Denton: Magic-Raptors Postgame Analysis

By John Denton
November 22, 2009

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.

The downtown arena in Toronto is nicknamed ``The ACC,’’ short for Air Canada Centre. Maybe then it’s no wonder why Orlando Magic guard J.J. Redick, formerly the other ACC’s all-time leading scorer, feels right at home north of the border.

On Sunday, Redick had a big game in Toronto for a second time in three weeks, this time keying a second-quarter rally and a game-turning fourth-quarter surge in Orlando’s 104-96 defeat of the Raptors.

Vince Carter, still booed every time he touched the ball even though it’s been five years since he forced a trade out of Toronto, had 24 points. And Magic all-stars Dwight Howard (17 points and 12 rebounds) and Rashard Lewis (11 points) also reached double figures in scoring.

But it was Orlando’s second unit of Jason Williams, Redick, Marcin Gortat, Ryan Anderson and starter Mickael Pietrus that delivered the game-winning stretch.

With the game tied at 80-all early in fourth period and Howard and Carter on the bench because of foul trouble, Redick and Williams buried back-to-back 3-pointers. Another clutch shot by Redick and two free throws from Anderson put the Magic up 90-80 and well on their way to the win.

That same second unit got the Magic back in the game after a sluggish first quarter in which Orlando trailed 28-22. Redick, who scored 27 points in Toronto back on Nov. 1, had nine points in the first two quarters and carried over his hot shooting to the second half.

``In the second quarter we got back in it with our defense,’’ Redick said. ``And we got the lead in the fourth quarter with that same group. It was 76-76 and then not long after that we were up 88-80. All our guys on the bench did a great job all game long.’’

Orlando (12-3) won its fifth consecutive game and improved to 5-2 on the road this season. Toronto is 4-2 at home this season with both losses coming to the Magic. Orlando won 125-116 in Toronto on Nov. 1 despite being without Vince Carter (sprained ankle), Rashard Lewis (suspension) and Mickael Pietrus (flu-like conditions).

Orlando is now off until Wednesday’s showdown against state-rival Miami. Including a game in Atlanta on Thanksgiving Night, the Magic start a stretch on Wednesday where they play four games in five nights.

``It’s going to be a real tough holiday weekend for us,’’ Redick said. ``We have four games in five nights and it’s four cities in five nights. So it will a challenge for us.’’

But before we move ahead to the Miami game and the road ahead, let’s look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from Sunday’s win in Toronto:

THE GOOD

---- Redick couldn’t have picked a better time to snap out of a mini-funk he’d been of late, scoring 19 points and handing out a team-high five assists. He made six of 10 shots, four of seven 3-pointers and three of four free throws.

How good was Redick? In his 30 minutes on the floor, the Magic were plus-11 on the scoreboard. And clearly, he’s comfortable shooting the ball at The ACC against the defensively challenged Raptors.

``It’s a very good shooting arena and I like the aesthetics here,’’ Redick said somewhat tongue-in-cheek. ``It’s very visually pleasing to the eye here shooting the ball.’’

---- Carter played his way through another poor shooting night and showed once again that he’s not about to shy away from crucial moments in games.

He had a 20-foot jumper and a nice driving dunk early on, but it was an otherwise forgettable first quarter for Carter. He didn’t play in Toronto three weeks ago, and Raptors fans missed out on the opportunity to boo him.

Carter made just nine of 24 shots, but he had a jumper late in the fourth period to push Orlando’s lead to 13 and he got to the free throw (two makes) to stem a 7-0 spurt by Toronto.

Carter has historically played well back in Toronto and he said the constant booing no longer affects him. In fact, he said the Raptors fans are misinformed when thinking he tried to force his way out of Toronto several years ago.

``I don’t know why they are booing me to be honest with you, but it is all good,’’ he said. ``I enjoy playing in that atmosphere and I enjoy coming back here and playing and just being part of this. It was a misconception of the entire thing. This is where it all started.

---- Williams continued to fill in nicely for the injured Jameer Nelson, scoring 16 points. He got in the lane for layups three times and his 3-pointer with 8:26 remaining put the Magic up six points.

Williams’ steadiness, combined with the support from Anthony Johnson, has allowed the Knights to survive the loss of Nelson. Clearly, there was no need for the Magic to make a knee-jerk reaction and sign another point guard.

``I thought our guards played extremely well,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``I think J-Will went the whole weekend and didn’t have a turnover. Two games on the road against good teams and he doesn’t turn the ball over, that’s outstanding basketball.’’

THE BAD

---- Clearly, the Raptors have yet to learn how to use their $53 million investment, Hedo Turkoglu. The former Magic standout forward is at his best with the ball in his hands, but Toronto isn’t featuring Turkoglu nearly enough as a playmaker, especially in fourth quarters.

Turkoglu was a mess offensively much of the game, making just three of 11 field goals. And considering how dominant Turkoglu can be when he’s getting in the lane and kicking the ball out to open shooters, any game he has just two assists is a bad game.

---- As has been the case so often this season, Howard was in early foul trouble and off the floor much of the first half. He had been doing a better job of chirping at officials of late, but on Sunday he allowed his frustration over getting whistled to spill over and he was hit with his fourth technical foul of the season.

Howard managed to salvage the afternoon with 17 points and 12 rebounds. He didn’t block a shot, but his defensive grit was instrumental in limiting Toronto star Chris Bosh to just six of 14 shooting.

``Their defense is one of the best; that is why they are 11-3,’’ Toronto coach Jay Triano said. ``They are one of the better teams. Dwight made it real tough for Chris. He played him early, before he could catch the ball and they showed lots of bodies. I thought they did a nice job on Andrea (Bargnani) as well, and even crowding Turk (Turkoglu) as much as he had the basketball.’’

THE UGLY

---- Two seasons ago, Toronto fans howled for Jose Calderon to become the Raptors starting point guard and the team traded away T.J. Ford to make that happen. And Toronto also made a big commitment to Calderon, rewarding him with a massive contract.

But the Raptors have struggled each of the past two seasons with Calderon at the controls, and a big reason for that is his matador defense.

Williams beat him off the dribble several times without much resistance at all from Calderon. Toronto has tried playing Calderon alongside fellow point guard Jarrett Jack, but the experiment has failed miserably because Calderon hasn’t guarded and Jack isn’t playing efficiently on the offensive end of the floor.

John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.