Magic ride hot first half to rout Hornets
The Magic (23-6) led New Orleans (16-9) from start to finish, as the Magic played probably their best half of the season, which was followed by their worst half of the season in their 88-68 win over the Hornets.
The Magic jumped out to a 29-14 lead after one, then stretched their lead to an eye-popping 61-31 at the half. As human nature goes, the Magic cooled down considerably in the second half as they shot an ice-cold 8 of 35 (22.9%), but the Hornets could draw no closer than 19 points at the end of the third quarter, as the Magic were able to sustain a 20+ pt lead in the fourth despite their cold shooting.
Magic leading scorers
Hedo Turkoglu: 20 points (6 of 12 field goals), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 turnovers
Rashard Lewis: 18 points (6 of 12 field goals), 6 rebounds
Jameer Nelson: 14 points (5 of 11 field goals), 3 assists
Dwight Howard: 12 points (4 of 15 field goals), 15 rebounds, 3 blocks
Mickael Pietrus (bench): 11 points (4 of 8 field goals)
New Orleans leading scorers
David West: 13 points, 7 rebounds
Chris Paul: 12 points, 4 assists
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ORL 40.5% (30 of 74) NO 33.3% (29 of 84)
3 PT FG%: ORL 46.4% (13 of 28) NO 25% (4 of 16)
FT%: NO 80% (8 of 10) ORL 68.2% (15 of 22)
REB: ORL 48 (12 offensive) NO 44 (12 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 19/14 NO 11/12
BENCH: ORL 24 NO 24
Other game notes and stats:
-Hornets' sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic sat out his fourth straight game with back spasms
-Chris Paul's remarkable record streak of 108 games in a row with a steal came to an end this game; he played 32 minutes without without getting one
-The Magic shot 22 of 39 (56.4%) in the first half and scored 61 points while holding the Hornets to just 31 points
-Turkoglu and Lewis combined for 38 points on 12 of 24 shooting, 12 rebounds, 9 assists
-The Magic starting frontline outscored the Hornets' starting frontline 50-20
-In the fourth quarter, the Magic scored only 3 points in the final 8:46, a 3 pointer from J.J. Redick; the Magic went scoreless for a 7:28 span in the fourth
-For a 5:12 span in the fourth, neither team scored a point
-The Magic scored just 27 second-half points
The Magic complete their homestand at 4-0, and have won six games in a row and 19 of their last 22 games. They now embark on a three game road trip beginning Saturday at Minnesota.
For the complete box score, click here
The Magic jumped out to a 29-14 lead after one, then stretched their lead to an eye-popping 61-31 at the half. As human nature goes, the Magic cooled down considerably in the second half as they shot an ice-cold 8 of 35 (22.9%), but the Hornets could draw no closer than 19 points at the end of the third quarter, as the Magic were able to sustain a 20+ pt lead in the fourth despite their cold shooting.
Magic leading scorers
Hedo Turkoglu: 20 points (6 of 12 field goals), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 turnovers
Rashard Lewis: 18 points (6 of 12 field goals), 6 rebounds
Jameer Nelson: 14 points (5 of 11 field goals), 3 assists
Dwight Howard: 12 points (4 of 15 field goals), 15 rebounds, 3 blocks
Mickael Pietrus (bench): 11 points (4 of 8 field goals)
New Orleans leading scorers
David West: 13 points, 7 rebounds
Chris Paul: 12 points, 4 assists
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ORL 40.5% (30 of 74) NO 33.3% (29 of 84)
3 PT FG%: ORL 46.4% (13 of 28) NO 25% (4 of 16)
FT%: NO 80% (8 of 10) ORL 68.2% (15 of 22)
REB: ORL 48 (12 offensive) NO 44 (12 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 19/14 NO 11/12
BENCH: ORL 24 NO 24
Other game notes and stats:
-Hornets' sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic sat out his fourth straight game with back spasms
-Chris Paul's remarkable record streak of 108 games in a row with a steal came to an end this game; he played 32 minutes without without getting one
-The Magic shot 22 of 39 (56.4%) in the first half and scored 61 points while holding the Hornets to just 31 points
-Turkoglu and Lewis combined for 38 points on 12 of 24 shooting, 12 rebounds, 9 assists
-The Magic starting frontline outscored the Hornets' starting frontline 50-20
-In the fourth quarter, the Magic scored only 3 points in the final 8:46, a 3 pointer from J.J. Redick; the Magic went scoreless for a 7:28 span in the fourth
-For a 5:12 span in the fourth, neither team scored a point
-The Magic scored just 27 second-half points
The Magic complete their homestand at 4-0, and have won six games in a row and 19 of their last 22 games. They now embark on a three game road trip beginning Saturday at Minnesota.
For the complete box score, click here
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 8:50 PM
2 Comments:
At 9:07 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Coach Stan Van Gundy after the game on the NBA.com recap:
"When my wife wants me to do things around the house I do just good enough of a job to not get yelled at. That's human nature."
That comment by SVG shows that he understood the letdown by the Magic in the second half, as ugly as it was.
Fortunately, the Magic came out ready to play and really had a fantastic first half; certainly a nice Christmas present from the Magic to all their fans.
The Magic play at Detroit next week; hopefully that will be a statement game for the Magic against their strongest nemesis the last couple seasons.
At 12:26 PM,
Big Figure said…
I didnt expect this game to be close and it wasnt. Christmas day the magic were not impressed by the hornets. Them not being 100% had alot to do with them not scoring alot of points but credit the magic for taking them seriously early and beating a team when they were down players. Tonight is another one of those games where we need to focus on beating a bad team.
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