Bobcats-Magic Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Jan 17 2012 12:15AM

Dwight Howard had a frustrating performance his last time out. He was much more satisfied after facing the Charlotte Bobcats last month.

Howard and the Orlando Magic look to win their fifth straight when they host the struggling Bobcats on Tuesday night.

Orlando (9-3) concluded a 4-0 road trip with a 102-93 victory over New York on Monday. Ryan Anderson scored a career-high 30 points and J.J. Redick added 21 to compensate for Howard's sub-par performance.

Anderson made the Knicks pay for continually double-teaming Howard, hitting seven 3-pointers.

Orlando's superstar, meanwhile, was held to eight points and 10 rebounds while dealing with foul trouble. He scored a career-high 45 the previous game against Golden State.

"He's getting double and triple-teamed at some points," Anderson said."He's doing a great job keeping composure, being patient, finding guys on the perimeter, and we're moving the ball and that's why we got open shots tonight, just because of him."

While Howard was frustrated with foul trouble, Anderson's performance demonstrates how potent Orlando's offense can be with several dangerous outside shooters. Hedo Turkoglu and Redick were a combined 7 of 13 beyond the arc against New York.

Orlando averaged 107.5 points, shot 50.3 percent overall and 46.2 percent from 3-point range during the trip.

"It's a matter of picking your poison," Redick said.

Howard, averaging 19.4 points and 14.8 rebounds, will try to bounce back against the Bobcats. He finished with 20 points, 24 rebounds and four blocks in Orlando's 100-79 victory over Charlotte on Dec. 30.

Howard has double-doubles in all 14 regular season home meetings with the Bobcats, averaging 21.5 points and 15.1 boards.

This is the opener of a three-game homestand for the Magic and is the second in a back-to-back-to-back series. Their next two games are against San Antonio and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Facing the Magic will be a difficult assignment for the struggling Bobcats (3-11), who have lost seven of eight. After beating Golden State on Saturday to end a six-game skid, Charlotte lost 102-94 to Cleveland on Monday.

The Bobcats had a 14-point lead early in the second half and led 94-93 with two minutes to play, but went scoreless the rest of the way. They shot 29.5 percent in the second half and scored 17 points in the fourth quarter.

Charlotte is shooting 39.4 percent in the second half of games this season, an alarming trend the team refuses to blame on the addition of young players like D.J. Augustin and Kemba Walker to the lineup.

"We all play basketball and we all know how to make winning play," forward D.J. White said. "I don't want to make an excuse and say it's youth. We've just got to get better, point blank."

The Bobcats are 2-14 all-time against the Magic on the road, including two playoff losses. They've dropped four straight in Orlando, averaging 82.3 points.

Magic hang on to beat Bobcats, 96-89

By KYLE HIGHTOWER
Posted Jan 18 2012 1:22AM

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) With little down time during this fast-paced NBA season, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy has been anticipating a night when his team had to rely on unconventional methods to stay in games.

Van Gundy's predictions finally came to fruition Tuesday night against Charlotte as the Magic needed late baskets from unusual suspects and timely defensive stops to preserve a 96-89 win - their fifth straight - over the Bobcats.

Dwight Howard had 25 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Magic, which survived 18 turnovers to win for the 10th time in 12 games.

Jameer Nelson added 17 points, Hedo Turkoglu had 15 and Von Wafer 13 as the Magic won for the 10th time in 12 games. Turkoglu and Wafer each scored eight points each in a decisive fourth-quarter run to help preserve the victory.

"We gotta keep rolling, we gotta keep playing and not think too much into it," forward Ryan Anderson said of the Magic's current run. "I think that we've beat some really good teams, and just as important we need to keep our heads and really stay focused down the stretch like we did tonight."

Gerald Henderson had 22 points for Charlotte, which has lost eight of its last nine. The Bobcats are also winless in their last five trips to Orlando.

Charlotte stayed close throughout the game and pulled within a basket late in the fourth quarter before Ryan Anderson's 3-pointer extended Orlando's lead to 86-81 with 1:33 to play. The Bobcats never got closer.

"We threw the ball away too much," Bobcats coach Paul Silas said. "We defended Howard very well and then we started going in the lane too much for help, then they kicked the ball out for 3s.

"That was the game right there when they made those shots. But we hung in there. We're just not there yet, but we're getting there."

Henderson agreed with his coach's assessment.

"We are playing better," he said. "I think it is at the end of games that we have to lock down and execute. I think we will be better off with experience and kind of have to learn to win."

Another victory aside, Van Gundy said there is still a lot to work on the defensive end. Charlotte shot 46 percent from the field (36 for 77) Tuesday after coming in shooting just 39 percent in the second half of games this season. Still, he liked his team's resiliency late in the game.

The Magic also connected on 46 percent of their shots (36 for 78) for the game, but were just 7 for 22 (31 percent) from the 3-point line after hitting at least 10 in four straight outings.

