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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| MAGIC | 21 | 25 | 31 | 32 | 109 |
| WARRIORS | 20 | 20 | 27 | 31 | 98 |
Recap:
OAKLAND, Calif.(AP) Jameer Nelson wasn't keeping track of how many shots he was taking. All he knew was his team needed some offense and he was feeling good.
Nelson scored 23 of his career high-tying 32 points in the second half, and the Orlando Magic beat the Golden State Warriors 109-98 on Monday night for their fourth win in five road games.
"I have no idea how many shots it was, I was just shooting,'' Nelson said. "I tell people all the time if the shot is there I'm going to take it. I missed a ton of easy shots in the first half, and they were good shots. They were shots that were given to me, so I just continued to take them in the second half.''
Marcin Gortat, starting in place of the injured Dwight Howard, recorded his second career double-double with career bests of 16 points and 13 rebounds. The Magic improved to 19-6, their best 25-game start since opening the 1994-95 season at 20-5. Rashard Lewis added 21 points and Courtney Lee had 16.
"Winning games on the road is always a positive,'' Lewis said. "Jameer was knocking down shots so we continued to go to him. He took over on the offensive end. There were a lot of good things since we weren't playing with our number one guy.''
Andris Biedrins scored 23 points to lead the Warriors, who have lost 12 of their last 14 games. Marco Belinelli added a career-high 19 points and Jamal Crawford scored 16.
"I thought we tried to do the right thing,'' Warriors coach Don Nelson said. "It was tough to establish a low post game and we struggled to score.''
Jameer Nelson made nine of his first 11 shots in the second half after missing seven of 11 in the first half. He scored 15 points in the third quarter as Orlando continually pulled away after Golden State tied the game at 53 with 8:48 remaining.
"They were doubling (Hedo Turkoglu) on the pick-and-rolls and he was making great decisions in passing the ball,'' Nelson said. "Guys were finding me, and it was just one of those nights where you feel good.''
Nelson hit four consecutive shots, three of them from long range, to help the Magic regain the advantage for good. Tony Battie, who had 12 rebounds, tipped in Nelson's only miss of the third quarter.
"We had a lot of great performances,'' Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "Marcin was tremendous with double-figure points and rebounds, and he blocked three shots. Obviously Jameer had it rolling in the first half.''
Gortat held his own against Biedrins, limiting the Warriors' center to nine rebounds. Gortat brought career totals of 30 points and 31 rebounds into Monday's contest.
"I'm not going to lie; I was excited to play, to be starting the game,'' Gortat said. "Competing against Andris for 27 minutes was exciting, too. I had a straight message from coach, which was to take him out of the boards and get as many rebounds as I could.''
Golden State's Stephen Jackson, trying to play through a sprained left hand, is 6-of-41 in his last three games. He was 20-of-46 in the three games before the injury.
"I'm not going to make this a big deal about my hand,'' Jackson said. "It happened and I'm going to keep rolling.''
The Magic led at halftime, 46-40.
Notes: Gortat brought career averages of 1.5 points and 1.9 rebounds into Monday's action. ... The Magic are 15-3 since starting the season 4-3. ... Biedrins did not record a double-double for only the second home game. ... The Warriors failed to score at least 100 points for the sixth time, all losses
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Preview:
Most East Coast teams dread their long regular season trips out West. The Orlando Magic seem to have a different take on things than most of their Eastern Conference peers. Orlando rattled off three Western Conference wins last week and came within seconds of a four-game sweep. At 10:30 p.m. tonight, the Magic will play their fifth consecutive game out West when they take on the Golden State Warriors tonight in ORACLE Arena.
After winning 42 or more games in each of the past two seasons, the Warriors have undergone major changes that have resulted in a tumultuous start to this season. Baron Davis left for the Los Angeles Clippers and Corey Maggette was brought in to replace him. The Warriors also made a big move last month when they traded Al Harrington to New York in return for streaky shooter Jamal Crawford.
Golden State is currently 11th in the Western Conference and is already 13.5 games behind the Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Lakers. But don’t let their record fool you – this team is loaded with talent and can put the ball in the basket as well as any team in the league. In fact, they are second in the league in scoring with 106.33 ppg. while shooting 44.6 percent from the field as a team. They have an incredible seven players averaging double figures in points and have two more whom are on the verge of eclipsing the 10.0 point barrier.
Corey Maggette, Stephen Jackson and the newly acquired Jamal Crawford lead a three-pronged scoring attack from the perimeter. All three of these players can shoot the basketball from the outside or take their defender off of the dribble. Maggette leads the trio with 19.1 ppg., followed by Jackson’s 18.9 ppg. and Crawford’s 17.2 ppg.
But offense isn’t the Warriors’ problem. They are losing games on the defensive end of the court. They are currently last in the league in opponent scoring and are allowing an astonishing 111.62 points a night. In addition to allowing so many points, they are allowing 24.79 assists per game to their opponents, which is the second highest in the NBA. That number indicates that teams aren’t only scoring at will, they are getting wide open shots at will.
With Dwight Howard being a game-time decision for tonight’s game, the Magic may have to play a smaller lineup to offset the Warriors’ speed. This is surely going to be a high scoring contest, but that bodes well for the Magic. They are 12-1 when scoring 100 or more points, while Golden State is only 5-15 when allowing their opponent to break triple digits.
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Keys to the game:
Timely Defense: Defense isn't usually mentioned in a game that pits two teams that average more than 100.0 ppg. against each other, but tonight's defense is going to win the game. It won't necessarily be the defensive play throughout the game, but more so how each team defends in key situations. End of shot clock defense, final two minutes defense, transition defense -- these are the times when each team must perform well if they hope to win. As many Warriors games have worked out this season, it's the team that can get the most stops down the stretch that wins. Look for that trend to continue tonight.
Streak Shooting: The Warriors are terrible from beyond the 3-point line as a team, averaging only 30.6 percent shooting from that distance. But they have numerous players, mainly Jamal Crawford and Stephen Jackson, who can catch fire at any given moment and hit a few 3-pointers in a row. The Magic are much more consistent in shooting from the outside and have more shooters available. There will be a large number of players in this game that can take over for a stretch, and if one catches fire for either team it could spark them to a victory. Keep your eyes on Hedo Turkoglu of the Magic and Crawford of the Warriors.
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Game Notes:
Dec. 15 @ Golden State: Orlando is 22-17 all-time vs. Golden State (13-6 at home, 9-11 on the road) during the regular season, including 1-1 last season...Orlando has won 11 of the last 17 meetings in the series overall…The Magic have won 12 of the last 15 meetings in Orlando and five of the last eight at Golden State…Adonal Foyle spent the first 10 seasons of his NBA career (641 games) with the Warriors, leaving as their all-time leader in blocked shots (1,140)…Mickael Pietrus spent the first five seasons of his pro career with Golden State, playing in 310 regular season games from 2003-08…GM Otis Smith played in 137 games with the Warriors, then was a member of the Golden State front office for four seasons…Assistant GM Dave Twardzik was the Warriors’ GM from 1995-97.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. WARRIORS: 49 pts., Terry Catledge (@ Golden State, 1-13-90)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 40 pts., Latrell Sprewell (@ Golden State, 12-16-94)
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