FINAL: Washington Wizards 87 - Orlando Magic 86
March 19, 2008 - Amway Arena
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
F |
| WIZARDS |
20 |
16 |
31 |
20 |
87 |
| MAGIC |
26 |
17 |
22 |
21 |
86 |
NBA.com Preview |
Game Notes (PDF) |
GAME INFO
Tipoff: 7:00 PM ET
TV: FSN
Radio: WDBO AM 580 | Spanish Radio: AM 1030 WONQ
By Nick Adams | OrlandoMagic.com
FOURTH QUARTER
The fourth quarter begins with the Awmay crowd roaring as they try to get behind their Magic who trail by two points. The Magic will need some help from the fans as they are just 1-18 this season when trailing after the third.
The Magic desperately need Howard and Lewis to come up strong in the fourth and Howard gets going by throwing in just his third point of the game on a hook shot.
You can't say enough about the job the fans and Hedo Turkoglu have done tonight, Turk drills another triple as the crowd erupts forcing a Wizards timeout with seven minutes remaining and the Magic trailing by only one point.
Jamison answers with a triple but the Magic answer back once again with a three of their own as Bogans nets one from the right corner.
If you haven't been out to a Magic game this season, you definitely need to because the team is fun and exciting to watch and feed off a rukus Amway crowd.
I think Turk wanted to celebrate on his birthday because he is doing everything out here, blocking shots, dishing to teammates, and scoring at will. Hedo ties his career-high with his 37th point.
This place is about to explode as Bogans cans a three from the corner to give the Magic a 81-80 lead as we head under three minutes remaining. I think the rowdy crowd is beginning to influence the players because things are starting to get heated and words are exchanged between Jamison and some of the Magic players.
You just have a feeling that this game is going to come down to the last possession. Nelson splits a pair from the line and Butler hits a jumper to put the Wizards ahead by three with a minute and a half remaining.
Nelson and Turk bucket three more points from the line to tie up the ballgame at 85 as we head under a minute.
Butler hits a huge jumper to give the Wizards a two point lead and Van Gundy calls a timeout to set up a play with 36 seconds left.
Everyone is either on the edge of their seats or standing as Hedo takes the ball to the basket and gets fouled sending him to the free-throw line with a chance to tie the ballgame. Turk splits the pair and the Wizards call a timeout leading 87-86 with 33 tics left.
The Wizards isolate Butler at the top of the key and Howard comes from nowhere to swat Butler giving the ball to the Magic with 9.4 seconds left. My heart is about to jump out of my chest.
Not a sole inside Amway is sitting, except for most of media row because it is required of us and extremely hard to type standing up. Turk takes the ball to the hoop strong and throws up a finger roll that comes up just short as the Magic lose by a point.
Final: Washington Wizards 87, Orlando Magic 86
THIRD QUARTER
Despite the playoff feel in the arena, the two teams played a slow, low scoring first half. Hedo Turkolgu, on the other hand, was on fire scoring a game-high 18 points. Let's hope the rest of the Magic can follow Turk's lead as we set to begin the second half.
The Wizards go on a 7-0 run to begin the third and tie up the ballgame at 43, but Jameer Nelson comes right back with a layin and a trey to give the lead back to the Magic, three minutes into the second half.
Stevenson scores back-to-back hoops and Nelson scores his seventh point of the quarter converting a layup.
The Wizards have done a tremendous job of Dwight Howard holding him to just one point thus far. Washington takes their first lead since early in the first quarter as Jamison throws in a mid-range jumper.
The game changes leads a couple of times but Jamison scores on consecutive possessions to give the Wizards their largest lead of the game at five points. The Wizards have shot 10-of-15 this quarter.
The back-and-forth game continues as Jamison hits a couple free-throws and Foyle buckets an easy layp on a pretty feed from Turk. Van Gundy calls a timeout with the Magic leading 59-57 as we head under three minutes left in the third.
