FINAL: Orlando Magic 110 - Los Angeles Clippers 88

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March 12, 2008 - Amway Arena

	1	2	3	4	F
CLIPPERS	19	28	29	12	88
MAGIC	32	31	27	20	110

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By Nick Adams | OrlandoMagic.com

FOURTH QUARTER
The Magic did a great job defending Corey Maggette in the third period holding him scoreless after his 20 point first half.

Howard feeds Bogans for an easy layin for the first points of the final period but Mobley answers quickly back with a jumper as the Magic still have a firm grip on the game leading 94-87.

Dwight Howard collides with Corey Maggette and Howard is slow to get up as all 17,000 fans at Amway become dead silent. Howard comes out of the game and heads to the locker room.

It doesn't look like anything major, but my guess is that up by 22 to the Clippers in the fourth, he isn't coming back.

The Magic tie the franchise record for three-point field goals made as Lewis cans the record tying basket.

Pat Garrity and J.J. Redick come into the game, so I think you know that the outcome has already been decided.

Garrity, aka "Instant Offense", drills his first jumper to put the Magic ahead 110-86 as we head under a minute.

A good win victory for the Magic as they take care of business beating the Clippers 110-88.

Final: Orlando Magic 110, Los Angeles Clippers 88

THIRD QUARTER
Al Thornton scores the first points of the second half by netting a jumper and Mobley adds two more as the Clippers cut the Magic lead to 13 points. Nelson scores the first Magic points of the half by stroking a triple.

Lewis scores his team-high 17th point by hitting a three-pointer but the Clippers answer with back-to-back hoops forcing Van Gundy to call a timeout with the Magic leading 69-58, four minutes into the third period.

Nelson and Turk hit consecutive jumpers to put the Magic back ahead by 15 points. After a quiet first half, Turkoglu is beginning to heat up as he hits his second straight triple giving him ten points thus far.

Turk strokes his third trey of the quarter in the face of Brevin Knight and then proceeds to stare him down. Hedo scores his 10th and 11th points of the third quarter from the charity stripe.

Turk must think it is the fourth quarter because he is going off in the third as he takes the ball to the hoop for two more giving the Magic an 87-66 lead as we head under two minutes left in the quarter.

Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley hit back-to-back triples, and the teams go back-and-forth for the last 30 seconds and the third ends with the Magic leading 90-76.

End of Third: Orlando Magic 90, Los Angeles Clippers 76

SECOND QUARTER
The Clippers score the first points of the second period but Lewis and Arroyo answer back for the Magic to sustain a double digit advantage.

The teams begin to heat up and trade baskets on four consecutive trips down the floor. Turk finally gets his first points of the ballgame making good and back-to-back hoops to give the Magic a 47-33 lead halfway through the second period.

Al Thronton scores consecutive hoops for the Clippers but Lewis answers back with a three-point play as the Magic lead 52-38 as we head under four minutes remaining in the second.

FIRST QUARTER
Good evening Magic fans and welcome to Amway Arena for tonigh's game as the Magic get ready to square off against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Magic will start Jameer Nelson, Mo Evans, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, and Dwight Howard. The Clippers oppose with Brevin Knight, Cuttino Mobley, Corey Maggette, Al Thornton, and Josh Powell.

Howards taps back to Nelson as we get things started tonight.

Not a good start for the Magic as their first two possessions result in turnovers and Maggette scores the first points of the game converting a three-point play.

Maggette and Thomas bucket back-to-back hoops to give the Clippers an early 7-1 advantage. Lewis answers with a tough three-point play giving him all four Magic points thus far.

Howard scores his first points putting back an offensive board and Turk finds Evans for a transition layin plus the foul. Evans cans the free-throw to tie the score at nine, four minutes into the game.

Howard flushes home an Evans missed jumper to give the Magic their first lead of the ballgame at 13-12.

The Magic have come out of their early funk because they have begun to feed Howard down low, and Dwight scores his sixth point muscling in an easy layin. By feeding Howard the Magic have also spread out the floor and Evans takes advantage by drilling a trey to give the Magic a 18-12 lead.

Nelson buckets four straight points for the Magic to give them a 24-16 lead as we head to the two minute warning in the first period.

Howard has taken over this game and grabs an offensive rebound and puts it back for two. Howard is taking advantage of the Clippers Chris Kaman sidelined with an injury by putting up 14 points and nine rebounds in the first quarter.

End of First: Orlando Magic 32, Los Angeles Clippers 19

SHOOTAROUND
The Magic returned to the practice floor Wednesday morning for team shootaround at RDV Sportsplex as they get ready to do battle with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Head coach Stan Van Gundy has been consistent all year with respecting the Magic's opponents, and there was no exception when it came to his views on facing the 21-41 Clippers.

"They are a solid team despite their record, and we clearing had a struggle with them out in LA, so I expect another difficult challenge tonight."

