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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| WIZARDS | 21 | 18 | 19 | 23 | 81 |
| MAGIC | 27 | 31 | 26 | 22 | 106 |
Recap:
A fourth consecutive victory came easily for the Orlando Magic as they rolled to a 106-81 victory over the visiting Washington Wizards. Dwight Howard led the game with season-highs of 31 points and 16 rebounds, six of which were offensive boards.
The game was out of hand by halftime and the third quarter only made things worse for the visiting Wizards. Keith Bogans poured in 13 points off the bench in the first half to help the Magic build their lead and Howard also exploded in the third to put the Magic ahead for good. The offensive cohesiveness by Orlando through the first three quarters was hard to ignore, as they assisted on 17 field goals and had eight players score four or more points.
Wizards Head Coach Eddie Jordan made a statement to his players by beginning the fourth quarter with all subs on the floor. That trend continued throughout the final period as no Wizards starter touched the floor.
The trio of Nick Young, Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee all played well in the fourth quarter which allowed the Wizards to make a run. But the damage had been done and Washington never made it within striking distance.
Dwight Howard was fouled at the 3:09 mark on a made layup and Stan Van Gundy brought his bench into the game. Brian Cook, making his first appearance of the season, and J.J. Redick were the first to come in, followed by Marcin Gortat, who came in after a Washington timeout at the 2:28 mark. Courtney Lee also saw extended minutes in the second half and finished with a season-best six points along with two rebounds and a blocked shot. The Orlando substitutions secured playing time for all 12 active players on their roster. All 12 Wizards players had seen the court already by the third quarter.
The Magic dominated in every facet of the game on both ends of the floor. Orlando shot 50.0 percent from the floor compared to Washington’s 39.2 percent and outrebounded the Wizards 42-35. They also had eight more assists, two less turnovers and had seven blocks while the Wizards failed to record any. The Magic bench also scored 35 points, far surpassing their season-high of 20 that was set against the Bulls on Monday.
On the defensive end of the floor, Orlando held the Wizards’ top two scorers, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, to 10 and seven points each, respectively. Their leading scorers were Young, who finished with 20, and DeShawn Stevenson, who scored 14.
Orlando will look to close out their five-game homestand with their fifth consecutive win at 7 p.m. Monday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. Washington will head to Utah to take on the Jazz at 8 p.m. Wednesday night.
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Quarter-by-quarter Baseline Blog:
*Tonight's live play-by-play Baseline Blog is unavailable due to technical difficulties. We hope to have these problems resolved in the very near future. Until then, enjoy the quarterly updates!
1st Quarter: Both teams came out firing, trading four 3-poiners to start the game in the first two minutes. After that, Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson scored six points for the Magic to give them a slight cushion.
The Magic shot 57.9 percent from the floor and had two players score eight points (Howard and Turkoglu) and limited the Wizards to only 38.1 percent shooting but still only took a 27-21 lead into the second quarter.
Orlando forced Washington into two shot clock violations in the quarter. Howard finished the first with eight points and four rebounds. The Wizards were led by Antawn Jamison’s seven points and Caron Butler’s six points.
Orlando 27, Washington 21
2nd Quarter: The Magic, led by two 3-pointers from Keith Bogans, used a 15-4 run over the first five minutes of the second quarter to build a 16-point lead over Washington.
The Wizards made a move for a comeback, led by Nick Young’s nine points, but the Magic continued to sustain their lead. Just inside the four-minute mark, Mickael Pietrus and Keith Bogans hit back-to-back 3-pointers, both assisted by Jameer Nelson, from the same spot to put the Magic up 52-38.
With 1:28 remaining in the period, Mickael Pietrus and Caron Butler had a hard collision that resulted in a stoppage of play. Both were taken to the locker room but are expected to return. Pietrus is receiving five stitches.
Orlando shot 59.0 percent from the field as a team in the first half and assisted on 13 of their 23 made field goals. Washington was held to 39.5 percent shooting in the half and had only six assists compared to their five turnovers.
The Magic are playing very aggressive offensively and forcing the Wizards to make quick decisions on defense… and it’s working. All five Magic starters scored at least five points in the quarter and seven of the nine Magic players who entered the game recorded an assist. Keith Bogans was the leading scorer in the half with 13 points.
Orlando 58, Washington 39
3rd Quarter: Dwight Howard exploded in the third quarter for 12 points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot. That strong play blew the game open for Orlando, at one point going up by 29 points at 76-47.
The Magic, who were being outrebounded at the half 17-14, reclaimed that stat in the third, finishing the quarter with 28 total rebounds to Washington’s 25.
Orlando also continued to play well on the defensive end of the floor. Washington finished the quarter shooting 37.9 percent from the floor. They have assisted on 18 of their 33 made field goals and have committed only nine turnovers. Mickael Pietrus played aggressively on the offensive end and chipped in 12 points in the quarter, bringing his total to 18.
Orlando 84, Washington 58
4th Quarter: Eddie Jordan seems to be making a statement to his starters and started the final period with all subs on the floor. Interestingly enough, it worked. The Wizards scored 13 points in the first 3:12 of the quarter, led by four points from both Nick Young and JaVale McGee, to pull within 89-71. But it was too little too late.
