Game review: Magic (37-18) 116, Pistons (19-34) 91
Dwight Howard scored a season-high 33 points along with 17 rebounds and 7 blocks as the Magic broke open a tight game at the half and outscored Detroit 60-36 in the second half for a rare blowout victory over their nemesis, despite Richard "Rip" Hamilton's game-high 36 points. Vince Carter (20 points) and Jameer Nelson (9 assists) also played well in the Magic win.
Detroit jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead early, but the Magic came back to lead the Pistons 30-25 going into the second quarter. The Magic extended their lead to 50-39 with 4:10 remaining in the half, but the Pistons went on a 13-1 run to go ahead 52-51 late in the quarter before the Magic took a 56-55 lead going into halftime. The Magic extended their lead to 80-68 with 2:48 remaining, but the Pistons cut the Magic lead to 83-77 entering the fourth quarter. Detroit briefly came within 83-79 early in the fourth, but the Magic quickly pulled away outscoring the Pistons 33-12 the rest of the way.
Magic leading scorers
Dwight Howard: 33 points (11 of 16 FGs, 11 of 13 FGs), 17 rebounds, 7 blocks, 1 turnover
Vince Carter: 20 points (8 of 12 FGs, 3 of 5 3 PT FGs), 4 assists
Jameer Nelson: 14 points (6 of 10 FGs), 9 assists, 1 turnover
Rashard Lewis: 13 points (5 of 13 FGs), 5 rebounds, 3 steals
Ryan Anderson (bench): 11 points (4 of 7 FGs, 2 of 4 3 PT FGs), 6 rebounds
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ORL 51.2% (42 of 82) DET 42.5% (34 of 80)
3 PT FG%: ORL 34.5% (10 of 29) DET 33.3% (3 of 9)
FT%: ORL 84.6% (22 of 26) DET 74.1% (20 of 27)
REB: ORL 40 (9 offensive) DET 39 (11 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 26/11 DET 21/16
BENCH: ORL 32 DET 13
Other game notes and stats:
-Hamilton scored his 36 points on 12 of 18 shooting; three other Pistons scored in double figures with Tayshaun Prince scoring 13 points with 8 rebounds and Rodney Stuckey scoring 11 points with 7 assists
-The Pistons' Ben Gordon was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter and scored just 6 points
-The Magic starting frontline outscored the Pistons' starting frontline 50-31 and outrebounded them 25-17
-Nelson and Carter combined to score 34 points on 14 of 22 shooting along with 13 assists
-The Pistons' bench combined to shoot 6 of 21 from the field
-The Magic connected on 7 of 17 three pointers in the second half
-Jason Williams added 4 points with 5 assists in 16 minutes off the bench
Here is the complete recap and box score from nba.com.
Here are the details on the big three team trade that sent Antawn Jamison from Washington to Cleveland from cbssports.com.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 11:02 PM
10 Comments:
At 4:24 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
The Pistons hung in there for 3 quarters like they usually do against the Magic, but the Magic's superiority really took over in the fourth.
Great game from D12 (nice to see the Magic feeding the beast), and also solid games from VC and Jameer. Ryan Anderson had his best game in a while off the bench.
As far as the Cavaliers' trade for Jamison, on paper it improves their team, because it gives them a legitimate outside threat and a second option on offense.
How will it affect their defense though, and the overall team chemistry. There's tons of pressure now on Cleveland to get to the Finals and win it; how will they handle it. Time will tell.
At 11:35 AM,
Anonymous said…
lookout for the cavs this year, they will win it all no doubt. they lineup is sick. magic's lineup is sickly and too fake/soft.
At 11:38 AM,
Tom from Akron said…
This quote sounds familiar to me,
"The Pistons hung in there for 3 quarters like they usually do against the Magic, but the Magic's superiority really took over in the fourth."
This seems to be the game story between the last cavs-magic game. Can anyone explain why in the cavs game the cavs were 'lucky'? and in this game they reigned their 'superiority' over detroit?
Can someone please help me out here. because in this logic the cavs 'superiority' really took over in the fourth.
-Tom
At 12:28 PM,
Matt said…
Jamison is certainly an upgrade comapred to Hickson and Verajo. While they kept both these palyers, but none are centers and if Big Z does not get back to CLE, their frontline is going to be weakened considering Shaq's age and history of misssing games.
The story of the last Magic-CAV's game is an old one. CAV's were a better team that night, but remember that Magic was playing at the end of a 4-game stretch in 5 nights. CAV's were fresher and did make their shots but Magic didn't for the last 5 minutes. If one would like to call it superiority, they are certainly entitled to it. However, this Sunday's game could be a better measure of where the temas are at, right now. Coming play-offs time, though, none of this matters in a best of 7 series.
At 12:53 PM,
Tom From Akron said…
and the pistons werent fresh either...they were on a back to back. so why is one superiority, and the other not? you magic fans make no sense. If you are willing to conceed the fact that the cavs reigned their 'superiority' over the magic then fine, ill go with that, because it is in fact true this season. but agreed, sunday will be a great game. both teams rested and a good gauge to see where the two teams stand while it is getting close to the playoffs. Should be a good one... good luck and have fun watching
-Tom
At 2:33 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Tom from Akron...
Don't forget, it was just last season that the Magic beat the Cavaliers in 6 games in the playoffs.
Of course, the two teams are much different now than they were in the playoffs.
If you want to claim the Cavaliers are superior to the Magic because they beat them twice this season, that's your prerogative. However, the real test will come in the playoffs where the better team will win the series, and there are no back-to-backs as there are during the regular season. The Cavs were fortunate this season to face the Magic twice when the Magic were playing their 4th game in 5 nights. Cleveland, to their credit, took advantage of that with two solid wins.
Things will be different this Sunday because the Magic will have had a day's rest and are playing at home.
It should be an outstanding game to watch, and the Magic will be pumped to end the Cavs' long winning streak (assuming the Cavaliers beat Denver tonight).
At 2:48 PM,
Tom from Akron said…
yes and look at the regular season of cavs and magic last year, magic had the upper hand as i remember and that trend continued in the playoff, which is a good sign for the cavs considering they have beaten up on orlando now...but yes it is a great assumption that the cavs will be on a 15 game win streak going into sundays game. at least im hoping, would make for a better atmosphere down in your place. May the best team win, as you say, always a good matchup when these two teams play.
-Tom
At 3:29 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Tom from Akron...
You're right; the Magic did have the upper hand in the regular season last year, beating the Cavaliers 2 games to 1, and that trend continued in the playoffs; we'll see what happens this season.
At 3:55 PM,
Tom from Akron said…
so by that reasoning the cavs should beat the magic this playoffs, correct? Yes, correct.
Looking forward to sundays game, will be a good test for the cavs.
-Tom
At 4:03 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Tom...
Agreed, the Cavs/Magic game on Sunday, will be a good one!
I'm going to catch some of the Cavaliers/Nuggets game tonight to see how Antawn Jamison does in his Cleveland debut.
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