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.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Game review: Magic (22-7) 102, Rockets (17-12) 87


The Magic broke open a close game at halftime and came away victorious over Houston for the Magic's first home court victory over the Rockets since April 2002, thanks to a 20 rebound effort from Dwight Howard and five players in double figures.

The Rockets had their only lead of the game at 13-12, in the first quarter before the Magic went on a 22-9 run to end the quarter and led 34-22 at the end of one. The Rockets came back to score 30 second quarter points, but the Magic still led 55-52 at the half. The Rockets pulled to within one point on several occasions in the third quarter, but the Magic went on a big 15-0 run to extend their lead to 16 before settling for a 78-65 lead after three. The Magic's largest lead was 84-67 in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets would not go away easily, as they came as close as 90-82, but the Magic went on a 10-2 run to ice the game on their way to victory.

Magic leading scorers

Vince Carter: 18 points (6 of 16 FGs), 5 rebounds, 4 assists
Rashard Lewis: 15 points (5 of 11 FGs, 4 of 7 3 PT FGs), 3 steals
Jameer Nelson: 15 points (6 of 11 FGs, 2 of 3 3 PT FGs), 4 assists, 2 steals
Ryan Anderson (bench): 14 points (5 of 10 FGs, 3 of 7 3 PT FGs), 9 rebounds
Dwight Howard: 13 points (5 of 7 FGs), 20 rebounds

Overall Game Statistics

FG%: ORL 45.9% (39 of 85) HOU 39.0% (32 of 82)
3 PT FG%: ORL 37.9% (11 of 29) HOU 30% (6 of 20)
FT%: HOU 89.5% (17 of 19) ORL 76.5% (13 of 17)
REB: ORL 49 (10 offensive) HOU 37 (6 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 21/16 HOU 15/10
BENCH: HOU 37 ORL 35

Other game notes and stats:

-The Rockets had 4 players in double figures, led by Carl Landry off the bench with 20 points
-Former Magic swingman Trevor Ariza scored 6 points on just 1 of 10 FG shooting
-Former Magic star Tracy McGrady played just 7 1/2 minutes, all in the first quarter, and scored 2 points
-Jason Williams led the Magic with 6 assists off the bench
-Marcin Gortat had 4 rebounds and 3 blocks in 15 minutes off the bench for the Magic
-Landry and Luis Scola of the Rockets combined to shoot 15 of 25; the rest of the Rockets combined to shoot 17 of 57
-The Magic held the Rockets to 35 second half points
-This was Jameer Nelson's first start since he was injured on November 16th
-Brandon Bass and Anthony Johnson did not see action for the Magic
-The Magic are now 1 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta in the SE, and trail Boston by 1 game for the top seed in the East

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

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 12:39 AM  

5 Comments:

  • At 4:47 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    This was only the second time all season the Magic used their preferred starting lineup of Nelson, Carter, Pietrus, Lewis, and Howard. The results were pretty good.

    Good to see Nelson hitting his shots. Other than his turnovers, he played pretty good. It may take a while for him to regain his full rhythm when it comes to running the offense and shooting well consistently, but he should gradually be getting better.

    Another tremendous second half defensive effort by the Magic, giving up just 35 points. Howard, in particular, is really starting to focus on his defense, as his rebounding and blocks have gone up these last couple weeks.

     

  • At 4:48 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Can't forget about the bench effort, either, with Ryan Anderson leading the way for the reserves.

     

  • At 12:16 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Yea a good overall effort by the team. I thought jameer's stroke looked good and his drives to the basket were there also. Jwill seemed to get back to being his old self running with the reserve's and that was good to see. The bench just continue's to be good. The rockets were outsized all night,i give them credit for putting up a fight as long as they did.

     

  • At 1:20 PM, Blogger Jim Barton said…

    There's really a blog about the Orlando Magic? I went to a game a couple of seasons ago and the only thing worth watching was the dance team.

     

  • At 2:09 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Hey Jim:

    Were you placed in a deep freeze for the last couple of years? In case you just woke up, Orlando Magic is the reigning Eastern Conference champion.

     

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