Wizards-Magic Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Jan 03 2012 4:13PM

The Washington Wizards are on the verge of the worst start in franchise history. A visit to Orlando wouldn't appear to be a good way to avoid that dubious feat.

They've rarely won there and have been blown out in the last three visits, plus the Magic are perfect at home this season heading into Wednesday night's meeting.

Washington, which has never opened a season with six straight losses, dropped to 0-5 for the third time in franchise history with a 100-92 loss in Boston on Monday. The Wizards led by one after three quarters but allowed the Celtics to score 31 points in the fourth, the second time they've given up more than 30 in a period this season.

"Right now, with a team like this, you're trying to teach them not only how to play but how to win," said Wizards assistant Randy Wittman, who took over after coach Flip Saunders was ejected less than two minutes into the game.

"You have to have steps like this. Did we get the win, no, but we played them right down to the wire. I thought the effort for 48 minutes was as good as we could ask for."

The league's lone winless club next has the difficult task of trying to end a six-game skid to the Magic (4-2). The Wizards have given up at least 100 points in each of those losses, and another such performance might lead to another defeat as they're scoring 85.2 per game this season.

Washington has dropped 14 of 17 in this series, including three in a row on the road by at least 25 points each. The Wizards, 6-33 in Orlando over the previous 19 seasons, were 3-38 in road games in 2010-11 and have lost three this season by an average of 15.7 points.

They're facing a Magic team which is 3-0 at home but coming off its worst scoring performance of the season, an 89-78 loss at Detroit on Monday. Orlando was held to 32 second-half points during its sixth game in the first nine days of the season.

The Magic are one of eight teams to play that many games over that span.

"Obviously we had a long stretch of games and not a lot of time to rest," said forward Ryan Anderson, held to 13 points Monday after averaging 23.0 in the previous three games.

With a day off, the Magic hope to come out a little fresher and get more contributions from their starting backcourt. Jason Richardson is averaging 8.8 points - 9.1 below his career mark - and Jameer Nelson is averaging 6.6 points, nearly half his career average.

Richardson might have a chance to break out of his funk Wednesday as he's averaging 22.3 points on 57.3 percent shooting in his last six games against Washington, hitting 20 of 39 3-point attempts. Nelson averaged 11.5 points in last season's four meetings.

Magic star Dwight Howard averaged 27.3 points and shot 75.9 percent against Washington last season. Only his 29.0-point averages against New York and Toronto were better versus Eastern Conference foes.

Wizards point guard John Wall averaged 18.3 points against Orlando in his rookie season, but enters this game shooting a league-worst 31.7 percent from the field.

Howard, Magic run past winless Wizards, 103-85

By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Posted Jan 04 2012 11:02PM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) The Orlando Magic looked like a team in need of pillows and a bedtime story when they trudged their way through a lopsided loss to Detroit earlier this week that snapped a four-game winning streak.

A day off went a long way for the Magic.

Orlando recovered its pep in a 103-85 win over the Washington Wizards Wednesday night.

Dwight Howard had 28 points and 20 rebounds, Ryan Anderson added 23 points and 15 rebounds to help the Magic run past the winless Wizards.

Orlando won for the fifth time in six games and had four players in double figures. It has won seven straight against Washington and 15 of the last 18 meetings.

The Wizards got 17 points from Nick Young, but shot poorly all night and trailed by as many as 28 in falling to 0-6 for the first time in franchise history. They remain only team in the NBA without a victory.

The Magic had a four-game winning streak snapped Monday at Detroit in a lethargic effort that coach Stan Van Gundy said was virtually void of any energy from a team playing its sixth game in nine days.

Orlando was off Tuesday and appeared to have its energy back against the Wizards, sprinting out to as much as a 22-point lead in the opening 24 minutes and taking an 18-point cushion into halftime.

"We came out and played better than we had against Detroit," Howard said. "It was good to see us bounce back."

Anderson said starting faster was a definite point of emphasis against a Washington team with several young players.

Hitting shots didn't hurt either as the Magic hovered above 50 percent for most of the game and connected on eight of their 19 shots from the 3-point line. Orlando also dished out 27 assists as a team and held a 54-44 rebounding edge over a much bigger Wizards' lineup.

Magic shooting guard Jason Richardson, who came into Wednesday just two for his last 13 from the field, scored the game's first five points. He finished just 3 for 8, but said he likes the way his shot felt compared to the past two games.

"We play a lot of games, but that's no excuse for not coming out with energy and ready to play," Richardson said. "I see myself on film not bringing energy and I'm an energy player. So I gotta do a better job of doing it every game."

Howard led all scorers with 17 points in the first half - coming mostly on layups or dunks - as the beneficiary of several assists from Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson, who had five apiece.

The Wizards struggled to get shots to fall from the outset, settling for jumpers and missing their first 12 field-goal attempts. They also gave up 31 points in the first quarter, the third time this season they allowed an opponent to score at least 30 in a period.

The Magic made 61 percent (11 for 18) of their shots in the first quarter. Howard was 4 for 4.

Meanwhile, Washington shot a paltry 21 percent (6 for 28) in a 14-point first quarter and finished the night at just 36 percent (34 for 93)

Wizards coach Flip Saunders said ejecting some sort of life into the offense early is a must if they are going to post their first victory anytime soon. Their next chance is Friday when they begin a three-game home stand against New York.

