For the second time in four days, the Orlando Magic defeated the New York Knicks and now have more wins than any other team in the NBA (15-4). The final score (118-104) may seem very similar to Sunday night’s 114-102 victory, but this game was not nearly as close.
The Magic played a pretty ho-hum first half before really turning it up in the third period. Orlando was just 2-of-16 from beyond the arc in the first half but Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus hit for 3-pointers a piece in a 41-point third quarter for the Magic. Pietrus and Lewis combined to score 32 points in the period.
The Magic cruised through the fourth quarter, letting New York score 34 points (which Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy was not happy about) and wound up with a 118-104 victory.
Rashard Lewis’ play might have been the story of the game. After a very quiet first half, Lewis came alive in the third quarter. Lewis attempted just three shots and scored only 3 points in the first half. He did get involved in other ways, grabbing 8 first half rebounds. In the third quarter, Lewis was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field and four of those shots were 3-pointers. He was also fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit all three free throws. Lewis finished the game with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
It is a very good sign that Lewis has put up back to back good games (he scored 26 points in Sunday’s victory). The Magic are now 8-1 since Lewis returned.
Mickael Pietrus was also from fantastic, hitting four third quarter 3-pointers and going 5-of-8 from downtown on the night. After one of his 3-pointers, he even did a “shimmy” after one of his 3-pointers hit the bottom of the net.
The Magic had so much success outside because of the early success that they had getting the ball to Dwight Howard inside. The Knicks attempted to single cover Howard and Howard touched the ball deep in the pain on seven of Orlando’s first nine possessions. On the two possessions he didn’t touch the ball; Jason Williams got two excellent looks at the basket. On the seven possessions, he did touch the ball, Howard had a dunk, a nice hook shot, two other shots around the basket, drew a foul and found Rashard Lewis who then passed to an open Mickael Pietrus for three. Howard also hit his goal of shooting 70% from the line tonight – he was 7-of-10. After Howard scored 13 first half points, the Knicks double-teamed him and that’s when the barrage of 3-pointers came.
Stan Van Gundy discussed it in his post game press conference.
"“Early in the game, they decided not to double team him (Howard) and he just went to work. Then, as the game went on, they came on a double team every time and we knocked down 3’s.”"
Van Gundy really tinkered with the lineup tonight and Lewis spent some time at Small Forward tonight due to the fact that Brandon Bass played his game of the season. After usual backup Center Marcin Gortat picked up two quick fouls and had a turnover, Bass checked into the game at Center and immediately made an impact. He went to the hoop and got a layup. Then, he hit a short jumper two possessions later. Just two minutes later, Bass mad a long jump shot and followed it up with a 3-point play, scoring 9 points in four minutes. Bass has an excellent jumper, which is something that Orlando’s other Centers do not possess, making him a matchup nightmare at time offensively. Bass continues to struggle on defense, but he more than made it up for it on the offensive end tonight. Bass finished the game with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
Orlando turned it up on defense for at least part of the night. The Knicks managed to score 104 points and post an eFG% of 52.3, but 13 of their field goals, including three of their 3-pointers came in the fourth quarter. The Magic entered the fourth quarter with a 22-point lead. The Knicks had just 15 assists and committed 18 turnovers. The Magic also played much better pick-and-roll defense after struggling with it over their last two games. The Knicks also made many poor decisions and took several ill-advised shots, but that’s why they’re just 4-15.
The Magic really hustled to the ball tonight. They had fast hands and wound up with 10 steals. The play that comes to mind that really shots Orlando’s effort was Rashard Lewis’ block of Danilo Gallinari’s fast break dunk attempt.
Orlando, on the other hand shot a 55.1% and shot just under 69% on 2-point field goals. They wound up hitting 10 of their 30 3-point attempts and finished with an eFG% of 61.5%. You won’t lose many games when you shoot the ball like that.
Orlando still needs some serious work in a couple of areas. They turned the ball over 18 times and they could still stand to improve from the free throw line. They were 22-of-30 tonight (73.3%), which is much better than they have been lately.
Click here to see the box score.
Game Notes:
- The Magic had six players in double figures.
- Orlando’s bench scored 44 points.
- Orlando outrebounded the Knicks 46-36.
- Orlando scored 50 points in the paint to New York’s 34.
- The Magic had 23 second chance points to the Knicks’ 18.
- Orlando had 22 fast break points while the Knicks had just 8.
- Ryan Anderson didn’t get many shots tonight (2-of-5 from the field), but got it done in other ways. He had 3 assists and 4 rebounds (3 offensive) in just under 14 minutes.
- Wilson Chandler had a season-high 24 points.
- Former Florida State Guard Toney Douglas had 17 points. I got an interview with him before the game – look for that tomorrow.
- Jason Williams had 8 points and 5 assists on Wednesday night. I’ll have a story about the great job he’s done replacing the injured Jameer Nelson tomorrow.
Final Thought: It’s good to see Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard playing like Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard.
Next up: Stan Van Gundy joked about Orlando’s schedule after the game.
"“Now back out on the road after this long home stand.”"
Orlando’s last three games were on the road and their next four will be as well, starting with a trip to Golden State to face the Warriors on Saturday.
(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.)