Game Review: Magic (5-1) 110, Pistons (2-4) 103
The Magic rode a terrific first quarter and terrific free throw shooting to the victory despite being outscored by ten points by the Pistons in the final three quarters. The Magic had six players in double figures. Vince Carter sat out to rest his ankle, while Ryan Anderson rolled his ankle early in the third quarter and sat out the rest of the game.
The Magic hit their first six shots of the game and their first five three pointers as they jumped out to a 18-3 lead and led after one quarter 40-23. The Magic extended their lead to 58-39 late in the second quarter before settling for a 58-43 halftime advantage. The Magic again extended their lead to 19 points at 68-49 in the third before the Pistons cut the margin to 82-68 after three. The Pistons were finally able to get within single digits with 5 and a half minutes remaining, and got as close as 96-90 with 2:39 remaining but could get no closer as the Magic were able to extend their lead to 11 with just over a minute remaining before the final margin.
Magic leading scorers
Dwight Howard: 22 points (7 of 8 FGs), 12 rebounds, 2 blocks
Matt Barnes: 18 points (4 of 12 FGs), 9 rebounds
Jameer Nelson: 18 points (8 of 15 FGs), 8 assists
J.J. Redick: 16 points (3 of 7 FGs)
Brandon Bass (bench): 13 points (5 of 9 FGs), 6 rebounds
Ryan Anderson: 11 points (4 of 7 FGs)
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: DET 51.4% (38 of 74) ORL 47.4% (36 of 76)
3 PT FG%: DET 36.4% (4 of 11) ORL 28.6% (8 of 28)
FT%: ORL 85.7% (30 of 35) DET 62.2% (23 of 37)
REB: ORL 37 (9 offensive) DET 34 (7 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 19/11 DET 13/11
BENCH: ORL 25 DET 25
Other game notes and stats:
-Charlie Villanueva scored 22 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter for the Pistons, and Rodney Stuckey added 20 points; Ben Gordon scored 19 points but shot just 5 of 17
-Howard became the Magic's all-time leader in blocked shots with 825, surpassing Shaquille O'Neal's mark
-The Magic shot 14 of 18 in the first quarter, but just 22 of 58 the rest of the game
-The Magic missed 20 of their final 23 three point attempts
-After shooting just 9 FTs in the first half, the Pistons attempted 28 FTs in the second half
-The Magic and Pistons both scored 80 points from the field, but the Magic had a decisive 30-23 edge at the FT line
Here is the complete box score and recap from nba.com
The Magic hit their first six shots of the game and their first five three pointers as they jumped out to a 18-3 lead and led after one quarter 40-23. The Magic extended their lead to 58-39 late in the second quarter before settling for a 58-43 halftime advantage. The Magic again extended their lead to 19 points at 68-49 in the third before the Pistons cut the margin to 82-68 after three. The Pistons were finally able to get within single digits with 5 and a half minutes remaining, and got as close as 96-90 with 2:39 remaining but could get no closer as the Magic were able to extend their lead to 11 with just over a minute remaining before the final margin.
Magic leading scorers
Dwight Howard: 22 points (7 of 8 FGs), 12 rebounds, 2 blocks
Matt Barnes: 18 points (4 of 12 FGs), 9 rebounds
Jameer Nelson: 18 points (8 of 15 FGs), 8 assists
J.J. Redick: 16 points (3 of 7 FGs)
Brandon Bass (bench): 13 points (5 of 9 FGs), 6 rebounds
Ryan Anderson: 11 points (4 of 7 FGs)
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: DET 51.4% (38 of 74) ORL 47.4% (36 of 76)
3 PT FG%: DET 36.4% (4 of 11) ORL 28.6% (8 of 28)
FT%: ORL 85.7% (30 of 35) DET 62.2% (23 of 37)
REB: ORL 37 (9 offensive) DET 34 (7 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 19/11 DET 13/11
BENCH: ORL 25 DET 25
Other game notes and stats:
-Charlie Villanueva scored 22 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter for the Pistons, and Rodney Stuckey added 20 points; Ben Gordon scored 19 points but shot just 5 of 17
-Howard became the Magic's all-time leader in blocked shots with 825, surpassing Shaquille O'Neal's mark
-The Magic shot 14 of 18 in the first quarter, but just 22 of 58 the rest of the game
-The Magic missed 20 of their final 23 three point attempts
-After shooting just 9 FTs in the first half, the Pistons attempted 28 FTs in the second half
-The Magic and Pistons both scored 80 points from the field, but the Magic had a decisive 30-23 edge at the FT line
Here is the complete box score and recap from nba.com
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 12:25 AM
2 Comments:
At 5:06 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Certainly not the way you would want the Magic to close out a game, as they let the Pistons hang around way too long after leading by 19 in the third, but they finally got that elusive win over the Pistons.
Nice balanced effort again, with 6 players in double figures. I was expecting Pietrus to have much more of an effect in the game, but he scored just 3 pts in 30 minutes off the bench.
Great job on FTs by the Magic. If the Pistons make just a few more of theirs, it could have been anyone's game in the final minutes.
Of course, if the Magic had made just a few more of their 3 pointers, the game would have been safely put away by the midway point of the fourth quarter.
Congrats to D12 for breaking the franchise record for blocked shots in a career.
Magic are smart to let Carter rest his ankle until it's 100%, so this thing doesn't linger on for several more weeks.
The Pistons are not a team to be taken lightly, especially when Hamilton and Prince return to the lineup. They should contend for one of the final playoff spots in the East.
At 10:00 AM,
Big Figure said…
With all the injuries im just happy the magic were able to hold on and get the win. We are playing with half of our starters and half of our bench,pretty much amazing we're able to win these games with so much turnover in the line-up. Ryan anderson turning his ankle wasnt something we wanted to see and hopefully its not serious,it did roll so we'll see. At the same time who knew he was so skilled,ive seen him go left and right with his dribble,shoot from the outside,rebound (offensive and defensive) and make his free-throws. What a steal!
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