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Warriors Scoring Too Much for Magic
December 22, 2006 - Amway Arena
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WARRIORS 23 25 32 37 117
MAGIC 31 21 29 27 108
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By Matthew Gardner | OrlandoMagic.com

Despite having three points score at least 20 points, the Orlando Magic weren't able to keep up with the Golden State Warriors on Friday night, falling 117-108. Trevor Ariza scored a career-high 23 points, while Jameer Nelson added 22 and Grant Hill 21, respectively. However, the Warriors got 38 from Baron Davis to sink the Magic, who now travel to Cleveland for a Saturday night contest with the Cavaliers.

Even though they sprinted out to an early lead and led 31-23 at the end of the first quarter, the Magic struggled to keep up with the scoring efforts of Golden State. The Warriors scored 69 points in the second half and it was a pair of fourth quarter threes from Mike Dunleavy Jr. that gave them the lead for good. Along with Davis' game-high 38 points, the Warriors got 21 from Dunleavy, 18 from Monta Ellis, 15 from Mickael Pietrus and 10 from Matt Barnes.

Nelson, who had missed four games with a strained groin, started for Orlando and played 25 minutes - hitting 8-of-13 shots. Dwight Howard had 15 points and 13 rebounds to go along with a season-high five blocked shots.

9:45PM: No win in Orlando on this night as the Magic fall to 17-11 on the season.

9:43PM: Warriors' outside shooting and Baron Davis' 35-point effort is destroying Orlando's hope in this game. They need some big plays in a hurry. Trevor Ariza tips back a Nelson miss to make it a six-point game, but Nelson fouls Ellis with 38.6 left. He hits both free throws and the lead is back to eight.

9:40PM: Dunleavy just hit a off-balance three as the shot-clock expired to make it a seven point game. Grant hits a shot at the other end to pull within five. But the Warriors are just too good tonight as Davis hits another one. Nelson's layup makes it a five point game agai. 109-104 in the final minute. Dunleavy sinks another three and possibly the Magic's ship on this night. Warriors lead 112-104 with 51.1 left in the game.

9:38PM: Davis goes to the line for a pair of free throws after the timeout. He hits the first as well as the second and the lead is back to six. Jameer is fouled while taking a shot and goes to the charity stripe and the Magic are in need of some points with 2:17 left. He hits the first and the second and it's 104-100 Warriors.

9:34PM: Grant gets in the lane and hits a layup and the Golden State lead is only four. But Foyle puts back a Davis miss and the lead is back to six. Jameer banks one off the glass to bring the Magic back within four with 2:38 left. The Warriors lead, 102-98.

9:32PM: Grant Hill is fouled and goes to the line. He hits the first, but misses the second and the Warriors have a six-point lead.

9:29PM: Things not going well for the Magic. Davis just hit another layup to give Golden State a seven-point lead with 5:17 left in the game. Magic shooting 47 percent with 16 turnovers. The big killer so far has been the Warriors' 7-of-19 shooting from three-point range, while Orlando is only 2-of-8.

9:27PM: Magic trailed by five until Howard hit a pair of free throws. But that didn't last long because Davis hits another jumper to make it a five-point game once again. Davis leads all scorers with 29 points. Grant just hit a jumper and it's a one possession game once again with 6:00 left.

9:19PM: Orlando falls behind by four in the first couple minutes of the fourth, but Diener hits a three to bring the Magic within one. However, Davis hits a layup at the other end. The Warriors lead, 92-89 with 8:22 left.

9:13PM: Magic responding to a fired-up crowd as Arroyo hits the first bucket of the final quarter, but Barnes ties the game with a three. However, Darko muscles away a rebound from Biedrins and is fouled. Biedrins was injured after landing on his back and is being looked at by the Warriors medical staff.

9:08PM: Ellis is fouled by Diener and hits a pair of free throws, but Ariza makes a layup to tie his career-high and is fouled in the process. A made free throw will give Orlando the lead and Trevor doesn't disappoint. Career-high for Trevor and the Magic lead, 81-80 at the end of the third quarter.

9:04PM: Dwight hits a pair of free throws at the 2:04 mark to bring Orlando within three points, 75-72. Ellis is fouled by Howard at the other end and heads to the line where he hits the first, but misses the second and the Golden State lead is four. Travis Diener nails a jumper to make it a two-point game, but Baron Davis finds a way to slice into Orlando's defense for an easy layup. At the other end, Darko's hook shot again brings the Magic within two and the Warriors come up short at the other end. And Darko again comes to the rescue with a soft hook to tie the game with 39.7 seconds left in the quarter.

