MAGIC: Quotes: 03/21/08 vs. Philadelphia

FINAL: Orlando Magic 113 - Philadelphia 76ers 95

March 21, 2008 - Amway Arena

	1	2	3	4	F
SIXERS	19	17	24	35	95
MAGIC	33	25	30	25	113

Orlando Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy:
On overall game� �Other than the turnovers, I thought we played really, really well. We shot well, played well, and defended well until we got a real big lead and then we let down a little. But overall I thought we played very well. I�m a little disappointed with the turnovers. That was a big emphasis, but other than that, a very good night.�

On whether Philadelphia�s recent performances influenced Magic�s play... �I don�t know about that, but I do know that we have a very healthy respect for what they�ve done. When you come in having won 8 of 9, and 16 of 20, and five straight road games, with one of them being at Phoenix and one of them being at Detroit, that can�t be a fluke. So we have a very healthy respect for the way they�ve played lately. We also had a bad taste in our mouth from the way we played on Wednesday night. A day off yesterday to number one rest physically, and number two think about it. I think it all just sort of added up to being pretty ready to play tonight right from the get go.�

On limiting playing time... �I�ve never been a big believer that the minutes in the game are going to be a huge difference. I think it�s much more important what we do in between games with days off and practice and things like that. I just really don�t think most guys can notice a difference of 250 or 300 playing minutes based over seven months. You�d have a hard time convincing me of any physical difference. I think that�s just become conventional thinking that nobody has really ever examined. You�re talking seven months. So a guy plays four more minutes a game, 300 minutes. So, you�re telling me 40 minutes a month, that�s going to make a huge difference in how the guy feels at the end of the year? I don�t buy it. And we�ll get them plenty of rest. They had yesterday off, played tonight, play tomorrow, Sunday off. Practice, play, day off. We hit this stretch and we told them about a month ago we won�t go more than four straight days ever of practice and games. It doesn�t matter when it falls, we�ll make sure that it�s not going to be more than four straight days of work. We�re going to get them their rest, but not necessarily in games. Tonight they got a lot of rest because the game developed the way it did, but that�s not a conscious thing.�

On Dwight�s performance� �We went to him early, but we generally do and he�s a quick starter anyway. I didn�t have any doubts that he would play well. They asked me before the game what�s his history coming back from a bad game? I said it�s a short history, number one he doesn�t have very many of them. I don�t know that you can really develop a trend when a guy hasn�t had very many bad games. And I think obviously the numbers he gets tonight are in 23 minutes. Thirteen points and 12 rebounds in half a game, that�s not bad.�

Orlando Magic GuardJameer Nelson:
�We knew we were the better basketball team today. We needed to focus on the things that we needed to focus on and tonight, we did a good job of it.�

Orlando Magic ForwardHedo Turkoglu:
�They�ve been a hard team to beat the last 20 games; they won like 16 or 17. So we had to jump on them early, we had control in our hands, and it was good to get a �W�. We shared the ball real well and played good defense and got a �W�.�

(On getting some rest) �It was nice because we have back-to-backs. Coach rested us and we have another game tomorrow and there�s going to be some pressure because it�s an important game to us. They�re a good team, young and athletic, and they want to take advantage of our back-to-backs.�

(On so many Turkish fans tonight) �Yeah, they told me before the game that they�re going to come. It�s really nice. It makes you happy to see. I know they love to watch back home but seeing some of them down here is really important and special. I�m going to go out there and spend some time with them and thank them.�

Orlando Magic CenterDwight Howard:
�Well, I think that we just wanted to come back from the loss we had against Washington. We thought that we should have won that game. We came out with a lot of energy.�

�They�re a great team. And I think that we did a great job of playing tonight on defense and we kind of kept Iguodala from getting to the rim and getting to his shots. So I think we did a good job on that. They�re a tough team and when they�re playing good, especially when they�re playing at home; it�s hard to beat them.�

(On maintaining lead) �Coach was talking to us that whole night, not just playing hard for two quarters or 36 minutes, but trying to playing hard for 48 minutes. But we stayed on them tonight, we buried them. That�s something we got to do when we get a big lead.�

�I think we�ve got to have a mature approach to every game because all these games mean something to us. Not just try to get the regular season over with, and get to the playoffs. All these games are preparing us. Every day is something to learn to get ready for the playoffs.�

Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach Maurice Cheeks:
On the loss:
�They beat us in every aspect tonight. They were just a lot better then us. Obviously you have nights like that, unfortunately for us it was a night that we couldn�t make a shot and they made every shot. They had eight three�s in the first half and went 14-23 from the three. It was just a bad night. They were just better than us all the way around.�

On whether Wednesday night�s game affected tonight�s game:
�I thought we�ve been very good at transferring, going from one game to another. I talked to them about the type of team where we need to be able to move from one game to another. We tried but they were just much better than we were tonight.�

