The Orlando Magic ended the pre-season on a fantastic note by destroying the Atlanta Hawks 123-86. Magic
Head Coach Stan Van Gundy joked that that Hubie Brown Mike Breen had the toughest job in the building.
"“I was sitting over there with six minutes to go in the game and I said to Brendan, “What are they talking about? The World Series?” That’s what they get for broadcasting an exhibition game.”"
The Magic played extremely well on Friday night. They shot 61.3% while holding the Hawks to just 37.5% shooting. The Magic also shot 10-of-16 from beyond the arc (62.5%) while the Hawks made just three 3-pointers, shooting 23.1%. The Magic committed just 12 turnovers.
The Magic have played their best game of the pre-season for the second time in a row. Stan Van Gundy thinks that’s a very good sign.
"“I thought that we progressed as the pre-season went on. I thought that we progressed well. And I thought that tonight we played very well at both ends of the court. I thought we had good energy and good ball movement. That matters because you want to get better and I think it builds confidence for our team.”"
Ryan Anderson got the Magic off to a fast start. He scored 14 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in just 6 minutes of play in the first quarter. Vince Carter was responsible for 13 of Orlando’s 37 first quarter points. He was 5-of-6 in the quarter. Anderson and Carter showed that they were familiar with each other from their days in New Jersey. Each of them set each other up for open 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Vince Carter had far and away his best game of the pre-season. Carter was 9-of-10 from the field and finished with 26 points. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from downtown. Carter had two plays that were reminiscent of his old self. He had a huge double-clutch dunk and another pretty lay-up that brought the crowd to their feet.
Carter also continues to look better defensively than he has in quite some time.
Carter is very happy with the team thus far.
"“I think we played well together. We’ve gotten better each game we played. Hopefully it’s a step in the right direction to fulfill our goal.”"
Anderson finished with 18 points and is giving Stan Van Gundy a lot to think about Wednesday night. Anderson was 7-of-11 from the field and Brandon Bass had another excellent night offensively. Bass finished 7-of-12 from the field and had 14 points. He also added in 6 rebounds. He continues to be money from the baseline with his jumper. Stan Van Gundy has a lot to think about.
"“Tonight it was our starters that really got us off in both halves. One half with Ryan in there, then the same four guys and Brandon in there in the second half but both halves just started very very well. “"
It sounds like Van Gundy doesn’t know which player is going to start at Power Forward. He also has not made a final decision on what the Magic will do at Small Forward – the two contenders for that position are Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus.
Dwight Howard scored just 5 points in the first half, but he was an absolute monster in the third quarter. Howard scored 20 points in the third quarter along to finish the game with 25 points. He was his usual dominating self on the glass, collecting 13 rebounds. He finals had a good night shooting the ball from the line, going 7-of-10 from the line. Van Gundy was very happy with his performance.
"“We had a lot of guys play extremely well but Dwight was unbelievable because early in the game they wanted to double him all the time. He took every double team and did not have a turnover until a very suspect travel call late in the game. He just kept making the right play.”"
I was very happy to see Howard avoid turnovers. If he can keep making smart plays when double-teamed, Orlando will be in very good shape.
The Point Guards were solid once again. Jameer Nelson finished with 8 points and 6 assists. He continues to get into the lane and find open teammates.
Jason Williams had a few turnovers today but Van Gundy credited that to him trying to make flashy plays while the team had a big lead.
JJ Redick made some plays with his passes, setting up his teammates with open looks. He was beaten a few times on defense, but overall he continued his improved play on that side of the court.
Marcin Gortat had 8 points and 4 rebounds in just over 12 minutes of play. Howard received the majority of the minutes.
Matt Barnes and Mickael Pietrus had quiet nights. Pietrus had 7 points while Barnes had 4 points and 4 rebounds.
Mike Woodson, like nearly every coach Orlando has played against, was impressed by the Magic.
"“Fabulous. Their team, they’re playing at a high level. They had a great taste of success last year by going to the Finals, and that puts you in a different light each night you step out on the floor. They’ve added some new pieces which I like, and they were solid from beginning to end.”"
- Atlanta rookie Guard Jeff Teague out of Wake Forest, was 0-of-15 from the field.
- Jamal Crawford led the Hawks with 14 points.
- The Hawks had several possessions with nearly zero ball movement that led to several bad shots. Crawford was responsible for many of those, but Teague did his part too.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger. Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)