Butler does it as Wizards surprise Magic in Orlando

By Dick Scanlon, for NBA.com
Posted Friday February 5, 2010 11:25PM

ORLANDO (NBA.com exclusive) -- It's still a long way from the bottom of the Southeast Division to the top, but the Washington Wizards seemed to make the distance disappear Friday night in a stunning 92-91 comeback victory over the Orlando Magic.

"This feels unbelievable. This feels great. I want to feel like this all the time," said Randy Foye, who combined with Caron Butler to score 34 of the Wizards' 39 points in a third quarter that turned the game sharply around.

"This is what the summer is about right here, when you're working hard and you're sore and you're tired; it's for moments like this," Foye added.

Butler's jumper from the corner with a half-second left completed his season-high 31 points in a game in which the Wizards (17-32) once trailed by 21 points. It was their second victory in two tries this season against the division-leading Magic (33-17).

Orlando scored the first 12 points while the Wizards were kicking the ball around in the first few minutes, and it was 28-7 when Jameer Nelson drilled a 3-pointer late in the first quarter.

"To be honest, I think it worked to our advantage because they thought the game was over," said Washington coach Flip Saunders.

Even with Butler and Foye scoring just two points each in the first half, the Wizards started chipping away at the lead. A flukey tip-in by Antawn Jamison made it 50-35 at halftime.

"I just told our guys: 'Hey, we cut it to 15, we actually played them more than even in the second quarter,''' Saunders said. '"Hey, if we get that thing below 10, we've got a chance. The way Dwight (Howard) shoots free throws, you never know what's going to happen.'

"I didn't expect we'd have a 22-point advantage in the third quarter, but we've had many games like this one when we haven't shown character and we faded. But in this game . . . we kept our poise."

With Foye scoring 19 points and Butler 15 in the third quarter, the Wizards outscored the Magic, 39-17, making 11 of 16 shots from the floor and all 14 free throws.

Butler closed the period with a long 3-pointer, then opened the fourth quarter with another long jumper to give Washington its biggest lead, 76-67.

"After they were missing shots, they were hitting shots," said Nelson.

"We have to be more mentally tough. If you call that immaturity or whatever, it all goes into the same category."

The Magic answered with 11 straight points to regain the lead, and neither team led by more than two points in the final nine minutes of the game.

"Quite honestly, we deserved to lose," said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.

"The way we came out in the fourth quarter defensively, put nothing into it. A sign of immaturity and very, very disappointing, and there you go with exactly what I've been talking about when you start to think -- oh, we've turned the corner. There's no corners to turn; you need to keep playing hard."

Butler and Foye, who came into the game with a 9.9 points per game scoring average, scored 49 of their 53 points in the second half.

Vince Carter led the Magic with 21 points but on 5-for-17 shooting. Howard had 20 points and 18 rebounds, but the Wizards still outrebounded the Magic by 11.

Foye, who finished with 22 points, said the Wizards recovered from their dismal start by concentrating.

"We said to ourselves: 'Why come in here playing on your heels? Go out there and just let it go. Run the offense, play as hard as you can on defense and just let it go, just play together,'" he said.

Everything that could go wrong went wrong early in the first quarter, according to Butler.

"We just had to buckle down on defense and cut down on our turnovers," he said. "Every time we had a turnover, they scored, whether they got a layup or playing inside-outside with Dwight. We did a great job of just clawing our way back into the game, little by little."

Early in the game, there had been no reason to believe the Wizards would even get back in the game, let alone win it. From the Orlando point of view, that was the problem.

"We didn't come out in the second half with any energy, and they were getting in a comfort zone," said the Magic's J.J. Redick. "Especially Foye and Butler."

• Wizards: Crittenton, James
• Magic: Foyle

• Wizards: Saunders
• Magic: Howard

• Lead Changes: 11
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Amway Arena, Orlando, FL
• Officials: #25 Tony Brothers, #47 Bennie Adams, #63 Derek Richardson
• Attendance: 17461
• Duration: 2:28