On defending against the Magic�s quickness and ability to move the ball:
�What I talked about before the game was being able to guard one-on-one. I think when you have guys who can shoot the ball you have to be able to guard one-on-one. You have to be a little bit better one-on-one to be able to stay home with the three point shooter. I thought their screen-and-roll offense hurt us a little bit and that allowed us to get in to our rotation and when you get in to a rotation it opens other guys up so we have to get a little bit better at that.�

On the Magic coming out strong after a tough loss on Wednesday night:
�Well I thought they would be a little bit stronger and a little bit tougher because they knew they had a game they probably should have won the other night and they thought they let one get away and they probably came out with a little bit more muscle tonight. In the first quarter, they were quicker, they were stronger and they did a lot of things well in the first quarter.�

Philadelphia 76ers GuardAndre Miller:
�They just got out to a better start than us tonight. It was tough to get back into the game.�

�I think every team in the league is trying to figure out how to play them (inside/outside game). It is kind of tough because you have to give them their respect and their wing players can all shoot the ball. You have to figure out how you are going to play them. Tonight they kind of got a lot of three-pointers and that is what they have been doing all year.�

�They came out and did their job. They came out hungry and hit shots early. They got into a flow. Anytime the ball is going into the basket it makes their job easier.�

�We need to bounce back. There are 82 games and you can�t play every game perfect. We still have been playing good basketball. It was a let down tonight and we need to move on.�

�Any team is a tough match up (on possible first-round playoff opponent). We have to get there first. We just don�t want to have a let down and have this loss carryover to tomorrow.�

Philadelphia 76ers ForwardReggie Evans:
�We got one tomorrow within a couple of hours. That is the good thing about it...it (loss) can easily be forgotten.�

�We just didn�t play good. The fans didn�t have anything to do with tonight. We just didn�t play good. Orlando played good from start to finish. That is all it was. We just have to bounce back. Today is just another loss so we just have to bounce back. We lost against Boston and bounced back. That is our main goal.�

�They were at home and I am sure that (loss vs. Wizards on Wednesday night) had a lot to do with it. They did a good job against us. Their schedule kind of favors them towards the end of the season so I am sure they will probably keep it going.�

�They were hot (three-point effectiveness) and they stayed pretty much hot the whole game. In the first half they did a good job and we figured they would eventually stop hitting, but they kept hitting. Tonight was their night and it showed.�

POSTGAME NOTES

� The Orlando Magic defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 113-95 at the Amway Arena to improve to 46-25 on the season, 23-13 at home, while the 76ers fall to 34-35 on the season, 15-20 on the road. The Magic are 49-26 all-time vs. the 76ers, holding a 28-9 advantage at home. The Magic also hold the edge in the season series 3-1.
� With tonight�s 14 three-pointers, the Magic have now had nine consecutive games where they have notched 10+ three-pointers in a game, dating from March 5 to the present. The Magic now have 99 10+ three-point games in its franchise history.
� The Magic�s �magic number� to clinch the Southeast Division championship is 4. This number is a combination of our wins and the second place team�s losses. (currently Washington).
� The Magic tallied 18 assists in the first half, which ties the season high for assists in the first half, which was previously set against the LA Lakers on Dec. 2, 2007.
� The Magic finished the night shooting 94.4 percent from the free-throw line on 17-of-18 shooting as Hedo Turkoglu, Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Brian Cook and Keith Bogans were all perfect on the night.
� Eight Magic players finished in double-figures for the night. The Magic�s starting line-up contributed 71 of the Magic�s 113 points for the night. The Magic are 17-7 when six or more players finished in double-digits. (Rashard Lewis-18; Turkoglu-16; Howard-13; Keyon Dooling-13; Maurice Evans-12; Nelson-12; Keith Bogans-11; Cook-10)
� Lewis led the Magic in scoring as he tallied 18 points for the night on 8-of-15 shooting (53.3 percent) from the field, while also pulling down eight rebounds. Lewis has now led/tied the Magic in scoring 13 times this season.
� Turkoglu finished the night with his 32nd game when scoring 10+ points or more as he notched 16 points, while also lead the team with nine assists. The forward has now led/tied the team in assists 25 times this season. Turkoglu finished the night 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.
� Howard dished in 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting (71.4 percent) from the field and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. Howard also grabbed 12 rebounds to notched his league-leading 61st double-double of the season, 213th of his career.
� The 76ers had four players finished in double figures as Louis Williams led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. (Williams-18; Andre Iguodala-14; Rodney Carney-11; Thaddeus Young-10)
� Reggie Evans led the 76ers in rebounds, pulling down nine, while Andre Miller led the team in assists with five.