Denton: Magic-Wizards Postgame Analysis
By John Denton
January 8, 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.
ORLANDO – It was the Washington Wizards that looked like the team full of All-Stars on Friday night, getting big efforts from four different players in a stirring come-from-behind victory. Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic resembled the distracted, disappointed team, oddly crumbling down the stretch.
The Magic’s troubling, bizzaro-type of turnaround continued yet again Friday night and resulted in the franchise’s first four-game losing streak since February of 2007.
When the Magic squandered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and got outscored 33-20 in an unsightly fourth quarter they lost 104-97 to Washington to continue their bizarre fall.
Remarkably, a Magic team that was in the NBA Finals last spring and hovering very close to the top of the Eastern Conference just two weeks ago, lost for the fourth straight time to a sub-.500 team. Also, they have lost five of seven games and they are just 7-8 in the past 15 games.
``It just gets worse. It was terrible,’’ exasperated Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``We were fine until the last 10 minutes of the game and then we give up fastbreaks and second shots and didn’t have one guy on the floor who could make a shot.’’
Orlando (24-12) lost on Friday because Vince Carter sprained/bruised his shoulder late in the first half and it got little offensive production from Jameer Nelson (two of 11 shooting) and Rashard Lewis (four of 13). Dwight Howard had a big night with 23 points and 11 rebounds, but he couldn’t keep Washington (12-22) from outrebounding the Magic 55-41.
A Washington team still reeling from the suspension of All-Star point guard Gilbert Arenas for bringing three weapons to Verizon Center and his actions throughout the investigation got big nights from Antawn Jamison (28 points and 11 rebounds), Caron Butler (23 points and seven rebounds), Randy Foye (20 points and six assists) and Brendan Haywood (18 points and 15 rebounds).
By getting contributions from all over the floor, Washington used a 13-2 burst in the fourth quarter to pull past a Magic offense that suddenly went cold. Orlando simply couldn’t overcome a two of 13 shooting drought after going up 81-71.
``Again, I don’t know the reasons, but they got games out of their key players. Butler and Jamison were both very good,’’ Van Gundy said. ``Dwight had a good offensive game, but Rashard and Jameer were both down. We can’t get more than one of our four guys to do it offensively on a given night. I tried changing the play-calling where we get a little more even shot distribution, which we’re getting, but I don’t know what the answer is right now.’’
The Magic don’t have long to figure it out what with the Atlanta Hawks coming to Orlando tonight. The Hawks, who are just a half-game back of the Magic, beat Boston Friday night in Atlanta. The Magic beat the Hawks in Atlanta on Thanksgiving night with a huge fourth-quarter performance.
Here’s a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from another frustrating Magic loss:
THE GOOD
---- With Carter out and Nelson and Lewis struggling most of the night, the Magic’s bench helped the team storm to a five-point halftime lead and a 10-point bulge in the fourth quarter.
J.J. Redick had 14 points despite a poor shooting night, while an aggressive Mickael Pietrus also added 14. Jason Williams pushed the pace and scored 10 points, while Brandon Bass fought for five offensive rebounds and six overall.
Pietrus had nine of his points in the second quarter when he was actively seeking out shots. Van Gundy approached him recently about playing with more energy and wanting him to be more aggressive. He seems to have gotten the message.
``I’m trying to bring something to my team off the bench,’’ said Pietrus, one of the heroes of the run to the NBA Finals last spring. ``I’m an important part of this team and I’m just trying to bring energy. We just need to relax as a team because we’ve been in a lot of (playoff) situations.’’
---- Jamison had yet another monstrous game against Orlando, hitting a variety of flip shots and off-balance hooks. He carried the Arenas-less Wizards for long stretches, pouring in 18 points in the first half and eight more in the fourth quarter.
And Jamison was pretty good before the game tipped off too, addressing the home crowd and apologizing to the fans for the actions of Arenas and the other Washington players over the past week.
``It just came from the heart,’’ Jamison said. ``After (Friday’s morning practice) I just felt that we needed to address the fans and let them know that it’s not acceptable. This is not a laughing matter. This is a very serious situation. A lot of guys in this room take pride in being role models for kids. We take pride that parents can bring their families to the game and we want them to be proud to come to the game and have fun again. For us, it was about putting all of that behind us.’’
THE BAD
---- Howard helped to put Orlando up 77-71 through three periods by scoring the Magic’s final seven points of the third quarter. But Van Gundy tried resting Howard early in the fourth quarter and when he did come back in the game, the Magic didn’t always look in to the all-star center.