Turk is on fire and brings the Amway crowd to their feet as he drills another three-pointer giving him 26 points of the night. Turk has carried this team tonight with Lewis and Howard only combining for only eight points thus far and Hedo scores his 29th point on his 29th birthday hitting yet another from downtown.
Despite Turk's heroics, the Magic trail the Wizards by two heading into the fourth.
End of Third: Washington Wizards 67, Orlando Magic 65
SECOND QUARTER
The second quarter starts out slow as both teams struggle to find the mark. Dooling scores the first points for the Magic three minutes into the period by converting a layup to give the Magic a 28-22 advantage.
Turk hits back-to-back buckets to put the Magic back ahead by ten points halfway through the second.
The Wizards go on a 6-0 run but Turk ends it by drilling a trey. Bogans follows with a three of his own bringing a roar from the Amway crowd forcing the Wizards to call a timeout trailing the Magic, 40-30 as we head under two minutes remaining.
After a very slow start, both teams have caught on fire as they go back-and-forth. The half ends with the Magic leading by seven.
Halftime: Orlando Magic 43, Washington Wizards 36.
FIRST QUARTER
What's up Magic fans and welcome to an electric Amway Arena tonight as Southeast Division rivals set to square off. The game tonight between the Magic and Wizards is a possible first round playoff perview and the atmosphere in the building tonight has a playoff feel.
Starting for the Magic is Jameer Nelson, Mo Evans, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, and Dwight Howard. Antonio Dainels, DeShawn Stevenson, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, and Brendan Haywood.
Former Magic DeShawn Stevenson strokes the first points of tonight's ballgame canning a trey for the Wizards. The Magic start slow missing their first three shot attempts but Nelson gets them their first points of the evening netting a jumper. The teams begin to heat up as Jamison scores and Turk buckets back-to-back hoops to give the Magic an early 7-6 advantage.
The feeling in the arena tonight is one of excitement and anticipation as you can just feel the team and the fans gearing up for the post-season. The crowd erupts as Lewis throws in his first basket of the night via the three-pointer.
Today is Hedo Turkoglu's 29th Birthday and he is treating himself to a game-high nine points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the field thus far leading the Magic to a 17-12 lead with 4:21 remaining in the opening period.
Howard picks up two quick fouls and has to head to the bench but Evans picks the Magic up by drilling a three from the corner. The Magic have begun to heat up as they have hit eight out of their last ten shots including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Evans gives the Magic their largest lead of the game at ten points but the Wizards score four straight to end the first quarter.
End of First: Orlando Magic 26, Washington Wizards 20
SHOOTAROUND
At times, there is less preparation involved when you face a division opponent because you face them more often than other teams, but the Magic have yet to face the true Washington Wizards this season.
Both teams were at full strength when they met for the first time in early November, but that was just the third game of the season and both teams had yet to develop their true identity.
Washington would have to endure several identity crises this season; most notably, when they found out All-Star guard, and leading scorer, Gilbert Arenas would be lost for most of the season due to knee surgery.
On top of that, Washington would play a significant portion of their games after the All-Star break without forward Caron Butler.
One of those games came against the Magic, and Orlando pounded a depleted Washington squad by 30 points.
With that being said, head coach Stan Van Gundy and the Magic came into this morning's shootaround prepared for the possibility to face the real Washington Wizards as Butler is healthy and Arenas may make his return tonight.
"Obviously we spent some more time about them because they may be at full strength tonight," stated Van Gundy. "We spent a lot of time talking about Butler; you always have to prepare for a guy like (Antawn) Jamison, and we even talked about Arenas in case he plays."
Van Gundy continued, "I don't think our game plan has changed much for them, but we obviously did focus on their key guys a little more. Other than that, we focused on our defensive principles against their offensive stuff and how we want to play them."
Another topic of discussion at shootaround was tonight's game being a possible first round playoff preview.
Van Gundy and the Magic are fully aware of this fact, but like all the great teams, their focus is more on winning tonight.
"We do understand the circumstances and the possibilities of facing them in the first round," Van Gundy said, "but the playoffs are still far away so we just need to focus on tonight."
