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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| SIXERS | 16 | 27 | 23 | 22 | 88 |
| MAGIC | 30 | 24 | 21 | 23 | 98 |
Recap:
Jameer Nelson had his best game of the season and led the Magic to their third consecutive victory, a 98-88 win over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers.
Nelson finished the game with 16 points, nine assists, four rebounds and two steals. He, along with his teammates, also limited their turnovers. Nelson turned the ball over only three times and the Magic committed a season-low 10 as a team.
The start of the second half may have been where Orlando won this game. Coming out of the locker room with a 54-43 lead, they began the third quarter with a 14-2 run that was highlighted by a Nelson to Mickael Pietrus alley-oop. Pietrus then hit a jumper just seconds later to put Orlando up 68-45.
Samuel Dalembert did his best to make the game interesting as time wound down in the third quarter. He scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the third and allowed the Sixers to enter the final frame with a chance at winning the game.
Howard did his best to eliminate those chances by playing well on both ends of the court. He blocked two big shots that allowed the Magic to hold a comfortable cushion and rebounded the ball very well. For the game, Howard finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots and two assists. This was the first game of the season that he did not record a double-double.
All four starters for Orlando finished the game in double figures, led by Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu’s 20 points a piece. Howard, Turkoglu and Lewis all recorded eight rebounds a piece.
The Magic had one of their best defensive efforts of the season as well, holding Philadelphia to 37.9 percent shooting in the game. Elton Brand, the big offseason pick-up for the Sixers and their leading scorer entering the game, scored only six points on 3-of-8 shooting from the field. Thaddeus Young led the Sixers with 19 points, while Samuel Dalembert led the team in rebounds with 14. Philadelphia outrebounded Orlando by a 54-46 margin.
Orlando will take on the Washington Wizards in their next game at 7 p.m. Saturday night at Amway Arena.
Philadelphia will travel home to take on Utah at 7 p.m. Tuesday 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: Orlando opened tonight’s game with one of their best overall quarters of the season. After Dwight Howard picked up his second foul only 1:24 into the game, Tony Battie came off the bench and played fantastic. Rashard Lewis and Battie led the Magic in scoring with 11 and eight points each, respectively.
Jameer Nelson was aggressive on both ends of the court, pressuring the Sixers’ guards on defense and attacking the rim on offense. He finished the quarter with four points, two steals, two assists and two rebounds.
Keith Bogans was again the first guard off of the bench and he came in and played well. He played solid defense on the perimeter and nailed a wide open 3-point attempt off of a Lewis pass. Orlando shot 55 percent from the field in the first quarter while holding the Sixers to only 26.1 percent shooting.
Orlando 30, Philadelphia 16
2nd Quarter: As every NBA team will do, Philadelphia made a run in the second quarter. Kareem Rush hit every kind of shot you can imagine – a 3-pointer, an up-and-under layup and a 15-foot jumper – to lead the Sixers’ quick spurt. Thaddeus Young hit two free throws at the 5:06 mark to bring Philadelphia within eight at 41-33 and after another Elton Brand bucket, Stan Van Gundy called a timeout.
That timeout played a big role in the game. With Dwight Howard on the bench with three fouls, the Magic responded with a Rashard Lewis runner in the lane to end the Sixers’ 8-0 run. Orlando then caught fire from 3-point range when Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson both drained one from beyond the arc in less than 90 seconds.
Jameer Nelson ran the clock down to less than 15 seconds in the half and ran a pick-and-roll with Tony Battie. Off of the pick, Nelson was fouled with 11.5 seconds remaining in the half as he threw up a 3-point attempt. The referees called the foul in the act of shooting and Nelson was awarded three free throws. He made all three to put the Magic up 54-43 heading into the half.
Orlando was 6-of-10 from 3-point range in the half and shot 52.6 percent from the field. Philadelphia shot only 34.0 percent from the field and were led by Thaddeus Young’s nine points.
Orlando 54, Philadelphia 43
3rd Quarter: Orlando began the second half on a 14-2 run over the first 4:30 of the third quarter. Mickael Pietrus brought Amway Arena to its feet with a huge alley-oop dunk off of a Jameer Nelson pass from 25 feet and also hit a 20-foot jumper.
After a Philadelphia timeout at the 7:33 mark, Samuel Dalembert ended the run with a lay-up in the lane. He continued to play well for the remainder of the quarter and led the Sixers back within striking distance. He scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the third quarter alone.
The game seems to be swinging back and forth over the last two quarters, but for Philadelphia to win the game they’ll have to stop Orlando in the final frame. Every time the Sixers make a run, Orlando has responded and retained a comfortable lead. They’ll head into the fourth quarter with a nine-point cushion.
Orlando 75 Philadelphia 66
4th Quarter: No three words can describe the final period better than “back and forth.”
Dwight Howard played his first major minutes of the game in the fourth and was a force on both ends. He scored seven points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots in the final 12 minutes. The other Magic player to step up was point guard Jameer Nelson. He had his best all around game of the season and led his team down the stretch. He scored four points and dished out three assists in the quarter, but his demeanor may have been the biggest factor.
Howard capped the game with a put-back dunk with less than 10 seconds remaining. This was a game the Magic needed badly. Not only did they win the game, but they withstood every run Philadelphia dished out to them. This was a character-builder and should definitely give the Magic confidence moving forward.
Orlando 98, Philadelphia 88
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Preview:
After two days between games, the Orlando Magic will take on the Philadelphis 76ers, who will be playing in the second night of a back-to-back, at 8 p.m. Thursday night. The game will be nationally televised on TNT.
