Game review: Suns (16-7) 106, Magic (17-6) 103
The Magic made a valiant comeback attempt after being down 19 points in the second quarter, but could not overcome 20 pts and 18 assists from Steve Nash and 28 points and 10 rebounds from Amar'e Stoudemire as Phoenix was able to hold on to remain the NBA's lone unbeaten team at home.
The Magic started out very slowly, as the Suns jumped out to a 24-9 first quarter lead as the Magic went nearly 7 1/2 minutes without making a field goal. The Suns led 33-22 after one, and extended their lead by as much as 41-22 with 9 1/2 minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Magic slowly pulled themselves back to trail 61-52 at the half. The Suns went back up by 75-61 with just over 7 minutes remaining in the third before the Magic came back to pull within 85-81 after three. The Magic took their first lead at 90-89, and led by as much as 95-91 with under 6 1/2 minutes remaining. The Suns scored 4 points in a row to tie, and from that point on, the lead changed hands several times. The Magic had their last lead at 103-102 with 1:24 remaining. After the Suns took a 104-103 lead, Anthony Johnson, who played well off the bench in the fourth in place of an ineffective Jason Williams, tried a three pointer, but it went in and out. After a rare turnover by Nash, Johnson dribbled the ball off Mickael Pietrus's foot out-of-bounds as Pietrus went running in front of Johnson as the Magic were setting up on offense. On the ensuing Suns' possession, Stoudemire then grabbed an offensive rebound away from Rashard Lewis and slammed home a missed three with 6.9 seconds remaining. Lewis airballed a three on the Magic's last possession, and a jump ball allowed the Suns to run out the clock.
Magic leading scorers
Rashard Lewis: 24 points (6 of 16 FGs, 3 of 11 3 PT FGs), 6 rebounds
Mickael Pietrus: 23 points (8 of 15 FGs, 4 of 8 3 PT FGs), 8 rebounds
Anthony Johnson (bench): 11 points (4 of 10 FGs)
Dwight Howard: 10 points (1 of 1 FGs, 8 of 17 FTs), 18 rebounds, 2 steals, 5 turnovers
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: PHO 47.7% (41 of 86) ORL 42.1% (32 of 76)
3 PT FG%: PHO 35.7% (10 of 28) ORL 34.2% (13 of 38)
FT%: ORL 68.4% (26 of 38) PHO 58.3% (14 of 24)
REB: ORL 51 (15 offensive) PHO 42 (12 offensive)
AST/TO: PHO 27/12 ORL 18/21
BENCH: ORL 38 PHO 25
Other game notes and stats:
-In addition to Nash's 20 points and Stoudemire's 28, the Suns' Jared Dudley tied a career high with 19 points, including 4 three pointers, off the bench
-Former Magic swingman Grant Hill scored 12 points, along with 3 assists and 2 steals
-Vince Carter played just 23 minutes, scoring 8 points, before hobbling off the court with a sore knee in the third quarter and did not return
-Jason Williams did not score in 27 1/2 minutes, shooting 0 for 4; he did have 6 assists but also committed 4 turnovers
-The Magic bench combined to shoot 6 of 13 on threes; the starters just 7 of 25
-The Suns outscored the Magic on two point FGs 62-38
-In an unusual statistical oddity, Howard attempted just 1 field goal in over 41 minutes of play, but did get to the FT line 17 times, making 8.
-The Magic's starting backcourt (Williams, Carter) combined to score just 8 points on 3 of 14 shooting
-Carter did have 6 assists to tie Williams in leading the Magic with assists
-Brandon Bass did not play for the Magic
-The Magic's lead in the SE has been cut to 1/2 game by Atlanta, and the Magic trail Boston by 2 games for the top spot on the East
Here is the complete box score and recap from nba.com
The Magic started out very slowly, as the Suns jumped out to a 24-9 first quarter lead as the Magic went nearly 7 1/2 minutes without making a field goal. The Suns led 33-22 after one, and extended their lead by as much as 41-22 with 9 1/2 minutes remaining in the second quarter. The Magic slowly pulled themselves back to trail 61-52 at the half. The Suns went back up by 75-61 with just over 7 minutes remaining in the third before the Magic came back to pull within 85-81 after three. The Magic took their first lead at 90-89, and led by as much as 95-91 with under 6 1/2 minutes remaining. The Suns scored 4 points in a row to tie, and from that point on, the lead changed hands several times. The Magic had their last lead at 103-102 with 1:24 remaining. After the Suns took a 104-103 lead, Anthony Johnson, who played well off the bench in the fourth in place of an ineffective Jason Williams, tried a three pointer, but it went in and out. After a rare turnover by Nash, Johnson dribbled the ball off Mickael Pietrus's foot out-of-bounds as Pietrus went running in front of Johnson as the Magic were setting up on offense. On the ensuing Suns' possession, Stoudemire then grabbed an offensive rebound away from Rashard Lewis and slammed home a missed three with 6.9 seconds remaining. Lewis airballed a three on the Magic's last possession, and a jump ball allowed the Suns to run out the clock.
