Game review: Magic (53-22) 97, Mavericks (50-26) 82

The rested Magic, not having played since Sunday, took advantage of a Dallas team that played a tough game that went into overtime the previous night. The Magic dominated, especially in the second half, as their largest lead was 18 points. Mickael Pietrus, after sitting out three games with a sprained ankle, starred in reserve, scoring 24 points and was perfect on all 6 three pointers. Dwight Howard had another strong defensive game with 20 rebounds and 5 blocks.

In a low-scoring first quarter in which neither team led by more than 4 points, the Magic led 18-16 going into the second. The second quarter continued to be low-scoring and close, as the last tie of the game came at 32 with 5:46 remaining before the Magic closed the half on a 11-4 run to lead 43-36 at the half. The Magic gradually extended their lead in the third quarter and led by as much as 68-50 before going into the fourth with a comfortable 72-56 lead. The Magic's largest lead of the game was 83-65 with 7:34 remaining and still led 90-75 with 3:37 remaining before the Mavericks went on a 7-1 run to briefly cut the Magic lead to single digits at 91-82 with 1:14 remaining before Pietrus put the game away for the Magic with two three pointers.

Magic leading scorers

Mickael Pietrus: 24 points (7 of 8 FGs, 6 of 6 3 PT FGs, 4 of 6 FTs)
Vince Carter: 19 points (8 of 17 FGs, 1 of 2 3 PT FGs), 7 rebounds
Dwight Howard: 17 points (6 of 11 FGs) 20 rebounds, 5 blocks)
Jameer Nelson: 14 points (6 of 14 FGs, 2 of 5 3 PT FGs), 7 assists, 6 turnovers

Overall Game Statistics

FG%: ORL 48.6% (35 of 72) DAL 38.3% (31 of 81)
3 PT FG%: ORL 58.3% (14 of 24) DAL 28.6% (4 of 14)
FT%: DAL 94.1% (16 of 17) ORL 61.9% (13 of 21)
REB: ORL 43 (7 offensive) DAL 42 (10 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 15/14 DAL 7/10
BENCH: DAL 38 ORL 35

Other game notes and stats:

-Pietrus's 24 points was his second highest total in a Magic uniform, second only to the 27 points he scored last season againt Indiana; the 6 three pointers matched a career high
-Dirk Nowitzki was the only Mavericks' starter to score in double figures with 24 points, but shot just 9 of 22; Juan Jose Barea and Jason Terry each scored 16 points off the Mavericks' bench, with Barea scoring his points all in the second half in 17 minutes
-Erick Dampier led the Mavericks with 11 rebounds in reserve
-Other than Nowitzki, the other four Mavericks' starters combined to score 20 points on a combined 7 of 28 shooting
-The Mavericks' starting backcourt of Jason Kidd and Caron Butler combined to score 10 points on 2 of 12 shooting; they each had 2 assists to lead Dallas
-Nelson and Carter, after starting the game a combined 1 for 10 shooting, made 13 of their final 21 shots combined
-Rashard Lewis scored 6 points on 2 of 6 shooting in 31 minutes for the Magic
-Ryan Anderson was scoreless in 3:38 in the first half, while Brandon Bass scored 8 points in 12 second half minutes