Denton: Magic-Timberwolves Postgame Analysis
By John Denton
January 1, 2010
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
The Orlando Magic did on Friday night what elite, veteran-laden teams do: They turned it on in the fourth quarter with their defense and rebounding, shot the ball well and put the scrappy Minnesota Timberwolves in the dust.
The Magic used a 33-point fourth quarter, one fueled by six 3-pointers in the final 12 minutes, to run past the Timberwolves 106-94 in the first game of a three-game roadtrip for Orlando.
Once down 77-75 early in the fourth period, the Magic (24-8) got 3-pointers on their next four possessions, three of them from reserve power forward Ryan Anderson (16 points and four 3-pointers). From there, Orlando had a game-sealing 10-0 run down the stretch that was punctuated by a Rahsard Lewis alley-oop dunk for the victory.
One of the biggest differences in the game came from the 3-point stripe. Minnesota (7-27) was intent on taking Magic center Dwight Howard away on the inside, so the Magic took their shots from the 3-point stripe. Orlando made 15 of 37 3-pointers, while Minnesota made eight of 18.
``Obviously their plan was to stay in the paint and let us shoot the ball,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy marveled. ``The first half that worked pretty well … but the second half not so well. If we get those kinds of (3-point) shots we’re going to knock them down. They did a good job of eliminating Dwight, they went under every pick-and-roll and let Jameer shoot and they let Rashard (Lewis) and Ryan stand out there and shoot and they made nine threes between them. We force you into those types of decisions and our guys made good decisions.’’
The Magic, who snapped a three-game losing streak on the road, play in Chicago tonight at 8 p.m. In the last six times that Orlando has played back-to-back sets of games, it is just 3-3 on the second night.
Here’s a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from Friday’s victory:
THE GOOD
---- Lewis and Anderson made the Timberwolves pay dearly for collapsing inside on Howard. Sure, they give up some size on the defensive end of the floor and have trouble on the boards from time to time, but the Magic’s one-two perimeter punches often exploit more traditional power forwards on the other end of the floor.
Lewis burned Minnesota’s Kevin Love for 21 points on seven of 12 shooting and five 3-pointers. He’s made at least two 3-pointers in 17 straight games.
Anderson missed his first five shots on Friday, but that didn’t deter him from shooting. All four of his made field goals were 3-pointers with three of them coming in the fourth quarter.
---- Magic point guard Jameer Nelson had struggled with his shot and his explosiveness in his four games since coming back from arthroscopic knee surgery. But he was as sharp as ever Friday night, shredding Minnesota for 16 points, six assists and three rebounds.
Nelson shot the ball with confidence and aggressive sought out shots when rookie point guard Johnny Flynn went under screens on pick-and-roll plays. Nelson made six of 11 shots and two of three 3-pointers.
And backup point guard Jason Williams continued to play well and shoot the ball from distance. He hit four of six tries and two 3-pointers. In his past two games, he’s made seven of nine shots from 3-point range.
---- New starter Matt Barnes, who was inserted into the starting lineup on Wednesday by Van Gundy in place of Mickael Pietrus, continued to stuff the stat sheet with his tough, gritty play. He had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while making six of 10 shots and getting to the free throw line six times (five makes).
The Magic are 7-2 this season when Barnes has started at small forward.
``We’re trying something a little different because we’ve been getting off to slow starts,’’ Barnes said. ``I’m just trying to come with more energy and help our team come with more energy.’’
THE BAD
---- New Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis got a good look at the Magic last June in the NBA Finals when he was an assistant with the Lakers, but clearly he still isn’t aware that Orlando is one of the league’s best shooting teams from beyond the 3-point arc.
Rambis was clearly determined to take away Howard, and the Timberwolves were successful by holding the all-star center to nine points. But the Magic moved the ball well enough that six different players hit 3-pointers.
Give Howard credit for not getting frustrated and finding other ways to contribute. He had 15 rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocked shots.
---- The Magic had just 14 rebounds in the first half, allowing the Timberwolves to grab 13 offensive boards. But the Magic flipped the script in the second half. The Magic allowed just three offensive rebounds in the second half and did a solid job of neutralizing power forward Kevin Love (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Al Jefferson (14 points, 10 rebounds).
``The fourth quarter we played really, really well. We changed around our mentality on the glass,’’ Van Gundy said. ``We got crushed in the first half, but we kept Kevin Love without an offensive rebound in the second half. It was huge that we turned our mentality around.’’
THE UGLY
---- The last eight-tenths of a second of the third quarter took about 10 minutes to play because of a bizarre sequence of events.
When the ball was batted out of bounds with eight-tenths of a second remaining, Minnesota’s first in-bounds pass was batted out of bounds. Then, on the second attempt, Lewis fouled Ryan Gomes on a lob attempt.
The referees needed to go to the replay monitors to look at the play again and it was determined that Lewis’ foul came before was touched, but Gomes wasn’t attempting a shot yet. Then, on a third in-bounds try, the ball was kicked out of bounds. And on the fourth try it was much ado about nothing as Wayne Ellington’s 3-point heave wasn’t released before the horn.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonJanuary 1, 2010
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
The Orlando Magic did on Friday night what elite, veteran-laden teams do: They turned it on in the fourth quarter with their defense and rebounding, shot the ball well and put the scrappy Minnesota Timberwolves in the dust.