Magic leading scorers
Rashard Lewis: 24 points (6 of 16 FGs, 3 of 11 3 PT FGs), 6 rebounds
Mickael Pietrus: 23 points (8 of 15 FGs, 4 of 8 3 PT FGs), 8 rebounds
Anthony Johnson (bench): 11 points (4 of 10 FGs)
Dwight Howard: 10 points (1 of 1 FGs, 8 of 17 FTs), 18 rebounds, 2 steals, 5 turnovers
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: PHO 47.7% (41 of 86) ORL 42.1% (32 of 76)
3 PT FG%: PHO 35.7% (10 of 28) ORL 34.2% (13 of 38)
FT%: ORL 68.4% (26 of 38) PHO 58.3% (14 of 24)
REB: ORL 51 (15 offensive) PHO 42 (12 offensive)
AST/TO: PHO 27/12 ORL 18/21
BENCH: ORL 38 PHO 25
Other game notes and stats:
-In addition to Nash's 20 points and Stoudemire's 28, the Suns' Jared Dudley tied a career high with 19 points, including 4 three pointers, off the bench
-Former Magic swingman Grant Hill scored 12 points, along with 3 assists and 2 steals
-Vince Carter played just 23 minutes, scoring 8 points, before hobbling off the court with a sore knee in the third quarter and did not return
-Jason Williams did not score in 27 1/2 minutes, shooting 0 for 4; he did have 6 assists but also committed 4 turnovers
-The Magic bench combined to shoot 6 of 13 on threes; the starters just 7 of 25
-The Suns outscored the Magic on two point FGs 62-38
-In an unusual statistical oddity, Howard attempted just 1 field goal in over 41 minutes of play, but did get to the FT line 17 times, making 8.
-The Magic's starting backcourt (Williams, Carter) combined to score just 8 points on 3 of 14 shooting
-Carter did have 6 assists to tie Williams in leading the Magic with assists
-Brandon Bass did not play for the Magic
-The Magic's lead in the SE has been cut to 1/2 game by Atlanta, and the Magic trail Boston by 2 games for the top spot on the East
Here is the complete box score and recap from nba.com
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 4:27 AM
2 Comments:
At 5:33 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
A really tough loss for the Magic against the lone undefeated home team in the NBA, but they fought back after being down 19 in the second quarter.
Pietrus and Anthony Johnson were outstanding in the second half; if the Magic had been able to make more free throws and cut down on their turnovers, they would have been able to pull this game out.
Their defense improved in the second half, holding the Suns to 45 points, but their defense in the first half really struggled, as it did against Utah.
The Magic were without Vince Carter for most of the second half also, but were still able to come back to take the lead.
At 6:12 PM,
Matt said…
Magic's defense is out of sync. They play defense only in spurts. Additionally, since they beat some good teams coming from behind, they have developed this false sense of security. This is all bad , and Coach Van Gundy has to sit the players down - when they are home - and get it all understood. There was one obvious tactical mistake in the loss to UT. When the opponent was hot in coming back and RA was not hitting his shots, SVG should have put BB in. I understand that there are match up issues, but BB would have been another big body in defending Boozer. In the game with PHO they did not come to the court ready to play. Although they valiantly came back after falling behind by much, but typically the amount of energy spent for come back would leave the tank empty for the finish.
As it stands, this Magic team is more like the Dr. Jekyll - Mr. Hyde team of Brian Hill era not like a SVG team, which consistency - especially in defense - is their hallmark of existence.
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