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.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Game review: Heat (13-11) 104, Magic (19-7) 86


After allowing the Magic to score 6 of the first 8 points of the game, Miami quickly took control and proceeded to blow out the Magic as the Heat lead swelled to as many as 29 points at the end of three.

The Heat led 33-18 at the end on one quarter, and led by as much as 18 second quarter points before settling for a 59-44 halftime lead. The Heat put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring the Magic 30-16 for an insurmountable 89-60 lead after three. The Magic outscored the Heat 26-15 in the fourth to make the final margin of defeat less than 20 points.

Magic leading scorers

Dwight Howard: 17 points (6 of 11 FGs), 14 rebounds, 2 blocks
J.J. Redick (bench): 13 points (5 of 9 FGs), 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Mickael Pietrus: 12 points (5 of 6 FGs)
Vince Carter: 10 points (4 of 10 FGs)

Overall Game Statistics

FG%: MIA 51.9% (42 of 81) ORL 43.6% (34 of 78)
3 PT FG%: MIA 50% (7 of 14) ORL 32.1% (9 of 28)
FT%: MIA 68.4% (13 of 19) ORL 52.9% (9 of 17)
REB: MIA 43 (9 offensive) ORL 39 (7 offensive)
AST/TO: MIA 25/9 ORL 12/13
BENCH: MIA 33 ORL 31

Other game notes and stats:

-Four Heat players scored in double figures, led by Dwyane Wade's 25 points, 7 assists and Michael Beasley with 22 points, 8 rebounds
-Former Magic point guard Carlos Arroyo started for the Heat and scored 5 points along with 7 assists
-Carter, Rashard Lewis, and Jason Williams combined for 26 points on 10 for 27 shooting
-Matt Barnes went scoreless for the Magic on 0 for 8 shooting
-Anthony Johnson led the Magic in assists with 5
-Only Lewis and Howard played more than 30 minutes for the Magic, and only Ryan Anderson played less than 10 minutes
-Only Beasley played more than 30 minutes for the Heat
-The Magic are now in a virtual tie with Atlanta in the SE

Here is the complete box score from nba.com

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 3:53 AM  

5 Comments:

  • At 3:56 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Disappointing effort by the Magic, no question, but the Magic need to forget about it and move on. It's a long season, and bad games like this are inevitable for every team.

     

  • At 8:54 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    Mr. Hyde showed his ugly face once again, last night. I don't agree that this is just one game that went array, and we should lick our wounds and move on. Coach Van Gundy did not chew his words when he said: we are going to get our "ass kicked" the way we are playing (not an exact quote except the words placed in quotation marks) at an interview by the end of first quarter. It ended up to be an 'old fashioned' ass kicking by the time the game was over. As I mentioned before, there are two major problems which show up as a trend in recent losses:

    1 - Magic's defense is out of sync. Last night was a lay-up drill or open jump-shots practice by a team that does not shoot well or score that much. That is unacceptable assuming that: a) Magic's front-court personnel are established; and b) Jameer's return supposedly is not going to make a difference in our perimeter defense.
    2 - Magic's offense does not come in prepared to play from the start. Last night, it seemed that Dwight was the only player who was ready to play. It is disappointing that for the second time in a row Beasley outplayed Rashard, Vince seemed lost in a haze, and MP looked disconnected from the rest of the team. What happened to RA that was so deadly?

    Coach Van Gundy was a master last year in preparing the team to play from the start. That has to be the case once again. The team showed that they can play defense when they want to; they have to want to play defense all the time. They have to give up this false sense of security that they can outscore any team at any given time. When teams get ahead, they stop double-teaming Dwight and keep fouling him, and that in return not only frustrates Dwight inside but also takes away our open 3-point shots. That is why we are typically a good front-runner with the exception of UT's game. I think following the ass kicking experience, an ass chewing practice is in order.

    Finally, there is no reason to rush Jameer's return risking another injury caused by lack of conditioning. We have lost games that we shouldn't have, but that's no reason for pushing panic button.

     

  • At 7:34 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Matt, your frustrations and concerns are understandable, and you eloquently pointed them out. I can't argue with anything you wrote.

    Your last sentence is key though where you wrote... "we have lost games that we shouldn't have, but that's no reason for pushing panic button."

    It's a long season, and the season right now is only about 1/3 over. As you pointed out, the Magic are without All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson.

    I think Nelson is a better defender than Jason Williams, and that he will make a difference defensively when he does come back, but as Matt pointed out, there's no reason to rush Jameer's return. The Magic have to be sure he's 100% so as this doesn't become a recurring thing with him.

    Don't forget, the Magic have used their preferred starting lineup of Nelson, Carter, Pietrus, Lewis, and Howard only once this season because of all the injuries and Lewis's suspension.

     

  • At 8:18 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Mike:

    Just wanted to drop in to clarify a couple of points:

    Firstly, my comment on 'not pushing the panic button' was in the context of rushing Jameer back to action. That said, I think fundamental discrepancies in defense and team's mindset have to be addressed sooner rather than later. That is, we should value home-court advantage to be able to reach higher grounds.

    Secondly, while I agree that Jameer is a better defender than Jason, when you compare a combination of Jameer/Jason with Jason/AJ, the difference could become negligible (with AJ being the bigger/better defender of the three). Regardless, the discrepancy in defense - especially rebounding which was evident last night - comes from PF/SF positions. That is why I suggested that those issues should be addressed and fixed with proper urgency.

     

  • At 1:37 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Matt, thanks for clarifying your points.

    I know Coach Van Gundy is as concerned as anyone with the lax Magic defense against Miami Thursday night, and we can be sure he'll have the team working hard in practice to try and improve that defense.

    Speaking of top teams struggling with mediocre teams, how about the Celtics' stunning loss Friday night at home to Philadelphia, with the Celtics blowing a double-digit lead to break their 11 game winning streak.

    Inexplicable losses to mediocre teams will happen to good teams over the course of a season. It's how those teams bounce back from such losses that's key; we'll see how the Magic bounce back Saturday against Portland.

     

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