Denton: Magic-76ers Postgame Analysis
By John Denton
March 1, 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.
An Orlando Magic team that has struggled of late with shots from afar – both wide open and contested one – found the perfect opponent Monday night with which to snap out of its shooting funk.
The Magic made 15 of 23 3-pointers Monday against the defensively inept Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA’s worst team at stopping shots from beyond the arc. The hot shooting night helped the Magic roll to an easy, breezy 126-105 rout of the short-handed Sixers.
The 126 points were the most of the season for the Magic (41-20), topping the 120 they scored on Dec. 5 against Golden State. Coincidentally, the Magic face the woeful Warriors again Wednesday night at Amway Arena.
That the Magic shot the ball particularly well was an assuring feeling considering that Orlando had made just 45 of 156 3-pointers (28.8 percent) in the seven games since the all-star break. But the Magic had no problems whatsoever against the Sixers (22-37), getting at least 14 points from all five starters.
Rashard Lewis, Matt Barnes and Vince Carter each made three 3-pointers apiece, while Jameer Nelson, J.J. Redick and Mickael Pietrus each made two 3-pointers.
``We got all shooters on this team. We are not a selfish team,’’ said Nelson, who scored a team-high 22 points and 10 assists. ``The thing is as long as we take care of the ball and get shots, we know we are going to make a lot of them.’’
Nelson, a native of nearby Chester, Pa., and a college star at Philadelphia’s St. Joseph’s, was the star of the night on and off the floor. He made eight of 11 shots, turned the ball over just once and his Magic were a plus-22 in scoring in his 27 minutes on the floor.
And off the floor, Nelson hosted 750 students and AAU basketball players from his hometown as a part of the Jameer Nelson Foundation.
Then Magic got 19 points from Lewis and Carter, 16 from Barnes, 14 from Howard, 11 from Redick and 10 from Pietrus on a night when they shot 58.4 percent from the floor. Like the 126 points, the 58.4 percent shooting was also a season high.
``We played great offensively, we put the ball in the basket, the ball movement was good and we kept our turnovers down. We played well offensively and part of it was there wasn’t a lot of resistance on the other end.’’
Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from the lopsided Magic victory:
THE GOOD
---- Finally fully healthy from the knee injury that set him back earlier this season, Nelson is looking more and more like the player who carried the Magic last season and made his first all-star team.
He has scored in double figures in nine consecutive games and he’s had at least 10 assists in two of those games. Nelson is aggressively attacking the paint and once there he’s either scoring or dishing to teammates for open shots.
``He just looks like he’s back to where he was early last year in terms of having his quickness and his shot,’’ Van Gundy said of his point guard. ``When he first came back, really until a week or two before the all-star break his shots were short and he was a half-step slow. Everything has come together. His leg is better and his conditioning is better now that he’s been at it for a while. You need your legs to play effectively and your quickness to get by people and he’s just playing great.’’
---- Barnes and Carter played well early, while Lewis carried the Magic through the third quarter when the Magic ran several plays for him in the post.
Van Gundy talked recently to Barnes about playing more efficiently and the veteran small forward responded Monday night. He made six of seven shots, hit all three of his 3-pointers and had a nifty alley-oop dunk from Carter in the second half.
Lewis has worked his way back into the flow of the offense by aggressively seeking out shots and being more willing to drive the basketball. He hit eight of 12 shots against Thaddeus Young and buried three of his four 3-pointers.
And Carter, who made seven of 13 shots said the Magic are rounding into form with the playoffs in sight now. Said Carter: ``Big players step their game when it’s time, and it’s that time. It’s the second part of the season. (GM) Otis (Smith) has done a great job of putting this team together and we know it’s our time.’’
THE BAD
---- The Sixers were booed much of the second half by the fans and some even chanted ``Fire Ed-die’’ much of the second half. It is uncertain whether they were referring to head coach Eddie Jordan or GM Ed Stefanski.
After the game, Jordan seemed to call into question the Sixers’ leadership and poor body language on Monday night. Veteran shooting guard Andre Iguodala took exception to the notion that the team is rudderless.
``When you start to play the blame game, it really leads to a dead end and doesn’t go anywhere,’’ Iguodala said. ``I am just going to go out there and keep doing what I have been doing my whole career, which is playing basketball the right way.’’
THE UGLY
---- Philadelphia was once again without power forward Elton Brand because of Achilles tendonitis. He won’t play in Philadelphia’s upcoming game against Atlanta either, and his signing to a massive free-agent contract is looking more and more like a disaster.
After a strong finish last season and pushing the Magic to six games in the playoffs, the Sixers are headed to the lottery this season. And much of the blame has to be heaped onto the shoulders of Brand, who hasn’t played at an all-star level for three seasons because of various injuries.
The Sixers certainly expected more than 13.8 points and 6.5 rebounds a game from Brand when they gave him a $68 million free-agent contract two seasons ago.
