The Orlando Magic pulled away from the New York Knicks during the third quarter, turning a 2-point lead into a 9-point lead. Rashard Lewis scored 13 of his season-high 26 points in the quarter to help the Magic improve to 14-4 on the season. The Knicks fell to 3-13.
Rashard Lewis had his best game of the season on Sunday night. He scored 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting and was 5-of-9 from downtown. Lewis also had 8 rebounds.
He scored 13 of his points in a decisive third quarter in which the Magic held the Knicks to just 21 points and scored 28 themselves, turning their 2-point halftime lead into a 9-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
It was great to see Lewis play well after watching him struggled during his first six games back in the Magic lineup.
The Magic once again started slow. Orlando trailed for the majority of the first quarter and went down by five when Wilson Chandler hit a 3-pointer with just under four minutes to play in the period. The Magic closed the period on an 8-3 run highlighted by Jason Williams’ buzzer-beating 30-foot 3-pointer that gave the Magic a 31-29 lead at the conclusion of the first period.
The Magic, as expected, struggled to defend the pick-and-roll. Throughout the first half Chris Duhon, who has had an awful start the season, ran the pick-and-roll to perfection. He got a few open looks for himself, but spent most of time dishing the ball to an open David Lee. Duhon repeatedly got into the lane, which is something that he has struggled with through the first 16 games of the season.
The Knicks played very well in the first half of the second quarter. The Knicks continued to shoot the ball better than you would expect, hitting some very difficult jump-shots that you wouldn’t expect a 3-13 team to make. They even built their lead back up to six before Anthony Johnson was able to drive straight the hoop for a signature “Dad dunk.” The Magic ended the quarter on a 15-7 run that included a Matt Barnes 3-pointer and two other easy dunks by Barnes and Dwight Howard. The Magic ended the quarter with a 2-point lead, 54-52.
After allowing the Knicks to get back in the lead early in the third quarter, the Magic made their run. The Magic made four 3-pointers in the quarter. Three of those 3-pointers were hit by Rashard Lewis, who scored 13 points in the period. Mickael Pietrus’ runner at the buzzer gave the Magic an 82-73 lead at the end of the quarter.
Orlando was able to outscore Nate Robinson, who had 22 fourth quarter points, in the final period to put the game away and win 114-102.
Orlando’s defense once again improved in the second half before having some late lapses when the game was no longer in doubt.
The Magic, as usual, had trouble slowing the Knicks. The Knicks shot 50.6% from the field. Fortunately, the Magic were able to match the Knicks with an identical 42-of-83 shooting night from the field. The difference? 3-point shooting and free throw shooting. The Knicks were 9-of-23 from downtown (39.1%), but the Magic made 13 3-pointers while attempting an extremely high 38 3-point shots. Even with a cold night shooting from the field, Orlando still managed to post an eFG% of 58.4% because the amount of 3-pointers they threw up. The Magic free throw woes continued as they went just 17-of-31 from the line (54.8%). The Knicks only attempted 13 free throws, making nine.
The Magic took much better care of the basketball Sunday night, turning it over just nine times. As I noted in the pregame, it was important that the Magic dominate the glass because they are a weak rebounding team. The Magic won the battle of the boards 47-37, but that doesn’t tell the whole story because with both teams shooting over 50% from the field, there were less rebounds available. Their offensive rebounding % was 22.9% compared to just 7.7% for the Knicks.
Dwight Howard had another excellent game. Howard attempted just nine shots, but he made eight o them and scored 24 points. He once again struggled from the free throw line, going 8-of-15. Howard also grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds and blocked two shots.
Vince Carter shot the ball better from the field (9-of-20, 45%) and scored 23 points. Carter could have finished with a much better line but he was uncharacteristically bad from the 3-point line (1-of-7) and the free throw line (4-of-9). Carter grabbed 3 rebounds, had 3 assists and turned the ball over just once.
Jason Williams’ efficient play continued. He scored just 5 points on 2-of-7 shooting, but he dished out 8 assists and turned the ball over only once. He also grabbed 4 rebounds.
Marcin Gortat (7 minutes) and Brandon Bass (2 minutes) saw limited action. Neither player scored and Gortat’s foul and 2 rebounds were the only marks either player left on the stat sheet.
Anthony Johnson scored 2 points and had 2 assists in 12 minutes.
The rest of the Magic bench was very good. Matt Barnes, J.J. Redick and Ryan Anderson combined to score 26 points and grab 9 rebounds.
Matt Barnes played 25 minutes and hit 3 of his 6 shots, scored 8 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and blocked a shot.
Ryan Anderson didn’t shoot well (5-of-12 from the field, 2-of-7 from downtown), but once again showed great energy. He had 4 rebounds and 2 steals. He finished the game with 12 points.
Game Notes:
- The Knicks had five players in double figures while the Magic had four.
- Nate Robinson scored 24 points but had 22 in the fourth quarter.
- Al Harrington scored just 9 points a game after scoring 41.
- David Lee, who has been Howard’s main competition for the lead in double-doubles, had another one, with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
- Orlando allowed Chris Duhon to score 11 points and dish out 9 assists while turning the ball over once. He averages just 6.8 points per game and 5.9 assists per game on the season.
- Howard had the largest +/- of the game at +19.
- Orlando won its sixth straight road game, their third straight overall, and got their eighth win in their last nine games.
- Orlando is 7-1 since Rashard Lewis’ return.
- The Magic also finished 3-1 in a tough stretch in which they played four games in five nights.
- Orlando’s lone loss during this stretch was their one-point defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat.
Final Thought: The Magic once again had trouble defending the Knicks but still came out with a victory.
Next up: The Magic and Knicks will meet again on Wednesday night at Amway Arena before the Magic head out west for a four game road trip against Golden State, the Clippers, Utah, and Phoenix.
(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.)