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, January 27, 2009

Pietrus's return sparks Magic to big win over Pacers

The Magic had a season-high eight players in double figures as the unexpected return of Mickael Pietrus from a broken wrist gave the bench a big boost as the Magic led from start-to-finish in a 135-111 romp over Indiana. The Magic had averaged only 88 1/2 points in their previous two losses last week.

The Magic made 13 of their first 17 shots and stormed to a 36-18 lead after one. They maintained a comfortable 68-50 lead at the half, and led 102-87 after three. The Magic put the game away in the fourth, as their largest lead was 129-100, on their way to a 135-111 rout over the Pacers.

Magic leading scorers

Mickael Pietrus (bench): 27 points (8 of 13 field goals), 10 rebounds
Rashard Lewis: 24 points (9 of 13 field goals)
Dwight Howard: 22 points (7 of 14 field goals), 10 rebounds, 6 turnovers
Courtney Lee: 14 points (6 of 9 field goals)

Indiana leading scorers

T.J. Ford: 23 points
Marquis Daniels: 16 points

Overall Game Statistics

FG%: ORL 54.9% (45 of 82) IND 50.6% (44 of 87)
3 PT FG%: ORL 45.5% (15 of 33) IND 37.5% (9 of 24)
FT%: IND 82.4% (14 of 17) ORL 81.1% (30 of 37)
REB: ORL 50 (10 offensive) IND 29 (4 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 29/16 IND 21/15
BENCH: ORL 52 IND 46

Other game notes and stats:

-Pietrus appeared to aggravate his wrist late in the game and was taken out
-The Pacers' Danny Granger scored only 10 points and was removed in the third after injuring himself
-Two Magic players had 20/10 games... Pietrus (27/10) and Howard (22/10)
-The Magic starting frontline outscored the Pacers' starting frontline 57-32 and outrebounded them 18-11; Granger and Mike Dunleavy combined to shoot 6 of 26
-Lewis, Howard, and Pietrus combined to score 73 points on 24 of 40 shooting
-The Magic reserves, led by Pietrus, scored a season high 52 points; Tony Battie (13 points) and Anthony Johnson (10 points) also scored in double digits off the bench
-The Magic attempted 37 free throws to just 17 free throws attempted for the Pacers
-Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson each had 8 assists to lead the Magic

The Magic gain a half-game on Boston but still trail Cleveland by 1 1/2 games as the Cavs also won Tuesday night.

The Cavaliers come to Orlando for their first matchup with the Magic this season on Thursday.

For the complete box score, click here

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 11:11 PM  

4 Comments:

  • At 11:23 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    From the NBA.com recap of the game, here's what Indiana forward Danny Granger and coach Jim O'Brien had to say about the Magic:

    "They are the best team in the East," Indiana's Danny Granger said. "Two words - Dwight Howard - explain it. He is the most dominant player since Shaquille O'Neal - hands down."

    "They've got the whole package," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "They have Howard in the middle and they are so long at the 3-point line."

     

  • At 11:35 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    We were all hoping for a bounceback game after the two disappointing losses last week, and we sure got it against the Pacers.

    Several outstanding stats for the Magic... 54.9% FG shooting; 45.5% from three point range; outrebounding the Pacers by 21; 29 total assists, and the 52 points off the bench.

    Of course, the Pacers don't play much defense, and the Magic sure took advantage.

    On the negative side, the Magic allowed the Pacers to shoot over 50% and turned the ball over 16 times. Good thing the Magic were such an offensive machine to overcome the 111 points the Pacers scored.

    What a difference Pietrus makes! He sure helps the depth, no question. It'll be interesting to see if Coach Van Gundy sticks with Courtney Lee in the starting lineup, with Pietrus coming off the bench.

    Let's hope that Pietrus didn't re-aggravate his wrist injury towards the end of the game. SVG shouldn't even have had him in there at that point.

     

  • At 1:48 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    We romp over teams with weak defenses because we have such an offensive juggernaut. In two games with BOS and one with DET we lost badly to teams which forced us into half-court, low-paced matches. That would probably be the case with CLE in two days. No team in the league can out-shoot us in an all-offense game, as was proven even in the game with LA.

     

  • At 4:13 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Finally some defense. Guys were in passing lanes early and the team got easy baskets because of it. As the confidence was building the shots kept falling,funny how when you play some defense the basket become's so much bigger. It was really good to see MP back and having a great night,when hedo left the floor and we had a line-up of CL,MP and rashard on the perimeter we became very tough defensively.

     

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