Game review: Magic (20-7) 92, TrailBlazers (16-12) 83
The Magic overcame a sluggish night offensively and a game-high 33 points from Portland's Brandon Roy with an otherwise tremendous defensive effort against Portland as the Magic pulled away in the final quarter.
The Blazers scored the first 8 points of the game, and held the lead the remainder of the quarter with the score 21-19 going into the second quarter. The lead changed hands several times in the second quarter, with the Blazers taking control at the end of the half with a 44-39 lead. The Blazers led by as much as 6 points in the third quarter, but the Magic came back to take a one point lead before the score was tied at 65 at the end of three. With the score tied at 76, the Magic finally took the lead for good at the 6:19 mark, as they went on a 11-0 run and led by as many as 12 points on their way to the victory.
Magic leading scorers
Rashard Lewis: 15 points (5 of 10 FGs), 6 rebounds, 5 turnovers
Jason Williams: 13 points (5 of 7 FGs, 3 of 4 3 PT FG)
Dwight Howard: 12 points (4 of 8 FGs), 20 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 turnovers
J.J. Redick (bench): 12 points (5 of 9 FGs, 2 of 4 3 PT FG)
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ORL 42.1% (32 of 76) POR 37.2% (29 of 78)
3 PT FG%: ORL 33.3% (9 of 27) POR 16.7% (3 of 18)
FT%: POR 75.9% (22 of 29) ORL 73.1% (19 of 26)
REB: ORL 54 (13 offensively) POR 35 (8 offensively)
AST/TO: ORL 14/19 POR 7/12
BENCH: ORL 38 POR 25
Other game notes and stats:
-Four players scored in double figures for the Blazers, led by Brandon Roy's 33 points on 13 of 27 FG shooting
-The Magic's Vince Carter had his worst shooting game of the season, going 1 for 14, but made 7 of 8 FTs for 9 points
-The Blazers' starting backcourt (Roy, Andre Miller) outscored the Magic starting backcourt (Carter, Williams) 49-22
-Other than Roy and Miller, the rest of the Blazers shot a combined 11 of 41
-The Magic starting frontcourt (Pietrus, Lewis, Howard) outscored the Blazers' starting frontcourt (Webster, Aldridge, Przybilla) 32-9 and outrebounded them 29-18
-In a statistical oddity, the Blazers had only 7 assists as a team, with no player having more than 1 assist
-The Magic's Anthony Johnson contributed 9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists off the bench; Matt Barnes 8 points, 4 rebounds
-Johnson and Carter each had 3 assists to lead the Magic
-Brandon Bass did not see action for the Magic
-The Magic now lead Atlanta by 1/2 game in the SE
Here is the complete box score and recap from nba.com
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 10:55 PM
2 Comments:
At 4:53 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Now that's the kind of defensive effort we should be seeing from the Magic on a more consistent basis!
Another outstanding game from J.J. Redick off the bench, as he was more effective than the cold-shooting Vince Carter, who had his worst game shooting-wise in a Magic uniform after a very good couple of weeks.
It's really amazing how Redick has made himself into such a valuable player for the Magic after being given up on by so many people after his first couple of seasons.
At 8:53 AM,
Matt said…
If I have to find a word for the way Magic plays defense, I would say that Magic is not 'committed' to defense. They play defense, as I mentioned before, in spurts. They have to be committed to play it consistently, and they did not do it last night except for the latter part of fourth quarter when they were magnificent.
I meant to mention it before last night's game that J.J. has turned into arguably the most consistent Magic player. Am I right? He is fit, always comes in with high energy, and his movement around the screens could be compared to that of R. Miller and R. Hamilton. When the Magic needs offense, and all fails, thanks heaven for J.J. and A.J.
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