Denton: Magic-Wizards Postgame Analysis
By John Denton
February 5, 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 – A night that started with what looked to be an easy Orlando Magic blowout victory ended instead in tight, back-and-forth fashion. And when the final horn sounded – albeit earlier than it should have -- the Magic were on the downside of what was unquestionably a bad loss.
The Magic sprung ahead early on by 21 points, but saw that lead sabotaged by a third quarter that was arguably Orlando’s worst stretch of basketball this season. They seemed to have saved the night with a clutch 3-pointer from Rashard Lewis, but when Caron Butler followed with a jumper of his own it dropped the Magic to a 92-91 loss to the Washington Wizards.
To a man, the Magic’s players and coaches were more infuriated about the dismal third quarter in which they allowed 39 points than they were about Butler’s clutch baseline shot with five-tenths of a second remaining.
``Absolutely, it was flat-out unacceptable,’’ said Magic guard Vince Carter, who had 21 points, but struggled through another poor shooting night. ``We did a great job getting back into the game, but unfortunately when you have slippage like that (in the third quarter) you can lose on a buzzer-beater.’’
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy huffed that the loss was ``a sign of real immaturity.’’ And star center Dwight Howard, who had 20 points, 18 rebounds and three blocked shots, said for the Magic (33-17) to sleep-walk through a game against the Wizards (17-32) was very unbecoming of a team with championship aspirations.
``It is immature of us,’’ Howard said, agreeing with Van Gundy’s assessment. ``As professionals we’ve got to understand that if we’re trying to be a championship team we’ve got to put teams away. Teams that put other teams away are mature teams. I don’t think we’re immature, but we’ve got to close out games better than that.’’
The game was the beginning of one of the Magic’s most grueling stretches of the season what with five games coming up in the next seven days. Orlando is in Boston on Sunday for a nationally televised game and then back home Monday against the Chris Paul-less New Orleans Hornets. The Magic then play in Chicago and Cleveland on Wednesday and Thursday before breaking for Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game.
The Magic entered having won seven of the past eight games, but Friday’s loss ruined the team’s progress of late. It was both a forgettable night and one the stung Magic likely won’t forget anytime soon.
``It would have been great to get a win, but quite honestly we deserved to lose,’’ Van Gundy said. ``The way we came out and played defensively in the third quarter and put nothing into it, it’s a sign of real immaturity and very, very disappointing. It’s exactly what we’ve been talking about: When you think, `Oh, we’ve turned the corner.’ There are no corners to turn and you need to keep playing hard.’’
THE GOOD
---- Butler had just two points at halftime, but he poured in 29 points in the second half. He made one tough jumper after another even with hands in his face, and it didn’t seem to matter that the Magic used Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus and Carter on him.
He made 11 of 22 shots and hit all eight of his free throws. The spread in the game never grew larger than two points in the final 9 minutes, 17 seconds, and three different times down the stretch Butler gave the Wizards the lead with big shots.
And on the last shot, Butler shook Barnes with a hard drive fake to the baseline and then he stepped back for the open shot.
``I had a great situation with Matt Barnes on me, and there was some airspace so I followed through and hit the shot.’’
---- Lewis got just 10 shots all night, but his 3-pointer from the corner that briefly put Orlando ahead 91-90 with 4.6 seconds left was reminiscent of the many big shots he’s hit in his three seasons in Orlando.
Point guard Jameer Nelson got into the lane and when he noticed Antawn Jamison sinking to help, he found Lewis for the clutch 3-pointer.
``The shot doesn’t mean anything when you lose the game,’’ Lewis said. ``It’s just frustrating to lose the game.’’
THE BAD
---- Following Butler’s go-ahead shot, Orlando got the ball to Lewis for a last shot, but the horn sounded before he even cocked for his shot. Referees, who control the start of the clock in last-minute situations, incorrectly started the clock before it touched Lewis’ hands. After looks at the replay, the determined that Lewis’ shot – which hit off the side of the backboard – took eight-tenths of a second and wouldn’t have been good regardless.
``As soon as I grabbed the ball, the horn went off,’’ Lewis said. ``I thought they started the clock early. It really didn’t throw me off; I just thought they started it early.’’
