Alston makes successful debut in Magic win over Charlotte
Rafer Alston was cleared to make his Orlando Magic debut against the Bobcats Friday night, and made an immediate difference. Even though he shot just 1 of 9 for three points, he had a terrific 8/1 assist/turnover ratio and added three steals on defense, as the Magic led by as many as 22 points in the third quarter and went on to a 92-80 victory.
Magic leading scorers
Hedo Turkoglu: 24 points (7 of 13 field goals), 7 rebounds
Rashard Lewis: 18 points (5 of 9 three point field goals), 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots
Dwight Howard: 13 points (5 of 8 field goals), 16 rebounds, 7 turnovers, 6 blocked shots
Charlotte leading scorers
Raymond Felton: 16 points, 5 assists
Boris Diaw: 15 points, 8 rebounds
Emeka Okafor: 13 points, 11 rebounds
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ORL 42.5% (31 of 73) CHA 37.5% (30 of 80)
3 PT FG%: CHA 38.5% (5 of 13) ORL 32.4% (11 of 34)
FT%: ORL 79.2% (19 of 24) CHA 68.2% (15 of 22)
REB: CHA 45 (15 offensive) ORL 42 (9 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 20/16 CHA 14/16
BENCH: ORL 22 CHA 18
Other game notes and stats:
-Courtney Lee started at shooting guard, with Mickael Pietrus coming off the bench
-Pietrus hurt his wrist late in the game, but X-Rays proved negative
-The Magic starting frontline outscored the Bobcats' starting frontline 55-36
-Lewis and Turkoglu combined for 42 points on 8 of 17 three point shooting along with 13 rebounds
-The five players who played off the Bobcats' bench combined to shoot 7 of 24 from the field
-The Magic used a ten-man rotation with Tyronn Lue and Jeremy Richardson not seeing action
-Marcin Gortat led the reserves with 8 points and 9 rebounds in 13 minutes
-Alston and J.J. Redick combined to shoot 1 for 15 off the Magic bench
-Redick had a career-high three steals
-The Magic attempted 21 three pointers in the first half, making eight
The Magic next play Sunday evening in a nationally televised home game against Miami.
For the complete box score, click here
Magic leading scorers
Hedo Turkoglu: 24 points (7 of 13 field goals), 7 rebounds
Rashard Lewis: 18 points (5 of 9 three point field goals), 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots
Dwight Howard: 13 points (5 of 8 field goals), 16 rebounds, 7 turnovers, 6 blocked shots
Charlotte leading scorers
Raymond Felton: 16 points, 5 assists
Boris Diaw: 15 points, 8 rebounds
Emeka Okafor: 13 points, 11 rebounds
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ORL 42.5% (31 of 73) CHA 37.5% (30 of 80)
3 PT FG%: CHA 38.5% (5 of 13) ORL 32.4% (11 of 34)
FT%: ORL 79.2% (19 of 24) CHA 68.2% (15 of 22)
REB: CHA 45 (15 offensive) ORL 42 (9 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 20/16 CHA 14/16
BENCH: ORL 22 CHA 18
Other game notes and stats:
-Courtney Lee started at shooting guard, with Mickael Pietrus coming off the bench
-Pietrus hurt his wrist late in the game, but X-Rays proved negative
-The Magic starting frontline outscored the Bobcats' starting frontline 55-36
-Lewis and Turkoglu combined for 42 points on 8 of 17 three point shooting along with 13 rebounds
-The five players who played off the Bobcats' bench combined to shoot 7 of 24 from the field
-The Magic used a ten-man rotation with Tyronn Lue and Jeremy Richardson not seeing action
-Marcin Gortat led the reserves with 8 points and 9 rebounds in 13 minutes
-Alston and J.J. Redick combined to shoot 1 for 15 off the Magic bench
-Redick had a career-high three steals
-The Magic attempted 21 three pointers in the first half, making eight
The Magic next play Sunday evening in a nationally televised home game against Miami.
For the complete box score, click here
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 12:17 AM
1 Comments:
At 4:59 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
What a difference with Rafer Alston in there at the point. It really didn't matter that he shot just 1 for 9, because he had 8 assists and just the 1 turnover; Turk and Rashard Lewis did a nice job offensively, with Dwight Howard having a quiet but effective game, other than the 7 turnovers.
I think it's a load off Turk's mind that he doesn't have to focus so much on "point forward" anymore, because he really was struggling with his shooting and it was affecting his scoring. He looked much better Friday night.
Alston won't shoot as poorly as he did Friday night; if he can stay consistent in the assist/turnover department and be as effective as he was Friday night in that area, what a huge lift that would be for the Magic.
Even Anthony Johnson had a decent game (for him, anyway) with 8 points.
I was glad to see Coach Van Gundy start Courtney Lee and have Pietrus coming off the bench; Pietrus had been playing like crap as a starter the last several games.
Gortat played really well off the bench in one of his better games of the year.
Maybe the Magic can start a new winning streak now. When Alston gets to be more familiar with the offense, he will be that much better.
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