Game 3: Magic 90, Bobcats 86
The Magic received another tremendous performance from Jameer Nelson, as he scored 19 of his game-high 32 points in the first quarter, and the Magic overcame 44% FG shooting, 21 turnovers, and Dwight Howard fouling out and playing just 26 minutes to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
The Magic started out quickly, making 7 of their first 8 shots and took an 18-10 lead, but Charlotte went on a 17-5 run to go ahead 27-23 before the Magic scored the final 6 points of the quarter, including a 4 point play by Nelson, to take a 29-27 lead going into the second. Howard picked up his third foul at the 10:40 mark of the second and sat out the rest of the half, as the Bobcats outscored the Magic 14-4 to begin the third to take a 41-33 lead and settled for a 46-41 lead at the half. The Bobcats had their largest lead of the game at 50-41 to start the second half, only to see the Magic go on a 11-0 run to take back the lead 52-50. The Magic led by as much as 64-58, but the Bobcats tied the game at 66 after three. The Bobcats held a small lead for much of the final quarter, leading 77-73 with 5:50 remaining. Howard fouled out at the 3:32 mark with the game tied at 79. Charlotte's last lead was 80-79 with 3:32 remaining before the Magic took the lead for good 81-80 at the 3:13 mark. The Magic still had the lead 85-84 in the final 30 seconds with the Bobcats a chance to take the lead, but Stephen Jackson misfired on a three with 24.9 seconds remaining. The Magic made 5 of their final 6 free throws to secure the win.
Magic leading scorers
Jameer Nelson: 32 points (12 of 21 FGs, 5 of 9 3 PT FGs), 4 steals, 3 assists, 0 turnovers
Rashard Lewis: 14 points (4 of 11 FGs, 2 of 7 3 PT FGs), 6 rebounds, 5 turnovers
Dwight Howard: 13 points (4 of 7 FGs, 5 of 10 3 PT FGs), 8 rebounds, 7 blocks, 4 turnovers
Vince Carter: 10 points (4 of 11 FGs, 0 for 4 3 PT FGs), 5 rebounds, 5 turnovers
Overall Game Stats
FG%: ORL 44.3% (31 of 70) CHA 41.9% (31 of 74)
3 PT FG%: ORL 30% (9 of 30) CHA 5 of 23 (21.7%)
FT%: CHA 82.6% (19 of 23) ORL 76.0% (19 of 25)
REB: ORL 43 (11 offensive) CHA 33 (6 offensive)
AST/TO: CHA 17/15 ORL 14/21
BENCH: CHA 33 ORL 14
Other game notes and stats:
-Stephen Jackson led the Bobcats with 19 points, but shot just 6 of 18, including 1 of 7 on three pointers; Gerald Wallace had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and Raymond Felton added 13 points, 6 assists as both Wallace (4 of 12) and Felton (5 of 14) struggled shooting along with Jackson
-Larry Hughes scored 14 points off the Bobcats' bench on 5 of 6 shooting
-Marcin Gortat and Ryan Anderson led the Magic bench with 5 points each, and Gortat added 8 rebounds, a steal, and a block
-Jackson, Felton, and Wallace combined to shoot 15 of 44, including 3 of 15 on threes
-Other than Wallace and Hughes, the Bobcats shot 1 of 16 on threes
-Other than Nelson, the Magic shot 4 of 21 on threes
-The Magic starters outscored the Bobcats' starters 76-53
-The Bobcats missed 15 of their final 18 shots
-Four different Magic players had 3 assists
Here is the complete recap and box score from nba.com.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 9:51 PM
2 Comments:
At 5:27 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
It's a sign of a great team if that team does not play well in a game but still pulls out the win, especially in enemy territory. Despite a mediocre shooting percentage, too many turnovers, and Dwight Howard being in so much foul trouble, the Magic find a way to pull it out.
What a series Jameer Nelson is having; if he hadn't been playing as well as he has, the Bobcats would be down just 2-1. Rashard Lewis quietly is playing pretty good. Nice job by Marcin Gortat sinking the clinching FTs in the final 15 seconds. Magic defense was outstanding in the final 8 or 9 minutes of the fourth quarter, as the Bobcats made just 3 FGs in that span.
Now, if only D12 can play around 40 minutes a game and stay out of foul trouble, and Vince Carter can get back to his reliable self that he has been since February, the Magic just might be pretty near unstoppable.
At 1:46 PM,
Big Figure said…
Yea jameer's the key. When jameer plays like this we're arguebly the best team in the league. Dwight's defense is also something that cant be measured,he changes shots and ignite's our run game. The bobcats problem is they cant score in the paint on their drives and they have nobody who can score in the paint from the block. Jumpers better fall then right? But the magic are pretty damn good at locking people up on the perimeter,so the bobcats are done. As long as we get just average efforts from our perimeter we will win the series,the magic have won two games with back-ups on the floor against them. Add in the horrible play at times by the magic and it really just shows how bad the bobcats are at scoring the ball.
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