---- The Magic followed up a torrid start to the game with two poor quarters of basketball. The stretch took the Magic from up 21 points to incredibly down 74-67 to start the fourth quarter. The slide started in the second period when the Magic got very little contribution from their usually reliable second unit and Orlando was outscored 22-18.
The third period proved to be one of the Magic’s worst of the season because they had no answer defensively for Foye and Butler. Washington scored 39 points in the third quarter, the most allowed by the Magic in any quarter this season. Meanwhile, Orlando made just four of 19 shots in the third quarter.
Said Nelson: ``We had them down and we came out with no energy in the third quarter. We were just stagnant and it was like we were very lackadaisical.’’
Foye had 19 points in the third quarter by shooting over Jameer Nelson and driving around Jason Williams. Butler was similarly unstoppable, scoring 15 points in the third period, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Foye and Butler combined to score 34 of Washington’s 39 points in the third quarter.
THE UGLY
---- Howard was whistled for a technical foul early in the second half for arguing consecutive no-calls, bringing his season total to 12. That’s the second most in the NBA behind only Boston’s Rasheed Wallace, who has 14 technical fouls.
The pending problem for the Magic is that players are suspended a game after picking up their 16th technical foul of the season. Howard flirted with a one-game suspension last season, but finished with 15 technical fouls.
Howard did seem to have a gripe on his complaint Friday night. He was hit across the arm on a hard move under the basket and then there was nothing called when Brendan Haywood pinned him off with his elbow. When Howard objected to the second play, referee Bennie Adams whistled him for the technical foul.
---- The Wizards looked like a team that wanted to be somewhere else at the start of the game, turning the ball over six times in the first 2:45. By then, Orlando was already up 10-0 and eventually pushed the score to 12-0 before Randy Foye hit a step-back jump shot.
Washington coach Flip Saunders tried everything to get his team going early, calling two timeouts and arguing his way into a technical foul call. None of it worked as Washington made just five of 19 shots and had 10 turnovers in the first quarter and trailed 32-13 after one period.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard each week on ESPN 1080 AM. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonFebruary 5, 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 – A night that started with what looked to be an easy Orlando Magic blowout victory ended instead in tight, back-and-forth fashion. And when the final horn sounded – albeit earlier than it should have -- the Magic were on the downside of what was unquestionably a bad loss.
The Magic sprung ahead early on by 21 points, but saw that lead sabotaged by a third quarter that was arguably Orlando’s worst stretch of basketball this season. They seemed to have saved the night with a clutch 3-pointer from Rashard Lewis, but when Caron Butler followed with a jumper of his own it dropped the Magic to a 92-91 loss to the Washington Wizards.
To a man, the Magic’s players and coaches were more infuriated about the dismal third quarter in which they allowed 39 points than they were about Butler’s clutch baseline shot with five-tenths of a second remaining.
``Absolutely, it was flat-out unacceptable,’’ said Magic guard Vince Carter, who had 21 points, but struggled through another poor shooting night. ``We did a great job getting back into the game, but unfortunately when you have slippage like that (in the third quarter) you can lose on a buzzer-beater.’’
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy huffed that the loss was ``a sign of real immaturity.’’ And star center Dwight Howard, who had 20 points, 18 rebounds and three blocked shots, said for the Magic (33-17) to sleep-walk through a game against the Wizards (17-32) was very unbecoming of a team with championship aspirations.
``It is immature of us,’’ Howard said, agreeing with Van Gundy’s assessment. ``As professionals we’ve got to understand that if we’re trying to be a championship team we’ve got to put teams away. Teams that put other teams away are mature teams. I don’t think we’re immature, but we’ve got to close out games better than that.’’
The game was the beginning of one of the Magic’s most grueling stretches of the season what with five games coming up in the next seven days. Orlando is in Boston on Sunday for a nationally televised game and then back home Monday against the Chris Paul-less New Orleans Hornets. The Magic then play in Chicago and Cleveland on Wednesday and Thursday before breaking for Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game.
The Magic entered having won seven of the past eight games, but Friday’s loss ruined the team’s progress of late. It was both a forgettable night and one the stung Magic likely won’t forget anytime soon.
