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.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Game 1: Magic 98, Bobcats 89


Jameer Nelson scored 24 of his game-high 32 points at halftime leading the Magic to a 22 point third quarter lead before withstanding a Charlotte comeback that saw them cut the Magic lead to 5 points in the fourth quarter before pulling away on free throws late. Dwight Howard blocked 8 of his 9 shots in the first half before spending much of the second half on the bench in foul trouble.

The Bobcats had their last lead of the game at 8-7, and were within 11-10, before the Magic went on a 13-2 run for a 24-12 lead and led 31-20 after one. The Bobcats cut the Magic lead to 35-31 with 6:45 remaining in the second quarter before the Magic closed the half on a 24-12 run to lead 59-43. Nelson made a 35 footer at the buzzer, just after Charlotte's Stephen Jackson ran into a teammate and hyperextended his knee. Jackson returned for the third quarter, but sat for much of the fourth. The Magic had their largest lead of the game at 65-43 with 9:11 remaining in the third before the Bobcats went on a 17-4 run to cut their deficit to 69-60 before the Magic settled for a 76-66 lead after three. The Bobcats would not let the Magic extend their lead, and pulled to within 85-80 with 3:10 remaining, and were still within 5 points with 33 seconds remaining before the Magic made their final four free throws.

Magic leading scorers

Jameer Nelson: 32 points (10 of 18 FGs, 4 of 8 3 PT FGs, 8 of 8 3 PT FGs), 6 assists
Rashard Lewis: 19 points (8 of 11 FGs, 3 of 5 3 PT FGs), 5 rebounds
Mickael Pietrus (bench): 14 points (4 of 7 3 PT FGs)
Vince Carter: 12 points (4 of 19 FGs, 0 of 5 3 PT FGs)
J.J. Redick (bench): 10 points (3 of 5 FGs, 2 of 3 3 PT FGs)

Overall Game Statistics:

FG%: CHA 46.5% (33 of 71) ORL 44.6% (33 of 74)
3 PT FG%: ORL 43.3% (13 of 30) CHA 25% (3 of 12)
FT%: CHA 71.4% (20 of 28) ORL 70.4% (19 of 27)
REB: CHA 41 (10 offensive) ORL 34 (8 offensive)
AST/TO: CHA 19/16 ORL 13/9
BENCH: ORL 28 CHA 16

Other game notes and stats:

-Dwight Howard was held to 5 points, including 1 of 6 FT shooting, but blocked 9 shots with 7 rebounds in 28 minutes
-Three Bobcats scored in double figures, led by Gerald Wallace with 25 points, 17 rebounds; Raymond Felton added 19 points, and Stephen Jackson 18 points
-Carter fouled out, while Howard finished with 5 fouls
-The Bobcats shot 22 FTs in the second half
-Nelson, Lewis, and Pietrus combined to score 65 of the Magic's 98 points on 22 of 36 shooting, including 11 of 20 three pointers
-Nelson shot 10 of 12 in the first half, including 4 of 5 on threes
-The Magic shot 59 1/2% in the first half, but 29.7% in the second half

Here is the complete recap and box score from Yahoo! Sports.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 1:47 AM  

4 Comments:

  • At 1:57 AM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    Not good that the Magic let the Bobcats back in the game after going ahead 22 points, but give the Bobcats credit; their defense limited the Magic after the Magic shot nearly 60% in the first half.

    If someone had told me before the game that D12 and VC would combine for just 18 points, I would have thought the Magic would be in big trouble, but Jameer really picked up the slack with a sensational first half and game, Rashard and Peaches did well, as did J.J.; that shows how balanced the Magic are.

    The Cavaliers played a similar game against the Bulls Saturday, going ahead by 22 second half points before the Bulls cut the lead to single digits in the fourth before the Cavs pulled away late.

     

  • At 8:46 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    All credit goes to CHA and their exceptional coach to tighten their belts in the second half but staying with the strategy of attacking the basket. Having that said, if Dwight have not picked up two silly fouls, this game would have been a blow out. Coach Van Gundy said correctly after the game that we ought to defend better on the perimeter because we could not have people coming at Dwight 25-30 times in a game.

    Adjustment would be made for the next game, and just as I have stated before, in defense comparison Magic is better than CHA and the difference would be in the offense. CHA did their absolute best and yet lost, and I do not expect Dwight to make the same silly mistakes or Vince play as poorly as he did after the adjustment. Jameer cannot play at the pace that he played for the whole game, so he should tone down a bit and set up Vince, although it is hard not to take what defense gives you as Jameer did brilliantly. Kudos goes to Rashard, as well, for quietly putting in a solid game.

     

  • At 5:40 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    You guys said it all. That game was played on emotion and it seemed like the team and the crowd fell aslepp in the second half. Im glad the magic were able to hold on obviously. Good to see us start out making three's i hope it continue's throughout the playoffs.

     

  • At 7:43 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    A lot of fans were very critical about the officiating calls against the Magic, especially in the second half when Charlotte had a 22-8 advantage at FT attempts before they started intentionally fouling the Magic late.

    My take on that is that while some of the calls were indeed questionable, Charlotte was being the aggressor and as a result they got the benefit of the doubt from the refs. The Magic can't get caught up in complaining about the officiating, and have to focus on their game offensively and defensively.

     

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