In that first meeting between the two teams, the Magic squeaked out a 113-106 victory in Los Angeles.

The Clippers, who trailed by 18 points midway through the third quarter, outscored the Magic 13-2 to start the fourth and trailed by only one point with four minutes remaining.

"Mr. Fourth Quarter", Hedo Turkoglu, scored 13 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter and added three rebounds and four assists in the final period helping the Magic hold on for the win.

"With Cuttino Mobley, Corey Maggette, and Al Thorton all playing great, they have three guys who are very good scorers," stated Van Gundy. "Not to mention having a guy like Chris Kaman down low."

Kaman, who has been nursing a back injury since mid-January, has seen limited to no action over the past couple of weeks including a DNP Monday night in Miami. His status for tonight's game is questionable.

The fourth year player out of Central Michigan, Kaman has emerged as one of the top big men in the league ranking third in rebounding (13.1 rpg) and blocked shots (2.9 bpg).

"Kaman is a great player," commented Van Gundy. "He is strong and can block shots and makes Dwight (Howard) work at the defense end of the floor with his offensive abilities. Kaman is a tough match-up for anyone in this league and he is certainly one of the four or five top centers in this league."

Howard got the best of Kaman in winning the last meeting, but Kaman caused some problems for Howard holding Dwight to 17 points while blocking two of his shots.

"He is a good player," Howard added, "But I try not to treat any my opponents any differently. I just try to go out each night with the same focus and intensity regardless of who I match-up against."

Although Los Angeles does have other threats on offense, if Kaman can't go tonight, it should give the Magic and Dwight Howard a huge advantage as they look to improve their 41-24 record, Wednesday night at Amway Arena.

PREGAME
Playing their second home game in three days, the Magic welcome the Los Angeles Clippers (21-41) to Amway Arena.

The Clippers have been plagued with injuries this season as two of their original starters, point guard Shaun Livingston and forward Elton Brand, have been inactive the entire season.

With two of their key players sidelined, the Clippers have struggled in a highly competitive Western Conference.

They rank 27th in scoring (93.9 ppg), 29th in field-goal percentage (.437), 28th in three-point field-goal percentage (.335), and 29th in rebounding (40.1 rpg).

Despite Los Angeles' woes, former Magic forward Corey Maggette, and center Chris Kaman, have had solid seasons.

Maggette leads the Clippers with a team-high 22.1 points per game while Kaman leads the team in rebounding at 13.1 (third in the NBA) and blocks at 2.9 (third in the NBA).

The Magic will hope to duplicate their 113-106 victory in the two teams' first meeting of the season in early January.

In that meeting, Hedo Turkoglu, who is coming off his second career triple-double, had another great all-around game leading six Magic double figures scorers with 28 points to go along with seven rebounds, and seven assists.

Dwight Howard added 17 points and 17 rebounds, and the Magic as a team shot 49 percent from the field.

Maggette led the Clippers with 27 points and forward Tim Thomas contributed 20 points off the bench in the losing effort.

Orlando (41-24) will look to hand the Clippers another loss on Wednesday night while improving their 13-13 record against Western Conference opponents.

MAGIC INJURY REPORT
Tony Battie – Out, torn rotator cuff, left shoulder – underwent successful surgery on Oct. 24; will likely miss the entire season.


TONIGHT’S OPPONENT:
Mar. 12 vs. L.A. Clippers (Orlando, FL): Orlando is 20-17 all-time vs. the L.A. Clippers (12-6 at home, 8-11 on the road) during the regular season, including 1-0 this season (see recap below)…The teams split 1-1 last season…Orlando has lost six of the last nine meetings, but won 16 of the last 26 overall…The Magic have won 10 of the last 14 meetings at home and won seven of the last 13 on the road…Keyon Dooling spent the first four seasons of his career with the Clippers (2000-04)…Assistant GM Dave Twardzik served as an assistant coach with the Clippers during his career…For last season’s stats and Magic career numbers vs. the Clippers, see p. 255 of the media guide…Jan. 9 @ L.A. Clippers – Magic 113, Clippers 103: Hedo Turkoglu netted 13 points in the fourth quarter alone to lift the Magic to a 113-103 victory over the Clippers at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. Turkoglu had a complete game for Orlando, leading all scorers in the game with a season-high tying 28 points while also racking up seven rebounds and seven assists. Turkoglu was joined by five other Orlando players in double figures, including Dwight Howard’s NBA-leading 32nd double-double of the season with 17 points and 17 boards. Orlando jumped out to an early 35-20 first quarter lead and never looked back, as they led from start to finish. Corey Maggette led the Clippers in the scoring column with 27 points.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. CLIPPERS: 47 pts., Tracy McGrady (@ Los Angeles, 12-10-01)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 35 pts., Elton Brand (@ Orlando, 2-1-06)