"We're gonna have to do something with our start," Saunders said. "Whether its personnel wise or whatever. But somehow we've got to have some juice to start games."

Point guard John Wall wouldn't go as far as calling it a pattern, and said there isn't one thing that would be a quick fix from his perspective.

"It's everything," he said. "We go over everything on defense in the shootaround, but we didn't do it out there. You see what happened to us. Once everybody started being selfish on offense, (and) then on the defensive end we're not trusting each other."

Richardson said he feels like the Magic are finding an early groove and it's just in time as they prepare to host a speedy Chicago team Friday that is off to a 6-1 start.

"I think we're gelling really good," he said. "We made some mistakes and I think we're doing a good job just playing through those and just playing hard. We still got some gelling to do, but we're gonna keep playing hard."

NOTES: Wizards F Rashard Lewis, traded by the Magic for Gilbert Arenas last season, received an ovation from Orlando fans during player introductions in his first game against the Magic since the trade. Lewis sat out when the Wizards played at Amway Center last February because of tendinitis in his knee. Van Gundy said he doesn't think Lewis is given enough praise for his role in helping the Magic go from a 40-win season in 2006-07 to the NBA finals in 2009. "In that turnaround, when he came in, a lot of it revolved around him," Van Gundy said. "Clearly Dwight was still the best player. Jameer played very well, Turk played very well. But those guys were here. What changed was Rashard Lewis," Van Gundy said. "He's been given credit, but I don't think he's still gotten nearly enough credit for what he did." ... Van Gundy also said that he shoulders most of the blame for Arenas, who Orlando amnestied in the preseason, not making a more meaningful contribution after being traded from the Wizards for Lewis. "You ask a guy who had been an All-Star and one of the big scorers in the league to come off the bench - a tough role," Van Gundy said. "If anything, if people are unhappy with the way Gilbert performed here, I think you've got to lay that on me and the role I gave him."

Notebook: Magic 103, Wizards 85

By Dick Scanlon, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday January 4, 2012 11:49PM

THE FACTS: Dwight Howard had 28 points and 20 rebounds and the Orlando Magic led all the way in a 103-85 victory against the winless Washington Wizards. Howard had his double-double well before the end of the first half. Ryan Anderson added 23 points and 15 rebounds for Orlando. The Wizards missed their first 12 shots, never got within double figures in the final three quarters and fell to 0-6 for the first time in the history of the franchise.

QUOTABLE: "I don't think there's any question that (Howard) is one of the most dominant defensive players and rebounders that there has ever been in this league."
-- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy

THE STAT: In 51 seasons as the Chicago Packers, Chicago Zephyrs, Baltimore Bullets, Capital Bullets, Washington Bullets and Washington Wizards, this is the first time the franchise has ever posted a 0-6 start.

TURNING POINT: It took the Wizards nearly 4 1/2 minutes to score (on a put-back by Andray Blatche), and they were already down nine points by then.

QUOTABLE II: "Seems like tonight when we started missing shots, we just kind of put our heads down and that was it, from the first quarter there. They never looked back."
-- Wizards forward Rashard Lewis

HOT: Ryan Anderson is having the most productive run of his career, averaging 21 points and 7.4 rebounds over the last five games while shooting 48.6 percent from behind the arc.

QUOTABLE III: "Ryan has been great. He just has to be more consistent, just keep it up."
-- Magic center Dwight Howard

NOT: Nick Young's team-leading 17 points came on 5-for-15 shooting. He is 16-for-54 (29.6 percent) in the last four games for the Wizards, including 2-for-12 in 3-point shooting.

GOOD MOVE: Howard came out of nowhere to block John Wall's layup less than two minutes into the game, a play that stunned the Wizards.

BAD MOVE: Chris Duhon's second foul shot was about to bounce off the rim with 2:40 left in the first quarter when the Wizards' Blatche took it off the rim -- goaltending on a free throw attempt.

IN THE ARENA: The NBA tipped off balloting for the 2012 NBA All-Star Game with an event before the game. The game will be played Feb. 26 at Orlando's Amway Center.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Howard posted his third 20-plus rebounding game in his last five games.

ROOKIE WATCH: Chris Singleton had seven points and four rebounds in 22-plus minutes for the Wizards.

NOTABLE: Washington coach Flip Saunders hinted at a lineup change. "We're going to have to do something with our starts, whether it's personnel-wise or whatever, but somehow we've got to have some juice to start games," he said. ... Anderson's 15 rebounds were one short of his career-high. ... The Wizards shot 36.6 percent for the game and are 39.2 percent for the season. ... The Magic's last six opponents, including the Wizards, are a combined 10-26.

UP NEXT: For the Wizards, Friday vs. New York, Sunday vs. Minnesota, Tuesday vs. Toronto. For the Magic, Friday vs. Chicago, Sunday @ Sacramento, Wednesday @ Portland.

• Wizards: N'Diaye, Turiaf
• Magic: Liggins, Orton

• Wizards: --
• Magic: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 0

• Arena: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #56 Mark Ayotte, #70 Brent Barnaky
• Attendance: 18846
• Duration: 2:05