The Orlando Magic did what they were supposed to do on Wednesday night. Orlando played the Toronto Raptors, the worst defensive team in the league, and torched them for a 118-99 victory. Rashard Lewis had a game-high 21 points while Dwight Howard scored 18 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and showed why he is the reigning defensive player of the year, blocking 8 shots. Chris Bosh led the Raptors with 20 points.
Orlando trailed early in the game but took the lead in at the 5:30 mark on a Vince Carter fadeaway and never looked back. Orlando finished the opening quarter by shooting 14-of-20 and taking a 35-24 lead. The second and third quarters were fairly even but Orlando dominated the start of the off the final period and let the bench close out a 118-99 win.
Jason Williams was extremely impressive today. He got to the basket and set up his teammates very well. Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy was happy with Williams’ decision to be more aggressive. Williams is also battling a stomach ailment but really hustled and there was a perfect example of his effort in the first quarter. With the Magic up just 21-19, Williams hit a 3-pointer, than quickly got back on defense. He jumped up, intercepted a pass and threw the ball to Vince Carter while falling out-of-bounds. Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy was very pleased with his play.
"“He played real well and he’s sick. He finished up early tonight and no matter what happened he wasn’t going to be able to go the rest of the way, hopefully he’ll feel better tomorrow. Both he and A.J. played really well.”"
Williams finished the game with 13 points, 7 assists and 0 turnovers.
Dwight Howard was a monster on the boards and on the defensive end once again. Howard scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, but his 7 blocked shots was all anyone wanted to hear about after the game. Raptors Head Coach Jay Triano talked about Howard’s impact.
"“Anytime we tried to go to the basket, he was there. He blocked shots and he changed just as many. He was very active defensively. He took a lot of our stuff inside away. We still had 40 points inside, but he took a lot more away.”"
Howard had a good night at the free throw line, going 6-of-8 even though he heard Daryl Strawberry-esque chant every time he attempted a shot from the solid collection of Raptor fans in attendance.
As predicted, Dwight Howard is once again playing like the superstar he is.
Matt Barnes was also very aggressive and may have found a way to get himself out of his shooting funk. He shot 7-of-10 from the field and early on, most of those field goals came on drives. That opened up the 3-point shot for Barnes, who finished 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and finished with a season-high 20 points.
Rashard Lewis had his best shooting night of the season. He was 5-of-8 from downtown and 8-of-13 from the field overall, finishing with a game-high 21 points.
Hedo Turkoglu had a quiet game, scoring 14 points on 2-of-7 shooting, but the fans were anything but quiet. After cheering Turkoglu in the pregame introductions, he was booed for the remainder of the game.
Stan Van Gundy thought that it would be ridiculous to boo Turkoglu.
"“Anybody who’s booing him in my mind really can’t be a Magic fan. I don’t understand how you’re a Magic fan and you’re booing him. He did a great job for this organization for a number of years. We wouldn’t have gotten to where we got to last year without him. He deserves nothing but the respect and gratitude of the fans. Plus, he’s a good guy.”"
Game Notes:
- Orlando had six players in double figures – Lewis (21), Barnes (20), Howard (18), Williams (13), Anthony Johnson (13), Vince Carter (12).
- Orlando dominated the boards 42-31.
- Vince Carter had a season-high 7 assists.
- Orlando hit 14 3-pointers while Toronto made just 5.
Next Up: Orlando will play Thursday night in Miami against the Heat.
Final Thought: Orlando did what they were supposed to do. They scored early and often against one of, if not the worst defense in league history.
(Andrew Melnick is 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.)