8:58PM: Ariza just threw down an incredible dunk and now has 18 points - two off of his career best as a pro. Jameer Nelson just hit a floater and the Magic trail by five, 75-70 with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter.

8:54PM: Monta Ellis is fouled while making a layup to give the Warriors a four point lead. Ariza is having a great night for Orlando, scoring 16 points so far. His career high is 20. Ellis hits the free throw and the Warriors have their biggest lead of the night, 70-65.

8:48PM: Pietrus is fouled while making a layup, but misses the free throw. Still, Golden State holds a three-point lead. Trevor Ariza is fouled by Barnes and heads to the foul line. Trevor misses the first, but hits the second to make it a two-point game, 65-63.

8:43PM: Matt Barnes hits a three and the Warriors are within two points. But Jameer's steal leads to an open Howard along the baseline and the big man thunders down a monster dunk. However, Davis hits a three at the other end to make it a one point game. Grant then has his shot blocked and the Warriors get on the fastbreak at Matt Barnes' dunk gives the Warriors their first lead of the game, 61-60.

8:38PM: Third quarter underway from Amway Arena.

8:19PM: The Warriors have pulled within two points in the final minute, but Dooling was fouled in the final second of the half and will go to the line. He hits both free throws and the Magic head to the locker room with a 52-48 lead.

8:11PM: Grant hits a pair of free throws and the Magic have tied for their biggest lead of the game at eight. But Baron Davis hits a three to bring the Warriors within five.

8:08PM: Magic have opened up a six point advantage, thanks to a pair of buckets by Grant Hill. We've got 2:09 left on the clock until the half.

8:03PM: There was a brief stoppage in action because there appears to be a leak in the ceiling of the Amway Arena and a spot of water on the floor. One of the ballboys is going out to the floor each time the ball is at the other end to wipe down the floor. There's 4:16 left in the second quarter and the Magic clutching a 37-35 lead.

7:54PM: Orlando has only hit 1-of-12 field goal attempts since the start of second quarter. But Dooling just canned a jumper, so hopefully that will get the ball rolling back in the other direction. Dunleavy's fastbreak bucket makes it a three point game. Battie gets a piece of Ellis on a shot and the second-year guard goes to the free throw line. He hits only one free throw and its a two-point game with 6:56 left until halftime.

7:51PM: The Magic hit the first bucket of the second quarter, but the Warriors are now on a 7-0 run and have pulled within three points, 33-30, with 8:11 remaining in the first half.

7:41PM: The score after one quarter. Orlando Magic 31, Golden State Warriors 23.

7:39PM: Magic come out of the timeout on a 6-0 run before an Arroyo turnover leads to a fastbreak dunk by Pietrus. But Keyon Dooling makes his first attempt of the night and the Orlando lead is now 29-23 with 46.6 seconds left in the first quarter.

7:32PM: With 4:11 left in the first quarter, the Magic have a 19-17 lead. Golden State attempted to tie the game, but Davis' layup wouldn't fall. And the same action took place on their next possession as Monta Ellis' attempt also couldn't connect. But third time was the charm as Ellis gets his first points and ties the game. At the other end, Ariza's shot is good and the Magic regain the lead. Goaltending is called on the Magic and we've got a tie game with 2:40 left.

7:25PM: Arroyo and Ariza just hooked up for a killer alley-oop on an inbounds play. The two made eye contact and Ariza headed for the basket and Arroyo used pin-point precision to put the ball in perfect position for Mr. Ariza.

7:21PM: Great start for the Magic, who are looking for their third straight win. Golden State has hit a couple of three-pointers (Davis & Richardson), but are otherwise 0-of-6 from the field. Dwight is scoreless in these first few minutes, but the NBA's rebounding leader has already pulled down four boards. Orlando, who has struggled a bit from the field in recent games, is shooting 75 percent (6-of-8) to start the game. They currently lead, 13-8, with 8:13 remaining in the opening quarter.

7:17PM: We're underway here at the Amway Arena and the Magic are off and running. Jameer Nelson is back after missing more than a week with a strained right groin and the team is rallying behind its starting point guard. At the 9:30 mark, Orlando has a 13-5 lead and Jameer has hit his first three shots and has seven points.

After dropping three straight games, the Magic have appeared to turn things around and it looks like it can only get better from here.

