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.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Game review: Magic (2-0) 95, Nets (0-2) 85

Despite Vince Carter missing the final 27 minutes of the game with a sprained ankle, the Magic rode balanced scoring and a 20/20 game from Dwight Howard as five players finished in double figures for the 95-85 victory over New Jersey.

The Magic led 29-24 after the first quarter, with Howard getting a double/double in the quarter. The Nets had their only lead of the game at 31-30 early in the second, but the Magic, despite Carter's injury, came back to lead 50-44 at the half. The Magic increased their lead to 75-62 after three, with their largest lead at 79-64 early in the fourth quarter. The Nets never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

Overall Game Statistics

FG%: ORL 49.3% (37 of 75) NJ 38.3% (31 of 81)
3 PT FG%: NJ 33.3% (5 of 15) ORL 28.6% (6 of 21)
FT%: NJ 72% (18 of 25) ORL 60% (15 of 25)
REB: ORL 48 (9 offensive) NJ 39 (7 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 21/14 NJ 16/7
BENCH: ORL 32 NJ 22

Magic leading scorers

Dwight Howard: 20 points (8 of 11 FGs), 22 rebounds, 4 blocks
Vince Carter: 16 points (6 of 8 FGs), 4 assists
Ryan Anderson: 16 points (6 of 10 FGs)
Brandon Bass (bench): 13 points (6 of 10 FGs)
J.J. Redick (bench): 12 points (4 of 10 FGs), 5 rebounds

Other game notes and stats:

-Former Magic first round draftee Courtney Lee led the Nets with 18 points, but shot just 6 of 17
-Former Magic point guard Rafer Alston scored 10 points off the Nets' bench on 3 of 9 shooting
-Jason Williams led the Magic with 8 assists; Jameer Nelson had 5 assists for a total of 13 assists from the PG spot for the Magic
-The Nets' starting backcourt combined to shoot 12 of 35
-The Nets' bench combined to shoot 8 of 23
-Only one Magic starter, Howard, played more than 30 minutes (37 minutes)
-The Magic made just one of their final ten attempts from long range
-Howard finished 4 off 11 from the FT line
-The X-Rays on Carter's ankle were negative

Here is the complete box score and recap from nba.com

2 Comments:

  • At 4:27 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    The Magic did a lot better job at the defensive end than they did against the 76ers, but didn't do quite as well offensively, especially from long range.

    Plus, losing Vince Carter, who was in the process of having a sensational game, hurt them offensively.

    No matter; they still did what they had to do to win the game.

    J.J. Redick did a solid, if not spectacular job replacing VC in the second half.

    A dominant performance by D12 on both ends, but oh, those missed FTs!

    16 points from Ryan Anderson, with another good shooting game.

    I'm glad the x-rays on Carter's ankle were negative, and hopefully he'll be available Sunday, but I hope the Magic are careful with this and don't rush him back; after all, it's a long season, and nobody wants to see VC re-aggravate the injury or have lingering problems from the injury for a while.

    That being said, it'll be hard to keep him from playing Sunday against his former Toronto team.

    It's encouraging that the Magic were still able to win the game by 10 despite playing less than their best, and without Carter for the whole second half.

     
  • At 9:25 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Good game. Good win. As mike said hopefully VC can go sunday,looking at the play it didnt look as if the ankle rolled which is a good thing. D12 is the truth and the depth on this team is just stupid!!! Without rashard we still have two solid units that we can put on the floor with anderson and bass.

     

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