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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| NETS | 29 | 30 | 27 | 16 | 102 |
| MAGIC | 32 | 28 | 23 | 22 | 105 |
Recap:
He’s known as Mr. Fourth Quarter around the Central Florida region, and tonight he showed why.
Hedo Turkoglu, who entered the final frame with only five points, scored eight straight down the stretch to lead Orlando to a thrilling 105-102 come from behind victory over the New Jersey Nets Friday night.
Turkoglu was the only Magic player to score a point from the 5:02 mark on until Rafer Alston hit a free throw to give Orlando a three-point advantage with 4.0 seconds remaining in the game. Two of Turkoglu’s baskets down the stretch were baseline jumpers that hit nothing but nylon over the undersized Devon Harris. After the second jumper fell through the hoop, a turnaround jumper from 19 feet, Harris could only shake his head in astonishment as his coach called timeout.
After Alston drained his clutch free throw with 4.0 seconds on the clock, Vince Carter took the game-typing 3-point attempt for New Jersey that clanked off the back of the rim and sealed the Magic’s third straight win.
Carter was red-hot in the third quarter and scored 12 of his 19 points in the period. But when the fourth quarter rolled around, Orlando put the clamps on him defensively, particularly down the stretch.
With 20.9 seconds remaining in the contest and New Jersey down by two, Turkoglu was called on by Stan Van Gundy to provide clutch defense this time rather than offense.
Following a New Jersey timeout, Carter was called on to run an isolation play on Turkoglu from the top of the key. Many would consider that a mismatch, but Turkoglu would have none of it.
He forced Carter to drive down the right side of the lane and settle for a challenged, fade away jumper over his outstretched arms. The shot missed long, Alston cleaned up the board and Orlando was on their way to yet another home victory.
That was the story of the second half, but Dwight Howard and his free throw shooting was the story of the first 24 minutes.
Howard came out of the gates in attack mode, racking up nine free throw attempts in the first half and sending Brook Lopez and Sean Williams to the bench in early foul trouble. Even more impressive than pounding the paint and firing up nine free throws was the fact that Howard made every single one of them. With his 9-of-9 performance from the line, Howard headed into the locker room with 15 points and nine rebounds.
His shooting touch from the line continued in the second half and he finished the night 12-of-14 from the charity stripe. Howard finished the night with game-highs of 26 points and 15 rebounds.
In addition to Howard’s big night, Rashard Lewis pitched in 21 points for the Magic to go along with his five rebounds and four assists.
Although the Magic were being outshot and trailed for most of the second half, they were able to pull out a win with great rebounding and great team free throw shooting. Orlando pounded the glass to the tune of a 48-33 advantage tonight and also made two more free throws than the Nets took, finishing the night 26-of-32 from the line.
Mickael Pietrus scored 14 points for the Magic off the bench and also grabbed seven rebounds. It was Pietrus’ first double-figure scoring night since the Magic played host to the Nets back on February 8, when he scored 17 points. He seems to have found his shooting touch from the outside and was on the attack and crashing the boards for all of the 26:39 he was on the court.
New Jersey’s top performer was Harris, who finished the night with 25 points and nine assists. Twenty of those points came in the first half, but the Magic held him at bay when it really counted.
Orlando will look to extend their three-game win streak at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon when they travel to Boston and take on the Celtics. The Magic and Celtics met in a hard fought battle back on January 22, when Boston pulled away down the stretch and held on for a 90-80 victory. If Orlando can knock Boston off on the road Sunday afternoon, they will give themselves a shot at evening the season series at 2-2 when they play host to the defending champs on March 25 in Amway Arena.
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Live Baseline Blog:
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Preview:
The Magic will look to extend their two-game win streak when they take the court at 7 p.m. tonight to face the New Jersey Nets in Amway Arena.
The young and talented Nets squad was blown out by the Magic in their first visit to Orlando last month. Missing their premiere shooter, Vince Carter, the team struggled on offense in a 101-84 loss.
Orlando limited the Nets to 39.5 percent shooting on the night and allowed New Jersey to score more than 20 points in only one quarter of the game. It was Orlando’s third game playing without All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson and it definitely showed at the defensive end. The Nets’ All-Star point guard, Devin Harris, had a monster night and finished with 28 points and 12 assists.