Six of the team's next eight games are at home and the team is also expected to get back three of its injured players in the next week or so. Keith Bogans (ankle), Hedo Turkoglu (ankle) and Jameer Nelson (groin) are all expected to return to action within the next week to 7-10 - giving the team the depth it enjoyed early in the season while holding one of the best records in the NBA.

The return to the win column couldn't come at a better time for Orlando, who is trying to remain among the top teams in the Eastern Conference. Detroit is holding its ground and Chicago is on the move. New Jersey and Indiana appear to be a winning streak away from making a strike and maybe is staying on course - waiting for the big man to return to action.

But tonight's opponent is definitely no cakewalk. Golden State can be deadly and you are never quite sure which Warrior will be wreaking havoc on any given night. Baron Davis can put points on the board in a hurry as the Celtics found out on Wednesday night. Before the win in Boston, the Warriors had dropped eight straight road contests this season. Jason Richardson can have a great night when you least expect it and Monta Ellis is rising up the ladder faster than many expected.

TONIGHT’S OPPONENT:
Dec. 22 vs. Golden State (Orlando, FL): Orlando is 20-15 all-time vs. Golden State (13-4 at home, 7-11 on the road) during the regular season, including 1-1 last season...Orlando has won nine of the last 13 meetings and 16 of the last 23 games in the series overall…The Magic have won 12 of the last 13 meetings in Orlando and split the last six at Golden State…GM Otis Smith played in 137 games with the Warriors, then was a member of the Golden State front office for four seasons…Assistant Coach Tom Sterner served as an assistant with Golden State from 2002-04…Assistant GM Dave Twardzik was the Warriors’ GM from 1995-97…For last season’s stats and Magic career numbers vs. Golden State, see p. 251 of the media guide.
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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POSTGAME QUOTES

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Wed., December 27, 7:00PM
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Orlando Magic Head Coach Brian Hill:
“You know basically it came down to the fact that we couldn’t get any defensive stops in the second half. We gave them 69 points in one half of basketball. Baron Davis got 23 of those in the second half. We sure didn’t have an answer for him tonight. Some of the threes they made down the stretch kind of broke our back. It was just a disappointing defensive performance in the second half of the game.”

On the pace of the game…
“We hustled; we just had tough match-ups. We couldn’t control Baron basically with his dribble penetration in the second half and then they got 14 points off of offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter alone. Every time we came to help, they were big on the glass getting the offensive rebounds. Dunleavy’s two threes, as good as Baron was, he banks one in at the end of the shot clock and that’s a second chance opportunity, and then for some reason we went and doubled the ball with the shot clock winding down and left him wide open for a three. There is no reason for us to do.”

On the Golden State zone defense…
“It wasn’t really an up-tempo game for us, they’re playing a zone defense and we’re trying to move the ball. We didn’t do a good job penetrating against the zone. We did a poor job of interior passing against the zone. Every time we took a jump shot it ended up in a fast break for them going the other way… we took too many jump shots.”

On Trevor Ariza
“That’s his thing, doing a good job at taking the ball to the basket. I thought he worked extremely hard at the defensive end also. But that’s his game, outside shooting isn’t really his strength, his strength is attacking the basket and he had one really good finish tonight.”

Orlando Magic Guard Jameer Nelson:
“We gave up too many points in the second half. Too many points in the game period. Coach Hill let us know that there wasn’t a reason to give up 69 points in a half.”

(On Baron Davis)
“He did a good job penetrating and scoring. I thought I was playing pretty good defense on him, he hit some tough shots.”

“I felt 100% out there, I felt good.”

Orlando Magic Guard Keyon Dooling:
“That’s a team that can definitely score in bunches. They come out and scored a bunch. Their lineup is a tough cover. They execute well in the zone and offensively they spread us out and put Baron in good situations. You’ve got to take your hat off to them.”

“I think Baron Davis could penetrate even with seven guys out there on defense. It’s kind of hard to keep him out of the lane. It doesn’t matter who’s out in front of him.”

“There’s going to be some long rebounds out there when you take jump shots. That’s a team that can pretty much spread you out. You’ve got to pick your poison. Dunleavy hit some clutch shots down the stretch.”

Orlando Magic Forward Dwight Howard:
(On Baron)
“He’s a tough player, tough for anybody to guard. He hit some big shots. He’s a great player.”

“Oh man, they hit a lot of shots. The second half, we gave up too many points. Baron was hitting shots. You’ve just got to keep playing.”

