The Orlando Magic survived. The Magic trailed by as many as 17 in the second quarter, but fought back, building a lead as big as 10 in the fourth quarter before a Brand Jennings 3-pointer tied the game 2:40 to go. Rashard Lewis hit the final shot of the game, an 11-foot jumper with 44 seconds to go, breaking a tie and giving the Magic a 100-98 win.
Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy knows the Bucks present some serious matchup problems for the Magic so the close margin of victory didn’t bother him.
"“I’m just happy to get out of here with a win.”"
The Magic took an early six-to-nothing lead. The Bucks matched that initial run with nine straight points before the Magic came right back with seven straight points of their own to retake the lead 13-9. After that, the rest of the first half belonged to the Bucks. Milwaukee outscored the Magic 17-to-8 to end the first quarter with a 26-to-21 lead.
During the first quarter, the Bucks created some serious matchup problems for the Magic after Dan Gadzuric picked up his second foul less than two minutes into the game. Kurt Thomas checked in and played pretty well, grabbing a few rebounds and hitting a couple of jumpers. Vince Carter cut open his mouth and had to check out halfway through the first quarter, which also helped give way to the Bucks’ run.
The second quarter was even worse for the Magic. The Bucks outscored the Magic 25-15 in the first nine minutes of the quarter. Hakim Warrick scored 12 points the quarter and was giving Marcin Gortat and the other Magic defenders a lot of problems.
Brandon Bass checked in for the first time in four games after Rashard Lewis picked up his third foul and actually provided a nice spark for the Magic. He scored 5 points and help the Magic close to within nine at the end of the half.
Vince Carter also checked back in at the midway point in the second quarter.
The Bucks also went with two point guards for a majority of the quarter and it worked very well. Luke Ridnour and Brandon Jennings played very well together and at times, each ran the pick-and-roll to perfection.
At the half, the Magic shot 18-of-37 from the field (48.6%) while the Hawks shot just 45.6% but his three more field goals than the Magic and shot an incredible 7-of-8 from downtown (87.5%). The Magic, at the time, were just 4-of-14 from beyond the arc (28.5%). The Magic also had 10 turnovers and just nine assists, while the Hawks assisted on 14 of their field goals and only turned the ball over three times.
The Magic started the second half slow and got back down by 15 points after Brandon Jennings hit a 3-pointer with 6:58 to go in the third quarter.
That’s when, much like Orlando’s win over the Hawks on Thursday night, the tide began to turn.
The Magic answered by going on a 20-to-4 run to end the quarter with a 73-70 lead. During the run, Orlando hit four 3-pointers, one by Vince Carter and three by Jason Williams.
In the fourth quarter, the Magic fell behind again on Carlos Delfino’s 3-pointer and two free throws 79-75, but they answered very quickly, going on a 16-2 run to take a 10-point lead. Unfortunately the lead didn’t last long. Missed free throws and turnovers let the Bucks right back into the game with Jennings’ 3-pointer tying it before Rashard Lewis hit the game winner with 44 seconds left. The Magic played solid defense and got a few key rebounds enabling them to keep the Hawks off the board in the final minute of the game.
In his post game interview with Matt Guokas on FSN, Dwight Howard explained the difference between the first half and the second half.
"“In the first half, they were making some unbelievable shots and in the second half, we just tried to do a better job of trying to contain Jennings. You know, he likes to try to come off the screen and shoot the jump shot. I think we did a good job of just forcing him to pass the ball and make other players make plays.”"
Dwight Howard was fantastic, especially in the second half. Van Gundy was very pleased with his second half performance.
"“He really turned it on in the second half – 25 and 20 – and we need that. He was tremendous.”"
Howard scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the second half to finish with his second 20-20 game of the season (25 points, 20 rebounds). Howard, much like he was on Thursday night, was much more aggressive, attempting 15 shots, making 10 of them. He struggled from the free throw line again (5-of-10), but played excellent defense and allowed the Magic to outscore the Bucks in the paint by 20 (48-28). Howard also blocked four shots.
Like Howard, Vince Carter also really turned up his play in the second half, scoring 19 of his 25 points in the second half. Carter was 10-of-23 from the field. Carter really displayed his toughness by playing 35 minutes after being cut open. Carter briefly left the game to receive four stitches.
Jason Williams was fantastic again. Not only did he score 12 points and hit three key 3-pointers during Orlando’s third quarter comeback, but posted a line that coaches dream that their point guards will post: 10 assists and zero turnovers. Williams continues to play near mistake-free basketball and that is one of the primary reasons that the Magic just won their seventh game in eight tries.
Anthony Johnson, Marcin Gortat, Matt Barnes, and Ryan Anderson combined for just seven points but played only a combined 35 minutes.
J.J. Redick played 29 minutes. He was 3-of-5 from the field and 1-of-2 from downtown, finishing with 9 points. The Magic were +7 with Redick on the court. It wasn’t all good for Redick. He uncharacteristically went just 2-of-5 from the free throw line.
Rashard Lewis was a lot more patient today and it really seemed to pay off. Not only did Lewis the game-winning shot, but he was 6-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the 3-point arc. He finished with 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Foul trouble was the only thing that kept Lewis from posting a bigger stat-line.
It was also the reason Brandon Bass finally entered the game after posting the same stat-line for four consecutive games (DNP – Coach’s Decision). Bass played just nine minutes, but 3-of-4 from the field and hit both of his free throws. He finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds and a blocked shot. Bass’ 3-point play on his dunk with 8:42 to play gave the Magic a 2-point lead. Bass had to have been happy to get back on the court. After the game, Dwight Howard told Matt Guokas just how selfless Brandon Bass is.
"“Guys just want to win. Look at a guy like Brandon Bass, he hasn’t played in like 4 games. He came in tonight and did what he does best, which is rebound and score. We just want to win.”"
The Magic did have several problems, but there were three big ones on Friday night: turnovers, Ersan Ilyasova, and the opposing point guards, Brandon Jennings and Luke Ridnour.
The Magic committed 17 turnovers and Stan Van Gundy, when asked about it, said that even though the Bucks did not score many points off of turnovers (14), it still hurts the team.
"“17 turnovers is just taking away scoring opportunities.”"
Ersan Ilyasova was a monster, posting maybe the best line of his career – 20 points and 16 rebounds, including 7 offensive rebounds. I can see the Magic having some trouble defending him, but to let him get that many boards, especially on the offensive glass, is ridiculous. They must rebound the ball better.
Brandon Jennings didn’t shoot well (7-of-22) but made some key shots during the game. Jennings finished with The Bucks went to a two point guard look, playing Jennings alongside Luke Ridnour, and it worked very well. Both players did a good job of running the pick-and-roll. Ridnour finished with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting and had six assists.
Game Notes:
- The Magic, who started slow again, showed their resiliency and did some other good things Saturday night, but there is still a lot to work on.
- They outrebounded the Bucks 50-to-44. I would have liked to have seen the margin be greater since they were playing an undersized team who was without leading rebounder Andrew Bogut, but after Orlando’s dismal performance on the boards against the Heat on Wednesday night, anything is an upgrade.
- The Magic did give up 15 rebounds. That has to be corrected.
- The Magic forced just six turnovers.
- The Magic blocked seven shots.
- Orlando’s poor free throw shooting continued. They shot just 56% (14-of-25).
Final Thought: Just call the Magic the comeback kids.
Next up: There is no time to celebrate this win as the Magic must play just 18 hours after their victory when they travel to New York to face the Knicks on Sunday evening.
(Andrew Melnick Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)