Philadelphia enters Thursday night’s match-up with a 2-3 record after a Wednesday night loss in Miami. They had a very eventful offseason, luring Elton Brand across the country from the Los Angeles Clippers with a five-year, $82 million contract. He joins up-and-coming star Andre Igoudala, who was inked to a six-year, $80 million deal this summer.
Many NBA executives and analysts are expecting the 76ers to challenge for the Eastern Conference crown this season. Philadelphia is young, athletic and very deep. They will play a nine-man rotation and all of them, with the exception of Reggie Evans, are offensive threats.
Brand has performed well in his first games as a Sixer. He is leading the team in both scoring and rebounding, with 16.4 ppg. and 11.8 rpg. Igoudala, on the other hand, has not performed to the level expected of him. He is currently averaging only 10.0 ppg.
Dwight Howard enters the game averaging 21.8 ppg., 14.5 rpg. and 4.5 bpg. through four games. He has recorded a double-double in each of those contests. Rashard Lewis is also averaging more than 20 ppg. at an average of 20.3.
This will be a great measuring stick for where both teams stand at this early stage of the season. The Magic will need to force Philadelphia into tough outside shots as well as rebound well down low. The Sixers are one of the best rebounding teams in the NBA, averaging nearly 50 per game as a team.
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Shootaround:
Two teams expected to be Eastern Conference powers meet at 8 p.m. tonight at Amway Arena. The Orlando Magic host the Philadelphia 76ers for the first time this season.
The 76ers had an interesting offseason and have certainly been billed as one of the more talented teams in the conference. Stan Van Gundy can see that the Philadelphia roster is strong in many facets of the game.
“They’re very athletic, play at a very fast pace and have a great point guard in terms of making decisions,” Van Gundy said. “They’re big and athletic. Dalembert, Brand, they moved Igoudala from the three back to the two and moved Thaddeus Young from the four back to the three. So they’re big at every spot.”
They’re big, athletic and have scorers at every position on the floor. The Sixers tend to push the fast break and can also dominate their opponent in the rebounding department. With all of those factors combined, it makes the Sixers a tough match-up for any team, let alone the Magic.
“Everybody’s got a tough match-up tonight,” said Van Gundy. “If you look, I think Miller, Igoudala, Brand, Thaddeus Young is off to a great start and then Dalembert is a guy who’s going to make jump shots and be on the offensive boards … so there’s a lot of challenges out there for our guys tonight.”
Obviously, to win this game the starters will need to perform well on both ends of the floor. But what might be even more important is the performance of the Magic bench players. Keith Bogans provided a spark for the Magic in Monday night’s game against the Bulls and shot the ball effectively. Van Gundy believes he has been the most consistent player off the bench this season but he also likes the play of his back-up point guard.
“I’ve been really happy with Anthony Johnson’s play, too,” he said. “I think he’s been solid and our team has functioned extremely well when he’s been on the floor.”
Still, with those two players performing well, the Orlando bench has not given the team much scoring aside from Bogans’ game Monday night. That will play a big factor in tonight’s game, as the Sixers will bring players off of the bench who can score in bunches.
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Keys to the game:
Easy Shots: The Sixers are shooting 48.3 percent from the floor as a team, and you'd better believe that they aren't all jump shots. They ae a team filled with quick guards and small forwards who can drive past their defenders for easy, close shots. On the other hand, Dwight Howard has been getting easy shots at will this season. His teammates have not. No Magic player has truly been consistent from the outside. Easy shots will be at a premium in this game, and whoever gets more (and makes them) should have the upper hand.
Rebounding: Philadelphia is averaging nearly 50.0 rpg. this season as a team, the highest of any Orlando opponent so far. Elton Brand and Samuel Dalembert are both terrific rebounders who will fight for boards on both ends of the court. As a result of Dwight Howard's 15 boards and Rashard Lewis grabbing 11, the Magic were able to win the rebounding battle against the Bulls Monday night, another very good rebounding team. Real expectations tell us that Lewis will not be a 10-plus rebound player every night, so other Magic players must contribute, specifically Mickael Pietrus. Stan Van Gundy has preached that Pietrus must assist in the rebounding department, yet he recorded zero boards Monday night. He and Tony Battie will have to fight for rebounds for the Magic to win this category.
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Game Notes:
Nov. 6 vs. Philadelphia: Orlando is 49-26 all-time vs. Philadelphia (28-9 at home, 21-17 on the road) during the regular season, including 3-1 last season…The Magic are 1-3 in postseason play against the Sixers (1999 First Round)...Orlando has won eight of the last 11 and 20 of the last 30 meetings overall...The Magic have won seven of the last nine meetings at home and five of the last eight on the road…Jameer Nelson played 125 career games at Saint Joseph’s from 2000-04 and attended Chester High School…Pat Williams, who spent 12 seasons as Sixers GM, serves as Senior VP for the Magic...TV analyst Matt Guokas was born and raised in Philadelphia - He attended Saint Joseph’s, was the Sixers’ first round pick in 1966, played four seasons with Philadelphia, served as an assistant coach for three-plus seasons during the early-mid 1980s and was head coach from 1985-88…For last season’s stats and Magic career numbers vs. Philadelphia, see p. 265 of the media guide.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. SIXERS: 44 pts., Tracy McGrady (@ Philadelphia, 3-28-01)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 60 pts., Allen Iverson (@ Philadelphia, 2-12-05)
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