Orlando got big plays from newcomers Brandon Bass and Matt Barnes when they needed them most and rallied from a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat the Dallas Mavericks 110-105 and open up the preseason on the right note.
It was a very sloppy game with poor shooting, which is exactly what you would expect out of both teams in the first preseason game.
Dwight Howard grabbed 17 points and 11 rebounds but was in constant foul trouble and fouled out in the third quarter, but before the big man fouled out, he drew Erik Dampier’s sixth foul, fouling him out. I was a little disappointed in Dwight’s free throw shooting. He shot just 9-17 from the line. Dwight is hoping to shoot around 70% from the line this season.
Speaking of fouls the two teams combined to shoot 92 free throws on 64 fouls. Mavericks’ superstar Dirk Nowitzki shot 19 of those free throws and scored 17 of his 23 points from the line. Unfortunately for the Magic, Nowitzki deserved to shoot nearly all of those free throws.
Bass scored 13 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and had 3 blocks. He converted two consecutive three point plays with the Magic trailing 101-99, giving them a four-point lead.
Every Magic fan has to like what they saw out of Matt Barnes. Barnes hit a critical three-pointer after Bass’ back to back three-point plays that put the game away. He was all over the court. Barnes scored 16 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, and had 3 assists. He kept a lot of possessions alive and hustled on both ends of the floor. If Barnes brings the kind of energy that he brought tonight every night, the Magic will be in very good shape.
Jameer Nelson looked like his old self in the first quarter. Nelson was 3-6 from downtown, scored 10 points and dished out 4 assists. Nelson looked very comfortable returning to his position in the starting lineup and showed no signs of injury in his shoulder.
Vince Carter started off slow, scoring just 6 points on 2-of-6 shooting in the first half. Carter looked a little anxious in the 1st half and threw up some very ill-advised shots, but he calmed down in the 3rd quarter, a quarter in which he scored 15 points. Carter finished the night with a team-high 21 points on 7-18 shooting, but he was a little three-point happy, going just 3-12 from beyond the arch. That can’t happen during the season. Vince needs to do more of what he does best – attack the rim.
Jason Williams was the first Magic player off the bench after Nelson picked up 2 quick fouls and was pretty effective. Williams hit an open 3-pointer and finished with 4 points. He looked very comfortable running the team and found several open teammates and wound up with 6 assists.
Rashard Lewis was probably Orlando’s most consistent player on Monday night. Lewis was 7-of-15 from the field, including hitting 4 of his 8 three-point attempts. Lewis also played very well on the defensive end and did it against one of the best in the game – Dirk Nowitzki.
On big question for Head Coach Stan Van Gundy has to answer is the absence of Forward Ryan Anderson. He did not play in the game.
Overall, the game was pretty much what would expect out of two teams playing in their first preseason game. There was some good and some bad to take from this game for the Magic, but considering it was just the first game, the good far out-weighed the bad.
See the full box score here.
Next, the Magic will take on the Heat at Amway Arena on Wednesday. Tip-off is schedule for 7:00 PM EST.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger. Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)