``It would have been great to get a win, but quite honestly we deserved to lose,’’ Van Gundy said. ``The way we came out and played defensively in the third quarter and put nothing into it, it’s a sign of real immaturity and very, very disappointing. It’s exactly what we’ve been talking about: When you think, `Oh, we’ve turned the corner.’ There are no corners to turn and you need to keep playing hard.’’
THE GOOD
---- Butler had just two points at halftime, but he poured in 29 points in the second half. He made one tough jumper after another even with hands in his face, and it didn’t seem to matter that the Magic used Matt Barnes, Mickael Pietrus and Carter on him.
He made 11 of 22 shots and hit all eight of his free throws. The spread in the game never grew larger than two points in the final 9 minutes, 17 seconds, and three different times down the stretch Butler gave the Wizards the lead with big shots.
And on the last shot, Butler shook Barnes with a hard drive fake to the baseline and then he stepped back for the open shot.
``I had a great situation with Matt Barnes on me, and there was some airspace so I followed through and hit the shot.’’
---- Lewis got just 10 shots all night, but his 3-pointer from the corner that briefly put Orlando ahead 91-90 with 4.6 seconds left was reminiscent of the many big shots he’s hit in his three seasons in Orlando.
Point guard Jameer Nelson got into the lane and when he noticed Antawn Jamison sinking to help, he found Lewis for the clutch 3-pointer.
``The shot doesn’t mean anything when you lose the game,’’ Lewis said. ``It’s just frustrating to lose the game.’’
THE BAD
---- Following Butler’s go-ahead shot, Orlando got the ball to Lewis for a last shot, but the horn sounded before he even cocked for his shot. Referees, who control the start of the clock in last-minute situations, incorrectly started the clock before it touched Lewis’ hands. After looks at the replay, the determined that Lewis’ shot – which hit off the side of the backboard – took eight-tenths of a second and wouldn’t have been good regardless.
``As soon as I grabbed the ball, the horn went off,’’ Lewis said. ``I thought they started the clock early. It really didn’t throw me off; I just thought they started it early.’’
---- The Magic followed up a torrid start to the game with two poor quarters of basketball. The stretch took the Magic from up 21 points to incredibly down 74-67 to start the fourth quarter. The slide started in the second period when the Magic got very little contribution from their usually reliable second unit and Orlando was outscored 22-18.
The third period proved to be one of the Magic’s worst of the season because they had no answer defensively for Foye and Butler. Washington scored 39 points in the third quarter, the most allowed by the Magic in any quarter this season. Meanwhile, Orlando made just four of 19 shots in the third quarter.
Said Nelson: ``We had them down and we came out with no energy in the third quarter. We were just stagnant and it was like we were very lackadaisical.’’
Foye had 19 points in the third quarter by shooting over Jameer Nelson and driving around Jason Williams. Butler was similarly unstoppable, scoring 15 points in the third period, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Foye and Butler combined to score 34 of Washington’s 39 points in the third quarter.
THE UGLY
---- Howard was whistled for a technical foul early in the second half for arguing consecutive no-calls, bringing his season total to 12. That’s the second most in the NBA behind only Boston’s Rasheed Wallace, who has 14 technical fouls.
The pending problem for the Magic is that players are suspended a game after picking up their 16th technical foul of the season. Howard flirted with a one-game suspension last season, but finished with 15 technical fouls.
Howard did seem to have a gripe on his complaint Friday night. He was hit across the arm on a hard move under the basket and then there was nothing called when Brendan Haywood pinned him off with his elbow. When Howard objected to the second play, referee Bennie Adams whistled him for the technical foul.
---- The Wizards looked like a team that wanted to be somewhere else at the start of the game, turning the ball over six times in the first 2:45. By then, Orlando was already up 10-0 and eventually pushed the score to 12-0 before Randy Foye hit a step-back jump shot.
Washington coach Flip Saunders tried everything to get his team going early, calling two timeouts and arguing his way into a technical foul call. None of it worked as Washington made just five of 19 shots and had 10 turnovers in the first quarter and trailed 32-13 after one period.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard each week on ESPN 1080 AM. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