Howard made nine of 13 shots, hitting several sweeping hooks with both hands. But his free throws (five of 12) were again a major problem.
---- The Magic allowed the two of 13 shooting skid in the fourth quarter to affect their defense and effort in addition to adding to their offensive frustration.
In the game-turning stretch of the fourth quarter, the Wizards got two 3-pointers when the Orlando defense didn’t rotate properly, they got three baskets off second-chance opportunities (two from Haywood) and they beat the Magic down the floor.
``We had the lead and they scored eight quick points and after that it seemed like we couldn’t get a stop or make a bucket on our end,’’ Redick said. ``It is obviously frustrating. Shots not falling is not frustrating; what is frustrating is losing these games. (Friday night) the main thing that hurt us was allowing second chance points.’’
THE UGLY
---- Carter went down in a heap after colliding with Washington forward Andray Blatche, clutching his left shoulder and writhing in pain. Carter seemed to have hit his shoulder on Blatche’s hip or elbow.
He went straight to the locker room where X-rays revealed no broken bones. The 32-year-old shooting guard is expected to undergo a MRI on the shoulder today and isn’t likely to play against the Hawks.
Carter actually had a solid game going before the injury, scoring eight points in 10 minutes. Carter made six free throws, four of them coming after he was fouled following hard drives to the hoop.
But that bit of progress was ruined by Carter’s third injury of the season. Twice before it’s been ankle trouble and now the Magic must await the prognosis on the health of their leading scorer.
---- Lewis fouled out 3:31 to play, robbing the Magic of one of their biggest offensive threats down the stretch. To make matters worse, Lewis was hit with a technical foul for arguing the call, something that allowed the Wizards to take their lead from four to five points.
Lewis and Bass were whistled for technical fouls in the fourth period – a clear sign that Orlando’s frustrations are starting to boil over. But Lewis stressed that there is no panic around the Magic locker room.
``It still doesn’t mean we aren’t one of the elite teams in the East,’’ he said. ``We just have to continue to play defense. We were up 10 points in the fourth quarter and we started missing shots and didn’t get back on defense and the Wizards took advantage of that. It is very frustrating when you are not winning games, but this is the NBA and it happens. We still have to bounce back. We just have to come out against Atlanta next game and play a full 48 minutes.’’
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 8, 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.
ORLANDO – It was the Washington Wizards that looked like the team full of All-Stars on Friday night, getting big efforts from four different players in a stirring come-from-behind victory. Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic resembled the distracted, disappointed team, oddly crumbling down the stretch.
The Magic’s troubling, bizzaro-type of turnaround continued yet again Friday night and resulted in the franchise’s first four-game losing streak since February of 2007.
When the Magic squandered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and got outscored 33-20 in an unsightly fourth quarter they lost 104-97 to Washington to continue their bizarre fall.
Remarkably, a Magic team that was in the NBA Finals last spring and hovering very close to the top of the Eastern Conference just two weeks ago, lost for the fourth straight time to a sub-.500 team. Also, they have lost five of seven games and they are just 7-8 in the past 15 games.
``It just gets worse. It was terrible,’’ exasperated Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``We were fine until the last 10 minutes of the game and then we give up fastbreaks and second shots and didn’t have one guy on the floor who could make a shot.’’
Orlando (24-12) lost on Friday because Vince Carter sprained/bruised his shoulder late in the first half and it got little offensive production from Jameer Nelson (two of 11 shooting) and Rashard Lewis (four of 13). Dwight Howard had a big night with 23 points and 11 rebounds, but he couldn’t keep Washington (12-22) from outrebounding the Magic 55-41.
A Washington team still reeling from the suspension of All-Star point guard Gilbert Arenas for bringing three weapons to Verizon Center and his actions throughout the investigation got big nights from Antawn Jamison (28 points and 11 rebounds), Caron Butler (23 points and seven rebounds), Randy Foye (20 points and six assists) and Brendan Haywood (18 points and 15 rebounds).
By getting contributions from all over the floor, Washington used a 13-2 burst in the fourth quarter to pull past a Magic offense that suddenly went cold. Orlando simply couldn’t overcome a two of 13 shooting drought after going up 81-71.
``Again, I don’t know the reasons, but they got games out of their key players. Butler and Jamison were both very good,’’ Van Gundy said. ``Dwight had a good offensive game, but Rashard and Jameer were both down. We can’t get more than one of our four guys to do it offensively on a given night. I tried changing the play-calling where we get a little more even shot distribution, which we’re getting, but I don’t know what the answer is right now.’’
