Victor Oladipo scored a career-high 38 points and grades out well. How did other Magic players fare?
This man is a hero. Dewayne Dedmon got his first start of the season tonight and it was well deserved.
Dedmon managed to help Orlando get off to a much better start tonight and finished with eight points, eight rebounds and a team-high +/- with a +9.
The only thing that held Dedmon back tonight was his foul trouble. Dedmon only managed to log 20 minutes tonight and in that time he managed to pick up four fouls. This was critical as the Suns went on a huge run in the third quarter when Dedmon was not on the floor. [/grade]
Rookie wall? James Borrego does not think so. Apparently he was onto something.
Elfrid looked a lot more comfortable out there tonight, and I think a big part of that was thanks to his defense. Maybe Elfrid felt like he had a little more leeway with Dewayne Dedmon protecting the rim but Elfrid was as aggressive defensively as I have seen him this year. At one point in the second quarter, Payton had Brandon Knight afraid to dribble the ball near him.
Payton seemed to carry this aggressiveness over to the offensive end of the ball as well. Payton attempted THREE jump shots tonight including a three-pointer. While Elfrid only made one of those shots it is a good sign that he is willing to take them.
One thing I notice tonight for Payton offensively is that he pushed the tempo a few times and it seemed to really help him get into the groove offensively. Hopefully we will see more of that in the future. [/grade]
This is a thank you to Willie Green. Thank you Willie for helping to re-ignite this team’s competitive spirit. Thank you for playing better than anybody thought you could for two months. We had good times and I will try to remember those.
With that out of the way lets get to the ugly. Willie Green appears to have reverted back to old Willie Green. Green was 1 for 8 tonight and just did not do anything on the court with the time he was given.
Green also committed the turnover that ended the game for the Magic. Green deserved an F for his play tonight but as much as I disliked the signing and his playing time Willie Green has really shown me the value of having a veteran presence on the team. [/grade]
The Suns showed a lot of fortitude tonight by coming back from down 16. Brandon Knight had his best game as a Sun tonight scoring 28 points. Markieff Morris is really freaking good. Jeff Hornacek is a pretty awesome coach. P.J. Tucker took over in the fourth quarter and was a huge reason for Orlando’s turnover problem.
The Suns getting a road win after trading two of their three lead guards is a big accomplishment no matter how weak the opponent is. Impressive win for a Suns team who should only get better as the season goes along. [/grade]