Magic equal win total from last season in blowout over WAS
Playing their second game in two nights, there may have been some concern about the Magic, as their last two losses have come in that same circumstance. However, the Magic (40-23, 22-12 away) left absolutely no doubt that they were ready and focused as they dominated WAS (29-31) from start to finish in a 122-92 blowout for their eighth win in their last ten games. The Wizards were without stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler, while KDooling sat out for the Magic.
Eleven of the twelve players for the Magic scored at least 4 pts. Six players scored in double figures, led by DHoward with 20 pts (7 of 12 FGs, 6 of 6 FTs), 11 rebs; MEvans 17 pts (6 of 8 FGs), 6 rebs; RLewis 17 pts (6 of 13 FGs); KBogans off the bench with 17 pts (6 of 8 FGs); HTurkoglu 12 pts (5 of 9 FGs), 5 rebs; and CArroyo off the bench 11 pts (4 of 8 FGs), 6 asts. JNelson added 9 pts (4 of 4 FGs), 10 asts.
Five players scored in double figures for WAS, with Antawn Jamison scoring 19 pts and former Magic guard Deshawn Stevenson scoring 17 pts.
The statistical breakdown:
FGs... ORL 46 of 82 (56.1%) WAS 35 of 82 (42.7%) ORL 104 WAS 79
3 PT FGs... ORL 12 of 27 (44.4%) WAS 9 of 21 (42.9%)
FTs... ORL 18 of 22 (81.8%) WAS 13 of 16 (81.2%)
REBs... ORL 39 WAS 37
AST/TO... ORL 27/11 WAS 22/15
BENCH... ORL 47 WAS 46
As the Magic continue to surge to clinching the SE division title and also the third seed in the conference, they are playing their best basketball of the year. In the Magic's last eight wins, they are averaging 110.4 ppg, while allowing just 92.3 ppg, a stunning difference of 18.1 ppg. There still is more than a month remaining, and already the Magic have as many victories as last season with 40. 50 wins now seems to be a foregone conclusion as the Magic hopefully continue to peak in the season's final weeks. The run-and-gun GS Warriors will pose a challenge for the Magic SAT night in ORL.
Eleven of the twelve players for the Magic scored at least 4 pts. Six players scored in double figures, led by DHoward with 20 pts (7 of 12 FGs, 6 of 6 FTs), 11 rebs; MEvans 17 pts (6 of 8 FGs), 6 rebs; RLewis 17 pts (6 of 13 FGs); KBogans off the bench with 17 pts (6 of 8 FGs); HTurkoglu 12 pts (5 of 9 FGs), 5 rebs; and CArroyo off the bench 11 pts (4 of 8 FGs), 6 asts. JNelson added 9 pts (4 of 4 FGs), 10 asts.
Five players scored in double figures for WAS, with Antawn Jamison scoring 19 pts and former Magic guard Deshawn Stevenson scoring 17 pts.
The statistical breakdown:
FGs... ORL 46 of 82 (56.1%) WAS 35 of 82 (42.7%) ORL 104 WAS 79
3 PT FGs... ORL 12 of 27 (44.4%) WAS 9 of 21 (42.9%)
FTs... ORL 18 of 22 (81.8%) WAS 13 of 16 (81.2%)
REBs... ORL 39 WAS 37
AST/TO... ORL 27/11 WAS 22/15
BENCH... ORL 47 WAS 46
As the Magic continue to surge to clinching the SE division title and also the third seed in the conference, they are playing their best basketball of the year. In the Magic's last eight wins, they are averaging 110.4 ppg, while allowing just 92.3 ppg, a stunning difference of 18.1 ppg. There still is more than a month remaining, and already the Magic have as many victories as last season with 40. 50 wins now seems to be a foregone conclusion as the Magic hopefully continue to peak in the season's final weeks. The run-and-gun GS Warriors will pose a challenge for the Magic SAT night in ORL.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 10:15 PM
7 Comments:
At 1:41 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Some more statistical notes from the game:
- Nelson and Arroyo combined for a very impressive 16 asts and just 2 TOs to go along with 20 pts
- Evans and Bogans combine for 34 pts on 12 of 16 FGs
- the Magic starting frontcourt dominated the WAS starting frontcourt 49-27
Great efficiency from the Magic again; for the second game in a row, they outshot the opposition from the field, the 3 pt line, and the FT line.