"We've relied on our shooting and so when we have a night where offensively we're not very good and the ball's not dropping, then we get ourselves into trouble," Van Gundy said. "We've got to be able to rely on our defense, which I think in the second half we did."

Charlotte went into halftime with a 50-47 advantage after a scrappy first half that included eight ties and seven lead changes.

Both teams shot 48 percent from the field, but the Magic struggled from both the 3-point line (3 for 10) and at the free-throw line (4 for 10). Charlotte was for 4 for 8 beyond the arc and a perfect 8 for 8 from the line, in addition to holding a 22-20 rebounding edge.

The Bobcats benefited from some Magic foul trouble in the opening 12 minutes to take a seven-point lead.

Howard and Turkoglu were forced to the bench after picking up two fouls each less than five minutes into the game.

Without two of Orlando's starters to deal with Charlotte closed the quarter on a 16-5 run. Henderson led all scorers with eight first-quarter points.

The Magic host San Antonio Wednesday and get a one-day break before the Los Angeles Lakers visit Friday night.

Unconventional or not, Howard said he likes the buzz that is coming out of the locker room right now with tougher games and stretches awaiting them on the schedule.

"Playing some great basketball - just got to keep it up," Howard said. "We picked it up a little bit. We just have to be consistent and understand that this is going to be a tough season."

NOTES: Magic G Jason Richardson missed his second consecutive game with a bone bruise in his left knee. ... After playing five games in six days, the Bobcats are off until Saturday when they play at Chicago to begin a stretch of four games in five nights.

Notebook: Magic 96, Bobcats 89

By Dick Scanlon, for NBA.com
Posted Tuesday January 17, 2012 11:12PM

THE FACTS: Dwight Howard had 25 points and 17 rebounds, and little-used Von Wafer came off the Orlando Magic bench for key fourth-quarter scoring in a 96-89 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats.

The Magic were behind for most of the game, but Wafer, Hedo Turkoglu and Ryan Anderson hit 3-point shots late in the fourth quarter to help them pull away to a fifth straight victory.

Gerald Henderson scored 22 points to lead the Bobcats, who lost for the eighth time in nine games.

QUOTABLE: "We defended Howard very well, and then we started going into the lane too much for help and they kicked the ball out for threes. And then they made three 3-point shots and that was the game right there."
-- Charlotte coach Paul Silas.

THE STAT: The Magic outscored the Bobcats by 21 points during Howard's 39 minutes in the game.

TURNING POINT: Charlotte led 67-64 in the final seconds of the third quarter when Dwight Howard made a shot while falling to the floor and added a free throw, erasing the Bobcats' final lead.

HOT: Wafer, who had played only 74 minutes in the Magic's 12 preceding game, came off the bench for 5-for-8 shooting in 24 minutes, and scored eight of Orlando's first 10 points in the fourth quarter.

NOT: Bobcats forward Tyrus Thomas shot 2-for-10 after Monday's 0-for-3 performance against Cleveland.

GOOD MOVE: The Bobcats got by for most of the game with Byron Mullens or Bismack Biyombo guarding Howard alone. The strategy helped them hold Orlando's hot 3-point shooters to 7-for-22 shooting, but that proved to be enough.

QUOTABLE II: "There are times when I'm on the court or on the bench and we're playing and I say to myself, 'This team has a chance to be the best we've been in my six years with the Magic.' I think we've got a lot of experience, we have the best big guy in the league, the best and most dominant player and a lot of solid pieces around him."
-- Magic guard J.J. Redick.

BAD MOVE: Annually challenging for the NBA lead in technical fouls, Howard got whistled for his second in two games.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: The 19-year-old Biyombo held his own with a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds). "[Howard] is strong and I'm strong, too," he said.

ROOKIE WATCH: Kemba Walker and Biyombo, the Bobcats' first-round draft selections, combined for 26 points (on 11-for-18 shooting), 14 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks.

NOTABLE: The Bobcats played for the fifth time in six days . . . Magic forward Ryan Anderson, who had been 14-for-23 in 3-point shooting in the three preceding games, made only 2-of-9 . . . The Magic played a second straight game without guard Jason Richardson, who might return tonight against San Antonio . . . Tuesday's game against the Spurs will complete the Magic's only back-to-back-to-back of the season.

UP NEXT: For the Bobcats, Saturday @ Chicago, Sunday @ New Jersey, Tuesday vs. New York. For the Magic, Wednesday vs. San Antonio, Friday vs. L.A. Lakers, Monday @ Boston.

• Bobcats: Najera, Williams
• Magic: Orton, Richardson

• Bobcats: Diaw
• Magic: Howard, Turkoglu

• Lead Changes: 10
• Times Tied: 11

• Arena: Amway Center, Orlando, FL
• Officials: #59 Gary Zielinski, #45 Brian Forte, #73 Tre Maddox
• Attendance: 18846
• Duration: 2:15