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, October 06, 2008

Atlanta dominates second half to defeat Magic

Thanks to 45 third quarter points, the Hawks outscored the Magic 69-50 in the second half to defeat them 118-101 in the first preseason game for both teams.

The Magic were led by Rashard Lewis, who had a nice all-around game with 22 points (8 of 13 field goals), 6 rebounds. Dwight Howard added 17 points (6 of 9 field goals) along with 8 blocks and 5 rebounds. Howard also showed progress at the free throw line, hitting 5 of 6. J.J. Redick led the reserves with 12 points (5 of 8 field goals, 2 of 2 3 pt FGs) in 19 minutes. New shooting guard Mickael Pietrus added 9 points (4 of 9 field goals); new reserve point guard Anthony Johnson scored 8 points along with 6 assists, center Marcin Gortat 8 points, and rookie Courtney Lee 5 points in his NBA debut.

Former Magic shooting guard Maurice Evans impressed with 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting for the Hawks, while Acie Law led the team with 20 points.

The Magic shot well at 49.5%, including 5 of 11 from three point range, but the Hawks' superior depth helped them win the game as their reserves outscored the Magic reserves 67-39.

For the complete box score, click here

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 10:18 PM  

4 Comments:

  • At 2:34 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Defense was certainly very poor in this game for the Magic, as they allowed the Hawks to shoot 50.5% from the field and 50% (9 of 18) from 3 point range. The Magic were also outrebounded 42-31.

    One positive thing was the Magic's free throw shooting, as they shot 16 of 20 from the line, with Howard connecting on 5 of 6. They shot well from the field, but that was negated by their poor defensive performance against the Hawks.

    J.J. Redick made the most of his 19 minutes of playing time, while Keith Bogans did absolutely nothing in his 12 minutes. Might Redick finally break the rotation if this keeps up, or are the Magic just showcasing him for a possible trade?

    Tony Battie shot only 2 of 8 from the field in his first action in more than a year, but did lead the Magic with 7 rebounds.

    Turkoglu, Nelson, and Pietrus combined to score just 23 points.

    Lots of work to do for Coach Van Gundy and the Magic in their five remaining preseason games.

     

  • At 11:46 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    I beleive there's 6 pre-season games left but mike your right on point with your post. I listened to the game so i cant really give too much X's and O's wise. From the sound of things last night we played alot of guys and experimented with rotations. Glad that JJ was able to get himself going so quickly,and also it was good to hear the new guys AJ,MP,CL and TB all got playing time and did fairly well. The defense obviously wasnt good but i'll attribute that to our coach trying out new line-ups for the first time and playing against a play-off team that really didnt change much.

     

  • At 12:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Well guys i have been gone for a while but new season equals lots of excitement and lots of new blogs!!!

    I was able to make it to the game last night and see our new look Magic open their preseason at home and i have to say that i was very pleased. The Magic came out from the get-go and showed that they will not be a force to be overlooked. Dwight Howard looked great in the first crashing the boards, blocking a couple of shots and even laying a pick on josh smith which he will not forget anytime soon. Fatigue is something that somewhat worries me with our golden boy due to the busy offseason he had overseas and not to mention the 2 offseasons prior. But overall had a solid game and exceeded all expectations at the charity stripe. The newly acquired Pietrus played an allright game, making fans happy by throwing down 2 dunks in transition but seemed out of sync and defense and even got into it with Dwight Howard after his 2nd foul which was in a word; stupid. Obviously his defense is an issue which will have to be worked out before the season begins, especially with our first month schedule not looking so easy. SVG has Pietrus starting which is a good move but i expect for that to change probably around December when Battie rubs all his rust off, allowing him to start at the 4, slide hedo to the 2, lewis the 3. This might sound crazy to most but we need to go with size this year and lets not take it away form the batman, he will rebound the ball and give between 10-12 points a game. In our division we have to be able to control the 4 spot with the likes of beasley from miami, smith from atlanta and may from charlotte, and not to mention the rest of the east; oneal from toronto, maxiell from detroit and brand from philly just to name a few. Lewis just doesnt cut it defensively at the power forward spot lets all be true to ourselves and realize that.

    JJ came out like someone lit a firecracker underneath him making his first two shots and even driving the lane, taking a foul and making the layup. He also played better defensively getting a steal in transition. Like mike mentioned bogans played horribly looking at times like he didnt even want to be in the game. If JJ can continue to step his game up defensively Bogans might become an afterthought. And i would not mind that because as his game has decreased progressively since he got to orlando his second time. I was ok with him coming in and replacing DeShawn stevenson but he is no longer the best defensive player we have to offer and his shot is ass off as the lights in an enron building. he is no longer the "hustle defensive player" he was at one time. Lets give Redick a chance, its obvious that he is working harder than bogans ever has. JJ has came back 15 pounds stronger and a whole lot faster, if you dont belive me ask anyone that the exhibition last night. Lets not forget that Bogans has always had these issues dating back to his uk days when he was suspended for two non conference games for "lack of effort".

    I dont know guys maybe im looking too much into it but i just feel that Bogans is exactly where he was at the end of last season and that place is at the end of the bench as a non-dependable slot filler.

    Well guys looking forward to wednesday, im looking forward to see how charlotte looks after what has said to be larry brown's best training camp ever.

    One last thing, Congratulations to the commited and devoted contributors(not me) of this on the recognition which you received a couple of days back. This blog is definetly THEE best Magic blog online and i might not have enough time to blog all the time but im always reading this blog. congrats!

     

  • At 8:17 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Thanks for the complementary words, MagicPaul, and for adding your comments about the game. Nice to get the perspective of someone who was actually there.

    You do make an interesting point when you wrote that the Magic may go with a more traditional small forward/power forward combo at times in the lineup with Battie at PF and Lewis or Turk at SF. Like you said, it's asking a lot of Lewis to ask him to defend the other team's PF when that isn't his natural position.

    I don't know about putting Turk at SG though; He may need to play PG at times if we need the depth there in any particular game.

    Big Figure, you're right about the Magic having six (not five like I erroneously wrote earlier) more preseason games. On the schedule I looked at, they didn't include the game with the team from Moscow coming up on Friday.

     

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