The Wizards had won 4 of their previous 5 games, and hadn't played since SAT, while the Magic were on their second game of a back-to-back. Great job by the Magic as everyone contributed to this win, in a possible playoff preview.
Certainly, WAS will be tougher when Arenas and Butler return to the rotation, but I would still like the Magic to beat WAS if they meet in the playoffs.
At 1:46 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
J.J. Redick has created more buzz with his latest comments about his future with the Magic.
To view the video, check out thirdquartercollapse.com or boldnblue.blogspot.com
At 2:33 PM,
Big Figure said…
Another good road victory! Can the magic catch detroit for the two seed? Looks like our schedule is alot easier than their's.
At 2:36 PM,
Big Figure said…
Boy,i really dont see a future here for JJ. Mo Evans being our best two guard will probably be re-signed and keith is already under contract. JJ's best bet to play here is to hope that either carlos or one of the other between evans bogans is traded or not re-signed.
At 7:48 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
The Magic are five games behind the Pistons, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility that the Magic could catch them for second place in the conference, though I think the Pistons, with all their big-game experience, will manage to hold on to the second seed.
I can definitely understand Redick's frustration. Here he was, the Magic's number one draft pick in 2006, and two seasons later, he still can't find a spot in the rotation, due to the effectiveness of the Evans/Bogans or "Mogans" combo at SG.
Things could change by next season... you just never know; but if they don't, the Magic should move J.J. for everyone's sake.
In the meantime, I think Redick has realized he has said enough, as the focus should be on the Magic's playoff drive and not Redick's playing time.
At 9:08 AM,
Anonymous said…
The situation for JJ and Arroyo are similiar. Arroyo is playing better ball than Nelson and he feels that he should be starting and JJ wants more playing time. The GM is to blame for everything. He had JJ, Bogans and maybe someonelse for a trade and he did not pull the plug for a PF. I think the Majic is having a good season but not a great season and we are not Championship contenders. We are missing PW. He is going to get very physical with Boston and Garnet, The pistons and Wallace and big Mac,even cleveland understood what's going on, when they got the other Wallace. We 'll play GS this weekend, lets see how our backcourt perform maybe against the best in the league, Davis, Jackcon ,Azubuike, and Monta Ellis. I almost forgot about Webber in 9 games he avg 14 min a game, FG 48%, 4pts per game and he getting better. THANK YOU OTIS. Because you, we still pretenders"
At 7:37 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
"Anonymous", before this season started, most people thought the Magic would be improved over last season, but very few people predicted the Magic would win over 50 games (which they are well on their way to doing) and have the number three seed in the East. Heck, some "experts" (like the Chicago Tribune's Sam Smith) predicted the Magic wouldn't even make the playoffs, and another so-called expert from ESPN predicted the Magic would finish 12th (!) in the East. How foolish are these guys looking now?
I agree the Magic most likely would lose in a playoff series to the Pistons or Celtics, but I believe the Magic would make it at least a very competitive six-game series; upsets do happen (remember GS-DAL last season), so let's see how deep the Magic can go.
They may not be a championship contender, but no one was expecting a championship this season for the Magic. I'm very happy with the progress made this season (despite some bumps along the way) by the Magic.
What transactions Otis Smith makes in the next one to two seasons to make the Magic a championship contender will be critical; but with a superstar to build around in Howard, along with established veterans like Turkoglu and Lewis, and other good role players on the roster, the future looks very bright for the Magic!
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