The Magic used a 33-point fourth quarter, one fueled by six 3-pointers in the final 12 minutes, to run past the Timberwolves 106-94 in the first game of a three-game roadtrip for Orlando.
Once down 77-75 early in the fourth period, the Magic (24-8) got 3-pointers on their next four possessions, three of them from reserve power forward Ryan Anderson (16 points and four 3-pointers). From there, Orlando had a game-sealing 10-0 run down the stretch that was punctuated by a Rahsard Lewis alley-oop dunk for the victory.
One of the biggest differences in the game came from the 3-point stripe. Minnesota (7-27) was intent on taking Magic center Dwight Howard away on the inside, so the Magic took their shots from the 3-point stripe. Orlando made 15 of 37 3-pointers, while Minnesota made eight of 18.
``Obviously their plan was to stay in the paint and let us shoot the ball,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy marveled. ``The first half that worked pretty well … but the second half not so well. If we get those kinds of (3-point) shots we’re going to knock them down. They did a good job of eliminating Dwight, they went under every pick-and-roll and let Jameer shoot and they let Rashard (Lewis) and Ryan stand out there and shoot and they made nine threes between them. We force you into those types of decisions and our guys made good decisions.’’
The Magic, who snapped a three-game losing streak on the road, play in Chicago tonight at 8 p.m. In the last six times that Orlando has played back-to-back sets of games, it is just 3-3 on the second night.
Here’s a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from Friday’s victory:
THE GOOD
---- Lewis and Anderson made the Timberwolves pay dearly for collapsing inside on Howard. Sure, they give up some size on the defensive end of the floor and have trouble on the boards from time to time, but the Magic’s one-two perimeter punches often exploit more traditional power forwards on the other end of the floor.
Lewis burned Minnesota’s Kevin Love for 21 points on seven of 12 shooting and five 3-pointers. He’s made at least two 3-pointers in 17 straight games.
Anderson missed his first five shots on Friday, but that didn’t deter him from shooting. All four of his made field goals were 3-pointers with three of them coming in the fourth quarter.
---- Magic point guard Jameer Nelson had struggled with his shot and his explosiveness in his four games since coming back from arthroscopic knee surgery. But he was as sharp as ever Friday night, shredding Minnesota for 16 points, six assists and three rebounds.
Nelson shot the ball with confidence and aggressive sought out shots when rookie point guard Johnny Flynn went under screens on pick-and-roll plays. Nelson made six of 11 shots and two of three 3-pointers.
And backup point guard Jason Williams continued to play well and shoot the ball from distance. He hit four of six tries and two 3-pointers. In his past two games, he’s made seven of nine shots from 3-point range.
---- New starter Matt Barnes, who was inserted into the starting lineup on Wednesday by Van Gundy in place of Mickael Pietrus, continued to stuff the stat sheet with his tough, gritty play. He had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while making six of 10 shots and getting to the free throw line six times (five makes).
The Magic are 7-2 this season when Barnes has started at small forward.
``We’re trying something a little different because we’ve been getting off to slow starts,’’ Barnes said. ``I’m just trying to come with more energy and help our team come with more energy.’’
THE BAD
---- New Minnesota coach Kurt Rambis got a good look at the Magic last June in the NBA Finals when he was an assistant with the Lakers, but clearly he still isn’t aware that Orlando is one of the league’s best shooting teams from beyond the 3-point arc.
Rambis was clearly determined to take away Howard, and the Timberwolves were successful by holding the all-star center to nine points. But the Magic moved the ball well enough that six different players hit 3-pointers.
Give Howard credit for not getting frustrated and finding other ways to contribute. He had 15 rebounds, four assists, two steals and three blocked shots.
---- The Magic had just 14 rebounds in the first half, allowing the Timberwolves to grab 13 offensive boards. But the Magic flipped the script in the second half. The Magic allowed just three offensive rebounds in the second half and did a solid job of neutralizing power forward Kevin Love (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Al Jefferson (14 points, 10 rebounds).
``The fourth quarter we played really, really well. We changed around our mentality on the glass,’’ Van Gundy said. ``We got crushed in the first half, but we kept Kevin Love without an offensive rebound in the second half. It was huge that we turned our mentality around.’’
THE UGLY
---- The last eight-tenths of a second of the third quarter took about 10 minutes to play because of a bizarre sequence of events.
When the ball was batted out of bounds with eight-tenths of a second remaining, Minnesota’s first in-bounds pass was batted out of bounds. Then, on the second attempt, Lewis fouled Ryan Gomes on a lob attempt.
The referees needed to go to the replay monitors to look at the play again and it was determined that Lewis’ foul came before was touched, but Gomes wasn’t attempting a shot yet. Then, on a third in-bounds try, the ball was kicked out of bounds. And on the fourth try it was much ado about nothing as Wayne Ellington’s 3-point heave wasn’t released before the horn.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