The Magic don’t have long to figure it out what with the Atlanta Hawks coming to Orlando tonight. The Hawks, who are just a half-game back of the Magic, beat Boston Friday night in Atlanta. The Magic beat the Hawks in Atlanta on Thanksgiving night with a huge fourth-quarter performance.
Here’s a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from another frustrating Magic loss:
THE GOOD
---- With Carter out and Nelson and Lewis struggling most of the night, the Magic’s bench helped the team storm to a five-point halftime lead and a 10-point bulge in the fourth quarter.
J.J. Redick had 14 points despite a poor shooting night, while an aggressive Mickael Pietrus also added 14. Jason Williams pushed the pace and scored 10 points, while Brandon Bass fought for five offensive rebounds and six overall.
Pietrus had nine of his points in the second quarter when he was actively seeking out shots. Van Gundy approached him recently about playing with more energy and wanting him to be more aggressive. He seems to have gotten the message.
``I’m trying to bring something to my team off the bench,’’ said Pietrus, one of the heroes of the run to the NBA Finals last spring. ``I’m an important part of this team and I’m just trying to bring energy. We just need to relax as a team because we’ve been in a lot of (playoff) situations.’’
---- Jamison had yet another monstrous game against Orlando, hitting a variety of flip shots and off-balance hooks. He carried the Arenas-less Wizards for long stretches, pouring in 18 points in the first half and eight more in the fourth quarter.
And Jamison was pretty good before the game tipped off too, addressing the home crowd and apologizing to the fans for the actions of Arenas and the other Washington players over the past week.
``It just came from the heart,’’ Jamison said. ``After (Friday’s morning practice) I just felt that we needed to address the fans and let them know that it’s not acceptable. This is not a laughing matter. This is a very serious situation. A lot of guys in this room take pride in being role models for kids. We take pride that parents can bring their families to the game and we want them to be proud to come to the game and have fun again. For us, it was about putting all of that behind us.’’
THE BAD
---- Howard helped to put Orlando up 77-71 through three periods by scoring the Magic’s final seven points of the third quarter. But Van Gundy tried resting Howard early in the fourth quarter and when he did come back in the game, the Magic didn’t always look in to the all-star center.
Howard made nine of 13 shots, hitting several sweeping hooks with both hands. But his free throws (five of 12) were again a major problem.
---- The Magic allowed the two of 13 shooting skid in the fourth quarter to affect their defense and effort in addition to adding to their offensive frustration.
In the game-turning stretch of the fourth quarter, the Wizards got two 3-pointers when the Orlando defense didn’t rotate properly, they got three baskets off second-chance opportunities (two from Haywood) and they beat the Magic down the floor.
``We had the lead and they scored eight quick points and after that it seemed like we couldn’t get a stop or make a bucket on our end,’’ Redick said. ``It is obviously frustrating. Shots not falling is not frustrating; what is frustrating is losing these games. (Friday night) the main thing that hurt us was allowing second chance points.’’
THE UGLY
---- Carter went down in a heap after colliding with Washington forward Andray Blatche, clutching his left shoulder and writhing in pain. Carter seemed to have hit his shoulder on Blatche’s hip or elbow.
He went straight to the locker room where X-rays revealed no broken bones. The 32-year-old shooting guard is expected to undergo a MRI on the shoulder today and isn’t likely to play against the Hawks.
Carter actually had a solid game going before the injury, scoring eight points in 10 minutes. Carter made six free throws, four of them coming after he was fouled following hard drives to the hoop.
But that bit of progress was ruined by Carter’s third injury of the season. Twice before it’s been ankle trouble and now the Magic must await the prognosis on the health of their leading scorer.
---- Lewis fouled out 3:31 to play, robbing the Magic of one of their biggest offensive threats down the stretch. To make matters worse, Lewis was hit with a technical foul for arguing the call, something that allowed the Wizards to take their lead from four to five points.
Lewis and Bass were whistled for technical fouls in the fourth period – a clear sign that Orlando’s frustrations are starting to boil over. But Lewis stressed that there is no panic around the Magic locker room.
``It still doesn’t mean we aren’t one of the elite teams in the East,’’ he said. ``We just have to continue to play defense. We were up 10 points in the fourth quarter and we started missing shots and didn’t get back on defense and the Wizards took advantage of that. It is very frustrating when you are not winning games, but this is the NBA and it happens. We still have to bounce back. We just have to come out against Atlanta next game and play a full 48 minutes.’’
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.