He’ll have a different look coming at him this time, as the always feisty Rafer Alston will be defending him for the majority of the night. Alston has grabbed at least two steals in five of his seven games in a Magic uniform. At the offensive end, he has scored in double-figures in six consecutive games and recorded at least five assists in six of seven games with Orlando. That will be a key matchup in this game, with the other being Vince Carter vs. the Magic defense.
Carter is still a prolific scorer on offense and can get his shot off in nearly any situation. The Magic have struggled this season containing premiere offensive players and this could be a great opportunity to shut one down. Mickael Pietrus, who recently returned from a sprained wrist, is the natural fit to defend Carter and should have a great chance to notch quality minutes. Courtney Lee has also been playing great basketball of late and should get some time defending the Nets' swingman.
On February 8, Dwight Howard had his way against the Nets and made nine of his 13 shot attempts en route to a 30-point, 16-rebound game. He has played outstanding since the All-Star break and this will be yet another night where he takes on a team that does not have a single player on the roster that can defend him effectively in the post. Book Lopez will be the primary defender on him, but he lacks the lateral quickness to keep up with Howard's face up moves.
Although Howard should have another big night , this game might be decided on the perimeter with Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis' offense for the Magic and Deven Harris and Vince Carter's offense for the Nets.
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Keys to the game:
The Young Guns: The New Jersey roster is littered with more young talent than nearly any team in the NBA, including two 2008 first round draft picks that are grabbing big minutes on the court this season. Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson were chosen 11 picks apart this past June (10th and 21st, respectively) and are now side-by-side on the court in many scenarios. Lopez is having a great rookie season with 12.6 ppg. and 8.1 rpg. Anderson, who got the start against the Magic last month with Vince Carter out with an injury, is scoring 7.2 ppg. and grabbing 4.7 rpg. Those two players are seen as the backbone of the future when coupled with Yi Jianlian, who was acquired from Milwaukee this past offseason. Sean Williams and Chris Douglas-Roberts are also solid contributors off the bench. That young group is going to need to perform well tonight, especially Anderson, if the Nets hope to win. In the meeting with the Magic last month, Anderson managed to score only three points in 20 minutes.
Limit NJ's Assists: Devin Harris holds the keys to the car when it comes to New Jersey's offense. He orchestrates nearly every play and tries to create an easy shot for either his teammates or himself. New Jersey has been on a steady increase with their assists per game since December. Their nightly average has gone from 18.4 in December to 20.3 in January, to 21.3 in February and now 23.7 in March. That assist number hasn't resulted in a winning record for the Nets but it has definitely made their offense more efficient. As their assist ratio has increased, their shooting has seen a steady incline in percentage as well. If the Magic can limit the Nets' ability to assist on easy shots tonight, which they have done all season long (they limit opponents to the lowest assist average in the NBA), it should put them in a great position to notch their third straight victory.
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Game Notes:
Mar. 6 vs. New Jersey: Orlando is 42-34 all-time vs. New Jersey (22-15 at home, 18-19 on the road, 2-0 at Tokyo, Japan) during regular season play, including 1-0 this season (see recap below)…Orlando went 3-1 last season against the Nets...The Magic have won six of the last eight meetings with the Nets…The Magic have won four of the last five matchups in Orlando, but split the last eight trips to New Jersey…Anthony Johnson played two seasons (100 games) with New Jersey from 2001-03 and helped the Nets reach back-to-back NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003…Feb. 8 vs. New Jersey – Magic 101, Nets 84: Dwight Howard tallied 30 points and 16 rebounds, as Orlando defeated New Jersey, 101-84, at Amway Arena. Mickael Pietrus netted 17 points for the Magic, while Hedo Turkoglu chipped in with 15 points and eight assists. Devin Harris led the Nets with 28 points and 12 assists. Orlando led for most of the game, leading 32-18 after the first quarter and by as many as 19 points. The Nets, who were without Vince Carter due to a sore right elbow, shot just 39.5 percent from the floor.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. NETS: 50 pts., Nick Anderson (@ New Jersey, 4-23-93)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 41 pts., Kendall Gill (@ New Jersey, 1-13-97)
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