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.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Magic back to .500 with close win over Bulls

The Magic's largest first half lead was 45-28, but Chicago scored 19 of the next 24 points as the Magic led at halftime 50-47. The Magic then went on a 15-1 run early in the third quarter to once again go up by 17 points, but had to hold on as the Bulls came as close as two points late in the fourth, but the Magic held on and won by the final tally of 96-93.

Magic leading scorers

Dwight Howard: 22 points (9 of 15 field goals), 15 rebounds, 5 blocks
Rashard Lewis: 21 points (7 of 16 field goals), 11 rebounds
Jameer Nelson: 13 points (5 of 11 field goals), 3 steals, 4 turnovers
Hedo Turkoglu: 10 points (3 of 16 field goals), 7 assists, 7 rebounds
Mickael Pietrus: 10 points (3 of 4 field goals)

Bench

Keith Bogans: 13 points (3 of 6 field goals), 5 rebounds

Chicago leading scorers

Drew Gooden: 21 points
Andres Nocioni: 20 points, 7 rebounds

Game Stats

FG%: CHI 44.2% (38 of 86) ORL 41.2% (33 of 80)
3 PT FG%: CHI 38.5% (5 of 13) ORL 33.3% (9 of 27)
FT%: ORL 67.7% (21 of 31) CHI 66.7% (12 of 18)
REB: ORL 49 (16 offensive) CHI 46 (11 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 16/19 CHI 13/18
BENCH: CHI 47 ORL 20

Other game stats and notes

-Even though the Magic bench was outscored so badly, the Magic starters outscored the Bulls starters 76-46
-Magic starting forwards Lewis and Turkoglu combined to shoot 10 of 32 from the field for 31 points
-The Magic point guards, Nelson and Anthony Johnson, combined for 16 points, 4 assists, 5 turnovers
-Rookie Courtney Lee saw his first action in a regular season game, scoring 2 points on 1 of 6 field goals
-Lee, Johnson, and Tony Battie combined to shoot 3 of 12 from the field from the bench
-Guard J.J. Redick did not play after going 0 for 8 from the field the first three games; Brian Cook and Marcin Gortat also did not play
-Bulls starting forwards Loul Deng (1 point) and Tyrus Thomas (7 points) combined for just 8 points on 3 of 15 shooting
-Bulls rookie Derrick Rose scored 14 points with just 1 assist
-Howard finished just 4 of 11 from the free throw line
-Magic grabbed 16 offensive rebounds off 47 misses
-Mickael Pietrus was called for four fouls in just over 15 minutes

For the complete box score, click here

Magic get a few days off to work on a lot of things before Philadelphia comes to town Thursday.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 12:04 AM  

5 Comments:

  • At 12:30 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    I'm glad I was wrong in my pre-game prediction of a Magic loss; but it's still disconcerting to see the Magic almost blow a 17 point second half lead; the guys still have a lot of things to work on in practice the next few days.

    Even though the Magic bench was outscored by 27 points, all the starters were able to score in double figures, as only two Bulls starters finished in double figures.

    Even though the Magic shot just 41% from the field, their nine point advantage at the free throw line over the Bulls helped the Magic overcome their mediocre field goal shooting. If the Magic were able to make more than 67% from the line, the game wouldn't have been as close.

    A real bad assist/turnover ratio by the Magic... 16/19. I was disappointed by Nelson's 3/4 ratio. Those numbers need to improve by leaps and bounds. The Bulls were even worse at 13/18.

    I was watching the Chicago TV feed of the game, and the Bulls announcers made a really good observation regarding the Magic: The Magic tend to "fall in love" with the three point shot too much, and at times forget about Dwight Howard down low; the announcers felt the Magic should have used their size advantage with Howard down low more.

    I tend to agree with that; Howard scored 12 points in the first, but just 10 points the rest of the game.

    The announcers also said that it's easy to see why the Magic are in the habit of blowing big leads; because the Magic take too many threes, and when they miss too many, the opposition can go on a run and get back in the game.

    That makes sense, too.

    Obviously, the three point field goal is a big part of the Magic offense; but they need to use better judgement at times and not just fire away from long range at will, especially when you have the league's best center down low.

    Anyway, a win is a win... even one as ugly as this one.

     

  • At 5:32 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    A few comments from an unhappy Magic coach Stan Van Gundy after the game:

    "It was just a turnover game. Mistake after mistake after mistake. Then we foul on a three-pointer... We didn't finish the game well. But the way we're struggling right now, I'm happy to get out of there with a win. Nineteen turnovers... you got to count your blessings."

    Van Gundy on Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu:

    "I guess we have to find somebody else to go to who will not turn the ball over. Those two guys are not taking care of the ball."

    More on Turkoglu:

    "His conditioning is not great and when he gets tired he doesn't want to do anything except jack up a jump shot."

     

  • At 10:07 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Gotta love SVG,even after a victory the guys are never off the hook. Glad we held on though. As i said yesterday KB and TB are showing they are our solid bench help,if JJ and CLee can ever get it going our bench should be ok. Also IMO CLee should get some minutes at the PG,he looked smooth bringing the ball up last night a few times and his athletism going to the basket we could use.

     

  • At 10:28 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    What a blockbuster trade!!!!! No more chauncey in detroit. Sure stuckey played well last year,but without chauncey jameer should have a much easier time if we meet them in the play-offs. Salary cap space to me wasnt a good enough reason to take on iverson with their logjam at guard,detroit just might have hurt their chances at being a top team in the east this year because where do you play iverson? And will he be happy coming off the bench if you dont start him?. Before the season started i thought boston and orlando were the top two teams in the conference,this trade just cemeted that stance.

     

  • At 7:20 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    It'll be interesting to see what the trade does to the team chemistry of the Pistons.

    Even though the Magic are certainly capable of being the second best team in the East, the way they have played the first four games shows they are a long way from being there.

    Fortunately, it's a long season and the Magic have the players and coaching to hopefully get this thing turned around.

     

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