better defense, along with fewer TOs on offense, has brought on this current winning streak.

     

  • At 11:48 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Your right,that was my opinion and i stated so. What,should we all start off everything we say now with "IMO",just let me know... And i'm glad you answered your own question,keyon has never been a starter here so there's no evidence to compare him to the other two as starters,and i'll say it again as long as there arent any Starting statistics for keyon "AS" the starter of this team,we dont know how good or bad he would be,and thats fact. Plus i just said i "COULD" make a logical case one way,someone else can make a case for the others which shows there arent any statistics to go on,thats all,i didnt go into any debate i just simply pointed out that without the benefit of statistics to go on a case could be made either way,i understand that. SVG's a good coach. SVG's not an idiot. Understand that SVG likes keyon as his back-up two and if you take keyon out of that spot he no longer has a back-up two he feels confident about defensively,why do you think JJ cant get any minutes. And to mike,my bad,keep the keyon for point arguement going as long as you see fit,i'm done,its funny i never gave an opinion on how i thought carlos played while he was on the floor,but at the same time maybe that comment wasnt directed at me. Better yet,here's another opinion,debate with brian schmitz,no more posts or opinion's from me on this topic,but i will read the responses,obviously matt and i arent the only one's thinking keyon could/will be vital at that position (not an opinion,or making any sort of case,just stating BS's feelings which you all can read).

     

  • At 11:50 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    The Magic have changed point guards for now, Carlos Arroyo getting the starting nod over Jameer Nelson. And you know what's even more intriguing?

    Keyon Dooling, at 6-3 and the better defender, might be the guy getting the most of the crucial minutes at the position in the playoffs, especially if the Magic end up facing the Detroit Pistons (ugh) or the Boston Celtics.

    Yes, it's another episode of As The Point Guard Turns.

    The plot surely will thicken this summer, as Arroyo and Dooling will become free agents.

    It's no surprise, of course, that they are playing well. A salary drive can do that to a player.

    A fan favorite, Arroyo says he wants to finish his career in Orlando; Dooling is smart enough to know his worth and will gladly take another 3-year, $9 million deal --- if not here, somewhere else. Both might find more in the open market, but it's unlikely.

    At least one will stay. Arroyo and Dooling are among the five would-be free agents the Magic will have --(the others are Maurice Evans, James Augustine and Pat Garrity.)

    Let's face it, Magic fans: The point-guard position hasn't been stable since Penny Hardaway took his Lil' Penny doll and left for Phoenix in 1999.

    Oh, sure Chucky Atkins was a great story, him being the local kid, and Darrell Armstrong was an even better tale, going from factory worker to the league's most improved player.

    Steve Francis? Please. That experiment from the T-Mac deal was doomed from the start.

    The Magic took a chance on the 5-10 Nelson in the 2004 draft after they selected Dwight Howard and then traded for Arroyo in 2006.

    They've both had their moments, but haven't been consistent. I'm reminded of that every time I see a certain NBA scout who says, "Your guys need a point guard. They have two back-ups (Nelson and Arroyo). If they ever get a point guard who can defend and get the ball to Howard, look out."

    Those point guards surely are rare, and the Magic had a few chances to grab some in the draft (Tony Parker, 28th pick in 2001; Magic took immortal Jeryl Sasser at No. 22) and through trades (Chauncey Billups made a brief stop in 2000).

    Now the same scout adds, "Why the hell did they sign Jameer to that contract extension?"

    The Magic believe Nelson's their man, signing him to a five-year, $35 million deal before the season started. And now he's coming off the bench, relieving Arroyo and causing GM Otis Smith some discomfort even if he doesn't show it.

    This musical chairs of point guards isn't done playing itself out yet. Nelson will have the job back at some point, given the history of the position in Orlando.
    From the sentinel basketblog.

     

  • At 12:02 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Matt i surely agree,these wins against BAD teams are great to have,but at the same time fools gold. The magic have to prove to be consistent defensively when the competition gets better.

     

  • At 4:03 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    That would be great if the Magic could play either DET or BOS in the playoffs; that would mean the Magic would have advanced into at least the second round of the playoffs for the first time in 12 years! (assuming the Magic get a top 4 seeding)

    Let's not worry about those possible matchups quite yet. It really is musical chairs with the pt guards; to me, just so the Magic win no matter who starts, that's the main thing.

     

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