Balanced scoring effort leads Magic to decisive win over Clippers
Six players, including all five starters, scored in double figures for the Magic (42-24, 20-12 home), as they jumped out to a 13 pt lead after the first qtr and were able to maintain that double digit lead for most of the rest of the game against LAC (21-42). The Clippers briefly cut the Magic lead to 9 pts in the third qtr, but the Magic quickly extended their lead and were never threatened the rest of the way in a 110-88 win.
DHoward led the Magic with 22 pts (9 of 14 FGs), 14 of which came in the first qtr, 13 rebs, 3 blocks, but 7 TOs; RLewis 19 pts (7 of 12 FGs), 9 rebs, 5 asts; HTurkoglu 17 pts (6 of 16 FGs), 7 rebs, 4 asts; MEvans 13 pts (5 of 12 FGs); JNelson 12 pts (3 of 5 FGs), 5 asts, 0 TOs; and CArroyo led the bench with 13 pts (6 of 8 FGs), 4 asts.
LAC, playing without starting C Chris Kaman, were led by two former Magic players, Corey Maggette with 22 pts and Cuttino Mobley 17 pts. Rookie Al Thornton also added 17 pts.
The statistical breakdown:
FGs... ORL 42 of 81 (51.9%) LAC 34 of 83 (41.0%) ORL 95 LAC 71
3 PT FGs... ORL 11 of 30 (36.7%) LAC 3 of 18 (16.7%)
FTs... ORL 15 of 17 (88.2%) LAC 17 of 24 (70.8%)
REBs... ORL 46 LAC 38
AST/TO... ORL 22/13 LAC 16/5
BENCH... ORL 27 LAC 23
TO PTs... LAC 21 ORL 3
FAST BREAK PTs... ORL 29 LAC 17
The Magic now have a 4 1/2 game lead over CLE for the third spot in the East, with the Cavs' loss to NJ. The Magic have won 10 of their last 13 games and are a season-high 18 games over .500. In those 10 wins, the Magic are averaging 111.6 ppg while allowing just 93.8 ppg, and seven of those ten wins have come against sub-.500 teams. In their last 13 games involving teams that were under .500 entering that game, the Magic are 12-1, so that shows the Magic are now dominating the teams that they should be. In their last 12 games against teams over .500, the Magic are 6-6.
With the majority of the rest of their schedule against sub-.500 teams, 53 or 54 wins is certainly within reach for the Magic. Next game FRI night against the Heat, who are without Dwyane Wade the rest of the season.
DHoward led the Magic with 22 pts (9 of 14 FGs), 14 of which came in the first qtr, 13 rebs, 3 blocks, but 7 TOs; RLewis 19 pts (7 of 12 FGs), 9 rebs, 5 asts; HTurkoglu 17 pts (6 of 16 FGs), 7 rebs, 4 asts; MEvans 13 pts (5 of 12 FGs); JNelson 12 pts (3 of 5 FGs), 5 asts, 0 TOs; and CArroyo led the bench with 13 pts (6 of 8 FGs), 4 asts.
LAC, playing without starting C Chris Kaman, were led by two former Magic players, Corey Maggette with 22 pts and Cuttino Mobley 17 pts. Rookie Al Thornton also added 17 pts.
The statistical breakdown:
FGs... ORL 42 of 81 (51.9%) LAC 34 of 83 (41.0%) ORL 95 LAC 71
3 PT FGs... ORL 11 of 30 (36.7%) LAC 3 of 18 (16.7%)
FTs... ORL 15 of 17 (88.2%) LAC 17 of 24 (70.8%)
REBs... ORL 46 LAC 38
AST/TO... ORL 22/13 LAC 16/5
BENCH... ORL 27 LAC 23
TO PTs... LAC 21 ORL 3
FAST BREAK PTs... ORL 29 LAC 17
The Magic now have a 4 1/2 game lead over CLE for the third spot in the East, with the Cavs' loss to NJ. The Magic have won 10 of their last 13 games and are a season-high 18 games over .500. In those 10 wins, the Magic are averaging 111.6 ppg while allowing just 93.8 ppg, and seven of those ten wins have come against sub-.500 teams. In their last 13 games involving teams that were under .500 entering that game, the Magic are 12-1, so that shows the Magic are now dominating the teams that they should be. In their last 12 games against teams over .500, the Magic are 6-6.
With the majority of the rest of their schedule against sub-.500 teams, 53 or 54 wins is certainly within reach for the Magic. Next game FRI night against the Heat, who are without Dwyane Wade the rest of the season.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 10:20 PM
2 Comments:
At 11:15 PM,
Big Figure said…
Ive never felt so good about saying the same thing,good win,great effort. We're finally starting to stock pile the wins beating the teams we should.
At 4:57 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Nelson and Arroyo have made an effective tandem at PG these last two games. Against the Clippers, they combined for 25 pts on 9 of 13 FGs with 9 asts and just 1 TO.
I have my doubts if this will be the permanent PG rotation. Sure, the Nelson/Arroyo PG tandem has done well the last few games, but those were against teams under .500. Against certain teams, you would have to think Dooling would be the backup instead of Arroyo because of Dooling's better defensive abilities. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out the rest of the season with the PG rotation.
The Magic outshot the Clippers by over 10 percentage pts from the field, by 20 percentage pts from 3 pt land, and over 17 percentage pts from the FT line.
About the only negative stat from the game was that the Magic allowed LAC to score 21 pts off 13 Magic TOs, while the Magic were able to score just 3 pts off Clippers' TOs.
Here's hoping that Howard's quad injury he suffered in the fourth qtr is just a minor thing and won't be an issue.
The "Magic Number" for the Magic to clinch the SE division is now nine over WAS. Any Magic win or WAS loss reduces that number by one.
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