With the huge lead the Magic built in the third quarter, they could afford to lose the fourth. Even though the Wizards were making a run, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis all remained in the game until the final three minutes of the period. At the 3:09 mark, after a Howard layup in which he was fouled, Brian Cook and J.J. Redick entered the game. After a Wizards timeout at the 2:28 mark, Marcin Gortat entered the game to replace Howard. No Washington starters played in the final quarter.
Orlando 106 , Washington 81
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Shootaround:
At this morning’s shootaround, Stan Van Gundy made it clear that he knows what to expect offensively from the Washington Wizards – a high-scoring offense (eighth in the league in ppg.), efficient shooting (seventh in the league in shooting percentage) and lots of free throws (third in the league in free throw attempts). Even with Gilbert Arenas out, the Wizards are still very strong on the offensive end of the floor.
As far as what Van Gundy expects from the Wizards on defense, that’s a different story. He knows that Washington will try many different things to throw the Magic offense out of whack, but he doesn’t know when those tactics are going to come into play.
“Eddie (Jordan) is going to try and scramble the game up defensively as much as he can,” Van Gundy said. “You’re going to get a lot of double teams, they’re going to trap pick-and-rolls, they’re going to zone, they’re going to press … they’re going to force your guys to make decisions with the ball.”
For the Magic, that could be a good thing. Every team Washington has faced this year seems to have made great decisions on the offensive end. The Wizards are giving up an average of 29.8 apg. to their opponents this season. Last night, the New York Knicks managed to assist on 36 of their 46 made field goal attempts. These are alarmingly high numbers and show Washington’s lack of cohesiveness on the defensive side of the ball.
With assists being such an important statistic in this game, it’s expected that Jameer Nelson will be in attack mode offensively for the second straight game. Nelson recorded a season-high nine assists in Orlando’s win Thursday night and in which the team tallied 21 total assists. His offensive aggressiveness seemed to make the Magic offense click.
“Jameer is really the guy who got it started,” said Van Gundy. “I thought he was aggressive and made plays and he got the ball to people … Our assist total would have been even higher if we shot the ball better in the second half.”
If the Magic want to win their fourth straight game, Nelson may need to be the one to get the offense started once again. Expect Van Gundy to let Nelson attack the Washington defense and distribute the ball to players on the perimeter.
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Preview:
The Orlando Magic will look for their fourth consecutive win when they take on the Washington Wizards at 7 p.m. Saturday night at Amway Arena.
The Wizards have reached the postseason four consecutive years and return the bulk of their team from last season. Although Gilbert Arenas is currently out with a knee injury, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Nick Young have carried the scoring load and have the Wizards averaging 99.3 ppg. heading into Friday night's game against the New York Knicks. Butler is leading the team in scoring with 20.3 ppg.
Eddie Jordan, in his sixth year at the Wizards helm, runs a team that has struggled thus far on the defensive end and relies on their high-scoring offense to win games. Opponents are shooting 50.0 percent from the floor while scoring 108.0 ppg. through three games. Another telling stat is that opponents are averaging 27.7 apg., an extremely high number. This means that the Wizards are quick to help on the defensive end, leaving their man wide open for shots off of a pass.
With Arenas on the bench, the Wizards become a much thinner roster. Their bench has been a weak spot and is an area the Magic will need to exploit. Twelve players on the Washington roster have played in at least two of their three games this season but only three are averaging double figures.
After week one of the regular season, the Magic bench has been a weak spot as well, but Keith Bogans has come alive of late. He has provided a spark off the bench while shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range. Expect bench play to be a key in which team finishes with a win Saturday night.
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Keys to the game:
Attacking the basket: While Washington is allowing 27.7 apg. so far this season, the Magic are averaging only 17.6 per game. Orlando will need to attack the basket throughout the game and challenge the interior defense of Washington. The Wizards will sag off of their defenders when an opposing player drives to the hoop, which should leave the Orlando guards open for jumpers on the outside. If Jameer Nelson, Mickael Pietrus and Hedo Turkoglu can take the ball hard to the rack, the Magic should in turn get some easy looks.
Turnovers: An important factor in any game is turning the ball over. Even though Washington is 0-3 entering Friday night's game against the New York Knicks, they were forcing opponents into more turnovers than they are committing. The Wizards take care of the ball offensively and turn the ball over only 14.3 times per game, which is a great number in the NBA. Washington has forced 16.3 turnovers per game as well. Even though the Magic have a winning record, they are turning the ball over more than their opponents. They force only 13.8 turnovers and commit more than 15 per game. The turnover ratio is won on both ends of the floor, so whoever can take care of the ball on offense and pressure the ball on defense will have a great shot at winning.
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Game Notes:
Nov. 8 vs. Washington: Orlando is 48-28 all-time vs. Washington (29-9 at home, 19-19 on the road) during regular season action, including 3-1 last season...Orlando has won seven of the last 11 meetings with Washington...Orlando has won 10 of the last 13 games at home and six of the last 10 at Washington…Keith Bogans played four years at legendary DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, MD…J.J. Redick went to Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, VA…For last season’s stats and Magic career numbers vs. Washington, see p. 279 of the media guide.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. WIZARDS: 62 pts., Tracy McGrady (@ Orlando, 3-10-04)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 48 pts., Antawn Jamison (@ Wasington, 4-17-07)
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