“It was tough playing against some great guards tonight. You’ve got to help the guards out when they come into the basket. You’ve just got to keep playing.”

“We’ve got to keep playing through any situations. I like putting wins on the stat sheet instead of a loss, but you’ve got to keep playing.”

Golden State Warriors Head Coach Don Nelson:
On the win:
“Well, it was a hard-fought win, the force was with us again. We made that one three with the clock running down, that was a lucky shot, but the other ones weren’t. Our spacing was good, which we talked about at halftime – that needed correcting. And when we did create some shots they were there for us. The three-point shot actually won the game for us tonight. We made some, they didn’t; otherwise, it’s a pretty even game.”

On the slow start:
“We’d like to do better, but when you’re playing against a front line like they have they lock you up pretty good sometimes. Our support wasn’t there on the drives and they did beat us to the basket a few times. We had enough offense that kept going to Baron (Davis) and he was either creating or scoring. The guy’s incredible making shots.”

On Baron Davis being the best point guard he has had play for him:
“I can’t say that, I’ve had some great point guards. He’s as dominant a player as there is in the league right now.”

On the play of his bench:
“Well I’d like to credit (Adonal) Foyle, we haven’t given him much credit this year. Foyle is really the reason we won tonight, I think. When I needed him, I needed that body, I needed some rebounds, and some presence up there and not only did he do that, but he got six points for me. He got a couple of rebounds and made his free throws. I thought he was really active and a big reason why we won. (Mike) Dunleavy making some shots really helped. (They were) created by Baron most of the time or created by the mismatch we were creating because they had three point guards in the game at the same time and he was the open guy a couple of times. (It was) one lucky shot, but the others weren’t lucky, the other ones were right on. It was a very, very good win for us, unexpected. It was a very good team, we just happened to get hot and the right time. They also kept hot, by the way, in the fourth quarter. It wasn’t that one was stopping the other one.”

On Dwight Howard:
“I think he’s a great player and will be for as long as he wants to play. I love the guy, just love him.”

Golden State Warriors Forward Mike Dunleavy Jr.:
“After our slow start we hadn’t played well the last couple of games. Tonight we played real well especially down the stretch.”

(on three point bank shot late in game)
“I knew it was going in. It just felt good on my hands. I didn’t know how it was going in whether it was glass, swish, or whatever. I knew to get it up there.”

“When you have Baron Davis who can pretty much get by anybody at anytime and is creating it makes it easier on us. We had to get stops and rebounds here and there.”

“When Adonal caught the ball it was on four going on three (seconds on shot clock), so I knew when I touched it I had to get it up immediately. It went in.”

Golden State Warriors Guard Baron Davis:
“It was a great sense of urgency. We came in here knowing they were going to play. They got Jameer Nelson back so they were going to have some energy and some spark. We just wanted to come in here like we have been preaching on the road and stay close. We wanted to allow ourselves with our style of play, to come in here to and close the game out with our three point shooting and our overall activeness.”

“I am glad it went in (Dunleavy’s shot). You could kind of feel it that it was going in. I thought Foyle was going to shoot it, but he was wise enough to kick it out to Dun. He had a good touch on it. That is exactly what we needed.”

“That is what they (Orlando Magic) allow you to do is get to the basket. They have Dwight Howard sitting in the paint waiting for you. I thought we were able to do was stretch the defense out a little bit more with our three point shooting. That allowed us to start turning the corner.”

“We were poised all night. They made runs. We made runs. We took the lead and kept fighting. That is what we have to do in order to win.”

POSTGAME NOTES
• The Magic’s record is now 17-11 with a loss tonight against the Warriors. The Magic are 3-5 when the game is decided by six to ten points.
• Trevor Ariza tied his career high 21 points tonight. He last scored 21 on January 25, 2006 vs. Phoenix.
• The Warriors tallied 117 points tonight which is 28 points more than the average for opponents against the Magic in the last 15 games. Opponents averaged 89.1 points in those games.
• Dwight Howard recorded his 20th double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Howard had 60 double-doubles last season and now has 112 double-doubles for his career.
• Howard also tied a season high with five blocked shots. The last time was on 11/6/06 vs. Washington.
• The Magic scored 108 points tonight and haven’t scored 100 or more points since 11/24/06 at Miami. Their record is now 5-2 when reaching the century mark.
• Baron Davis scored a game high and set a new season high with 38 points on 11-of-23 shooting from the field.