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 DentonMarch 1, 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.
An Orlando Magic team that has struggled of late with shots from afar – both wide open and contested one – found the perfect opponent Monday night with which to snap out of its shooting funk.
The Magic made 15 of 23 3-pointers Monday against the defensively inept Philadelphia 76ers, the NBA’s worst team at stopping shots from beyond the arc. The hot shooting night helped the Magic roll to an easy, breezy 126-105 rout of the short-handed Sixers.
The 126 points were the most of the season for the Magic (41-20), topping the 120 they scored on Dec. 5 against Golden State. Coincidentally, the Magic face the woeful Warriors again Wednesday night at Amway Arena.
That the Magic shot the ball particularly well was an assuring feeling considering that Orlando had made just 45 of 156 3-pointers (28.8 percent) in the seven games since the all-star break. But the Magic had no problems whatsoever against the Sixers (22-37), getting at least 14 points from all five starters.
Rashard Lewis, Matt Barnes and Vince Carter each made three 3-pointers apiece, while Jameer Nelson, J.J. Redick and Mickael Pietrus each made two 3-pointers.
``We got all shooters on this team. We are not a selfish team,’’ said Nelson, who scored a team-high 22 points and 10 assists. ``The thing is as long as we take care of the ball and get shots, we know we are going to make a lot of them.’’
Nelson, a native of nearby Chester, Pa., and a college star at Philadelphia’s St. Joseph’s, was the star of the night on and off the floor. He made eight of 11 shots, turned the ball over just once and his Magic were a plus-22 in scoring in his 27 minutes on the floor.
And off the floor, Nelson hosted 750 students and AAU basketball players from his hometown as a part of the Jameer Nelson Foundation.
Then Magic got 19 points from Lewis and Carter, 16 from Barnes, 14 from Howard, 11 from Redick and 10 from Pietrus on a night when they shot 58.4 percent from the floor. Like the 126 points, the 58.4 percent shooting was also a season high.
``We played great offensively, we put the ball in the basket, the ball movement was good and we kept our turnovers down. We played well offensively and part of it was there wasn’t a lot of resistance on the other end.’’
Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from the lopsided Magic victory:
THE GOOD
---- Finally fully healthy from the knee injury that set him back earlier this season, Nelson is looking more and more like the player who carried the Magic last season and made his first all-star team.
He has scored in double figures in nine consecutive games and he’s had at least 10 assists in two of those games. Nelson is aggressively attacking the paint and once there he’s either scoring or dishing to teammates for open shots.
``He just looks like he’s back to where he was early last year in terms of having his quickness and his shot,’’ Van Gundy said of his point guard. ``When he first came back, really until a week or two before the all-star break his shots were short and he was a half-step slow. Everything has come together. His leg is better and his conditioning is better now that he’s been at it for a while. You need your legs to play effectively and your quickness to get by people and he’s just playing great.’’
---- Barnes and Carter played well early, while Lewis carried the Magic through the third quarter when the Magic ran several plays for him in the post.
Van Gundy talked recently to Barnes about playing more efficiently and the veteran small forward responded Monday night. He made six of seven shots, hit all three of his 3-pointers and had a nifty alley-oop dunk from Carter in the second half.
Lewis has worked his way back into the flow of the offense by aggressively seeking out shots and being more willing to drive the basketball. He hit eight of 12 shots against Thaddeus Young and buried three of his four 3-pointers.
And Carter, who made seven of 13 shots said the Magic are rounding into form with the playoffs in sight now. Said Carter: ``Big players step their game when it’s time, and it’s that time. It’s the second part of the season. (GM) Otis (Smith) has done a great job of putting this team together and we know it’s our time.’’
THE BAD
---- The Sixers were booed much of the second half by the fans and some even chanted ``Fire Ed-die’’ much of the second half. It is uncertain whether they were referring to head coach Eddie Jordan or GM Ed Stefanski.
After the game, Jordan seemed to call into question the Sixers’ leadership and poor body language on Monday night. Veteran shooting guard Andre Iguodala took exception to the notion that the team is rudderless.
``When you start to play the blame game, it really leads to a dead end and doesn’t go anywhere,’’ Iguodala said. ``I am just going to go out there and keep doing what I have been doing my whole career, which is playing basketball the right way.’’
THE UGLY
---- Philadelphia was once again without power forward Elton Brand because of Achilles tendonitis. He won’t play in Philadelphia’s upcoming game against Atlanta either, and his signing to a massive free-agent contract is looking more and more like a disaster.
After a strong finish last season and pushing the Magic to six games in the playoffs, the Sixers are headed to the lottery this season. And much of the blame has to be heaped onto the shoulders of Brand, who hasn’t played at an all-star level for three seasons because of various injuries.
The Sixers certainly expected more than 13.8 points and 6.5 rebounds a game from Brand when they gave him a $68 million free-agent contract two seasons ago.
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.