"We talked about this game being a possible first round match-up but it is hard to prepare for them because they could have a different team when we face them then," Hedo Turkoglu added. "Right now we just have to focus on tonight and come out and get a victory."
Dwight Howard took a slightly different approach, "We really have to come out and try to send a message to these guys if we do end up facing them first in the playoffs."
Expect a packed house and a playoff atmosphere inside Amway Arena tonight as the Magic go for their sixth straight victory.
PREGAME
Head coach Stan Van Gundy and the Magic at the beginning of the season wrote several goals on their locker room board and recently have crossed off the top two on that list when they secured a winning record and a playoff berth last week.
The next item on that list is to win the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference.
Orlando’s “magic number” to clinch the Southeast Division championship is now at 5. This number is a combination of Magic wins and the second place team’s losses.
The second place team in the division is the Washington Wizards, and the Magic can inch closer to crossing off another item on their board as they host the Wizards Wednesday night at Amway Arena.
Washington travels to Orlando for the first time this season clinging to the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 33-33 record.
If both the Magic and Wizards were to maintain their current seeding in the Conference, Wednesday's game would be a first round playoff preview.
The division rivals have met two times this season with the Magic winning both games in Washington by an average margin of 21 points.
In their most recent meeting, Orlando dismantled a Wizards team, who was without the services of All-Star small forward Caron Butler, 122-92 thanks to 56 percent shooting from the field.
Butler (21.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 4.5 apg), and Eastern Conference Player of the Week Antawn Jamison (21.6 ppg, 10.3 rpg) lead the Wizards in leading scorer Gilbert Arenas' absence.
In a 3-0 week for Washington, Jamison averaged 25.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game in wins against the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers.
With two double-doubles last week, Jamison increased his career-high double-double tally to 37 this season, the second highest total in the Conference behind Dwight Howard's mark of 60.
Howard and the Magic have won nine out of their last ten home games and will go for their season-high sixth straight victory Wednesday night.
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. 19 vs. Washington (Orlando, FL): Orlando is 47-27 all-time vs. Washington (28-8 at home, 19-19 on the road) during regular season action, including 2-0 this season (see recap below)…The teams split 2-2 last season...Orlando has won eight of the last 14 meetings with Washington and 24 of the last 35 overall...Orlando has won nine of the last 11 and 18 of the last 21 games at home…The teams have split the last 12 matchups at Washington…Keith Bogans played four years at legendary DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, MD…J.J. Redick went to Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, VA…For last season’s stats and Magic career numbers vs. Washington, see p. 289 of the media guide…Nov. 3 @ Washington – Magic 94, Wizards 82: Hedo Turkoglu tallied season-highs of 25 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, as Orlando defeated Washington, 94-82, at Verizon Center. Orlando outscored Washington during the fourth quarter, 30-15. Rashard Lewis tallied 18 points (all in the first half) and eight rebounds, while Dwight Howard notched his third straight double-double with 17 points, a game-high 15 boards and three blocks. Caron Butler led the Wizards with 23 points. After trailing 50-42 at halftime, the Wizards outscored the Magic during the third quarter, 25-14, and took a 67-64 edged into the final stanza. Orlando responded by opening the quarter with a 12-4 run and never looked back. Turkoglu netted 13 of his points during the final 12 minutes of play…Mar. 5 @ Washington – Magic 122, Wizards 92: Dwight Howard tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds, as Orlando pounded Washington, 122-92, at Verizon Center. It was the third straight win for Orlando and the largest margin of victory for the Magic this season. Six Orlando players scored in double figures, including Maurice Evans, Keith Bogans and Rashard Lewis, who all scored 17 points each. Antawn Jamison paced the Wizards with 19 points, but was 6-of-18 from the floor. The Magic shot 56.1 percent from the floor and made 12-of-27 from beyond the three-point arc. Orlando led from start to finish and by as many as 34 points during the second half.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. WIZARDS: 62 pts., Tracy McGrady (@ Orlando, 3-10-04)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 48 pts., Antawn Jamison (@ Wasington, 4-17-07)
