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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| HEAT | 24 | 22 | 26 | 27 | 99 |
| MAGIC | 39 | 25 | 27 | 31 | 122 |
Recap:
Florida’s NBA superstars were both in prime form tonight, but Dwight Howard’s performance led the Magic to a 122-99 victory despite Dwyane Wade’s career night.
Howard had another incredible game for Orlando and scored 30-plus points for the second time in four games. He finished with team highs of 32 points and 17 rebounds and also swatted away two shots.
His superstar counterpart, Dwyane Wade, did everything he could to keep a struggling Miami team in the game but it simply wasn’t enough. Wade finished with a career-high 50 points to go along with his five rebounds and five assists.
But while Wade was draining an array of shots all over the court and having a field day from the free throw line, the Magic kept the rest of his teammates in check. The Heat finished the game shooting only 41.6 percent from the floor as a team and 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from 3-point range. Michael Beasley was the only Miami player other than Wade to score more than seven points in the game. He finished with 14 points and four rebounds.
The Magic came out of the gates firing and drilled six 3-pointers in the first quarter to help build a 15-point advantage after the first 12 minutes. They finished the quarter shooting 63.6 percent from the field and assisted on 10 of their 14 made field goals.
Much of that assisting came by way of newly-acquired point guard Rafer Alston. In his first start with the team, he ran a steady Magic offense that was consistently on the attack. In the first quarter alone, Alston racked up six points and seven assists and made both of his 3-point attempts.
In the second quarter, Orlando’s offense continued to thrive while Wade was the only Heat player who could muster up any luck shooting the ball. He scored 11 points in the second frame but it was all in vein as the Magic opened up an 18-point lead heading into the locker room.
Miami managed to cut the lead to 11 with a quick 11-4 run over the first 3:17 of the second half, but back-to-back baskets (including one 3-pointer) by Hedo Turkoglu quickly bumped the lead back up to 16 points and the Magic never looked back from there.
When all was said and done, the Magic finished the night with a 23-point advantage and had all five of their starters on the bench to finish the game.
Orlando had seven players finish in double-figures, with Turkoglu scoring 20 points and Rashard Lewis scoring 18 points. Turkoglu also finished the game with nine rebounds and six assists, while Lewis grabbed seven boards himself. Alston finished the game only one assist away from his first double-double in a Magic uniform and had 12 points and nine assists. Anthony Johnson and J.J. Redick scored 12 and 10 points apiece, respectively.
The Magic will have Monday off before hitting the road for a two-game road trip that kicks off at 8 p.m. Tuesday night in Chicago.
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Preview:
After two consecutive road games, the Magic will host Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat (29-25) at 5:30 p.m. Sunday evening.
Wade, who is second in the NBA in scoring at 28.4 ppg., will lead the Heat into action for their first game against the Magic with Jermaine O'Neal on board. O'Neal was acquired by the Heat over All-Star weekend, along with Jamario Moon, in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. O’Neal is the player Pat Riley hopes will be the big man in the middle that Miami has lacked this season.
While O'Neal has struggled this season, much of that is due to the inability for he and Chris Bosh to coexist on the block for the Raptors. Alongside Bosh, O'Neal has been putting up his lowest full-season numbers since the 2000-01 season and should get a shot in the arm with his arrival to the Heat. In his first game with the Heat Wednesday night, he had a strong performance on the offensive end, putting up 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. He struggled in every other category, though, and wound up grabbing only one rebound on the night. He did not play last night as a result of a bruised right eye.
With Wade by his side, O'Neal should be able to take advantage of a more open court than that of when he played with the Raptors. On the contrary, Wade should excel even more with O'Neal playing in the post. NBA fans have seen what Wade is capable of when he has an inside force around the basket (i.e. Shaquille O’Neal) and he also has young and budding stars Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers around him. It's a talented group that has displayed poise and maturation through the first 54 games of their season.
The Heat are currently slated in as the fifth seed in the East and will be fighting to gain ground on the Magic in the Southeast standings tonight. The Magic are currently 11.0 games ahead of Miami in the Southeast Division, which is the only division in the NBA to have three teams seeded in the top five of their conference.
Orlando and Miami have split their two meetings this season, with each winning at home. The first contest was a low-scoring affair with the Magic coming out on top, while the teams combined for 200 points in the second meeting and Miami pulled away at home.
Orlando should have an advantage heading into Sunday’s matchup as the Heat will still be acclimating themselves with O’Neal and Moon’s play. The Magic are integrating newly-acquired Rafer Alston as well, but if Friday night was any indication, that transition will be relatively seamless. The Heat will still be adjusting, and the Magic should be able to take advantage of that.
Wade has averaged 30.0 ppg. against the Magic this season, but the big factor will be if Orlando can limit Miami’s other players on the offensive end. As for their own offense, the Magic seemed to get back to their customary run-and-gun style two nights ago in Charlotte with Alston and a rested Anthony Johnson running the point. With their up-tempo style of play, along with Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu looking as comfortable as ever Friday night, Magic fans should have an entertaining game to watch tonight.
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Keys to the game:
Crashing the boards: Orlando has dominated Miami on the boards this season and have pulled in a total of 18 more rebounds in two meetings. Dwight Howard has averaged 12.5 boards in those two games, which is slightly below his season average of 14.1 rpg. Since the All-Star break, he's been on an absolute tear and has had grabbed at least 16 rebounds twice in three games. Assuming he will reach his season average on the boards means that Jermaine O'Neal will need to step up for the Heat. If he duplicates his one-rebound performance from Wednesday night, it should remove any chance Miami has of pulling out the upset. If he can up that number to double-digits, it should help the Heat hang around with the division-leading Magic.
On or off?: Throughout the season, it's mostly been an on-night or an off-night for the Heat. They headed into this weekend with one of the most interesting stats in the NBA; their point differential was 0.0, which means their scoring average is the exact same as their opponent's scoring average this season. They are the only team in the league to have that title, with the next closes being Detroit (-0.58 ppg.). After last night's game, they stand at +.11. Somehow, even in spite of that statistic, the Heat are hovering four games over .500. It means that their team, for the most part, will play really well or relatively poorly. Orlando's hope of winning their second in a row may hinge on which Heat team shows up tonight.
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Game Notes:
Feb. 22 vs. Miami: Orlando is 36-41 vs. Miami (21-18 at home, 15-23 on the road) during regular season action, including 1-1 this season (see recaps below)…The Magic went a perfect 4-0 last season…Orlando is 2-3 vs. Miami during the playoffs (1997 first round)...Orlando has won 10 of the last 11 regular season meetings with the Heat…The Magic have won the last five meetings at home…Orlando has also won five of its last six games in Miami…Stan Van Gundy served as the Heat’s head coach for two-plus years from 2003-05, compiling a 112-73 (.605) record, and was with the Heat for 12 years in various capacities…Rafer Alston played all 82 games with the Heat during the 2003-04 season…Jan. 2 vs. Miami – Magic 86, Heat 76: Rashard Lewis scored 17 points, as Orlando defeated Miami, 86-76, at a sold-out Amway Arena. It was the Magic’s ninth consecutive win at home and their 10th straight win over the Heat. Dwight Howard tallied 15 points and 15 rebounds for Orlando, while Jameer Nelson added 16 points. Dwyane Wade led all scorers with 33 points, but went scoreless during the entire fourth quarter. Both teams struggled from the floor – Orlando shot 38.2 percent, while Miami shot just 40.5 percent. Orlando outrebounded Miami, 54-41 and held the Heat to just 3-for-16 from three-point range. The Magic also went 20-of-30 from the free throw line, while the Heat went only 9-of-10. Miami scored only 11 points during the fourth quarter, shooting 25 percent from the field…Jan. 24 @ Miami – Heat 103, Magic 97: Dwyane Wade tallied 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists, as Miami defeated Orlando, 103-97, at AmericanAirlines Arena. The loss snapped Orlando’s 10-game winning streak against the Heat. Mario Chalmers scored 20 points for Miami, and Udonis Haslem chipped in with 12 points, including four huge points in the final moments of the game. Dwight Howard paced the Magic with 22 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, while Rashard Lewis netted 21 points. Miami led 56-52 at halftime and 83-68 after three quarters. Orlando stormed back in the final quarter and tied the game at 94 following a three-pointer by Jameer Nelson with 2:47 left. However, the Heat would not relinquish the lead, getting two huge buckets from Haslem on their next two possessions. The Magic had one last chance, but Chalmers stole the ball from Nelson with 5.9 seconds left to seal the win.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. HEAT: 42 pts., Shaquille O’Neal (@ Miami, 11-5-93); Nick Anderson (@ Orlando, 11-6-92)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 56 pts., Glen Rice (@ Miami, 4-15-95)
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