MAGIC: Quotes: 03/25/08 vs. San Antonio

FINAL: San Antonio Spurs 107 - Orlando Magic 97

March 25, 2008 - Amway Arena

	1	2	3	4	F
SPURS	28	30	22	27	107
MAGIC	29	27	17	24	97

Orlando Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy:
�That is a very good team and it was a difficult night. From my standpoint, (it was) disappointing because I thought our guys really came to play tonight. I thought we showed really good energy early in the game and throughout the first half. I thought we battled and we came out of the locker room in the third quarter ready to go, then we hit that five or six minute stretch; first, we had opportunities to really expand the lead. Keith got fouled and had three free throws and we had a fast-break lay-up right after that, so we had a chance to be up like 14, and instead they go on a 15-0 run. But my disappointment was not in our guys. I couldn�t find anything to sort of get us a real good shot and break that run, and as a coach that is frustrating when you have a group of guys that are battling as hard as our guys were and you can�t find a way to help them at that point. I am sort of kicking myself, but I still don�t have an answer now. (They are) just a very good team, but I thought our guys hung in and got back close again in the fourth and had our chances and we just could not get over the hump and get it done. We missed half our free throws in the second half and they defended extremely well � it was just a tough night.�

On the team�s effort with two starters out for the majority of the game�
�I thought our effort was good. After the game, I told them I thought our effort was good and the energy was good, and I told them that we competed very well with a very, very good team and that we have an opportunity to do something here in the playoffs. But you can�t just write it all off to the fact that guys got hurt. The bottom line is, we made some mistakes in that game that we should not make, and you can�t do that against real good teams. We missed some plays in that game on the offensive end where the ball didn�t move well and we didn�t find Dwight and we can�t do that. So what I said is we are taking tomorrow off and when we come back on Thursday, it is not going to be a blame thing, it�s not going to be yell and scream. I liked our effort � but we have to start really getting serious here down the stretch about improvements we need to make both individually and as a team getting ready for the playoffs regardless of who is out on the floor.�

On if the Spurs limited their 3-point shooting tonight�
�Yeah, they really stay home. Their ability to play the ball one-on-one really creates that. They play the ball one-on-one and they make you go to the rim and their guys play you to the rim and make you take a difficult shot or at least a tough shot, and they stay home. They really did a very good job of staying home on Rashard. I would have liked to run the ball more, I think that is where we could have gotten more room and more opportunities, and I thought we did run very well in the first half. Probably a product of fatigue or whatever, but we just were not able� to get going in transition in the second half. And when that team can just apply half court defense and lock into you, it is going to be difficult.�

Orlando Magic ForwardHedo Turkoglu:
�It�s a sprain right now� Getting an MRI tomorrow. Hopefully it�s not too serious so it won�t keep me away from playing. So cross your fingers.�

�Jacque Vaughn took a charge on me. I didn�t want to fall on him so I had to move my hands. Then I saw my hands were kind of swollen and I was in pain.�

Orlando Magic ForwardRashard Lewis:
�Yeah, I thought it was tough, I thought we played well. We stayed in the game, had chances to win it.�

�That�s the difference between a veteran championship team and our team. They did the little things, they knocked down all their free throws and that�s what separated us on the scoreboard. We missed free throws, turned the ball over, just the little things we could have done to win the ballgame.�

(On the Spurs� 3rd qtr. run) �We missed some opportunities, missed some lay-ups, turned the ball over on fast breaks. We played good defense but we couldn�t convert running out. We could have built that lead to 10-15 points and built a little cushion going into the fourth quarter.�

(On Keyon Dooling) �He played well for us, especially when Hedo Turkoglu went out and Jameer Nelson. He came in and lifted us on the offensive end with his scoring. He attacked the basket and he kept us in the game in the first half.�

(On envisioning being the go-to guy for Magic when he arrived) �Yeah, I did envision it, but at the same time, I don�t think I was the go-to guy in the fourth quarter. I thought we ran some pick-and-rolls and they wouldn�t leave me out on the three and that opened up the lane for Carlos to get to the basket and create something for Dwight.�

Orlando Magic GuardKeyon Dooling:
�We did a good job. Obviously, they�re a very battle-tested team so if you don�t bring your �A� game, they�re going to beat you. But we fought hard, especially with Turk and Jameer out. It�s a great opportunity for guys like Carlos and J. J. to get some pretty significant minutes.�

�We hit a little stretch in the third quarter where we couldn�t score; from that point on, they took control of the game.�

San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Greg Popovich:
On the comeback in the third quarter after Keith Bogan�s missed free throws:
�That was a momentum builder for us, I guess. We dodged a bullet there. We were fortunate and we started making some shots. I thought team defense on Dwight Howard was very good in the second half, I thought that really propelled us. That was the big change in the two halves. I thought our guys did a great job in that area against a fantastic player.�

On addressing the Spurs� need to score more points:
�Orlando is a really well put together team. All the pieces fit and they score. They might score better and easier than most anybody in the league. You can play good defense and try and limit this, that and the other, but if you don�t score you�re in trouble. That�s why we played small all night long because I didn�t think our big lineup would be able to do that at that level.�

On limiting the Magic�s three point attempts:
�We tried to take Rashard (Lewis) and Hedo (Turkoglu), guys we call hot, off the three point line and of course Hedo wasn�t there for the second half so that was a break for us. But all in all we played really good defense in the second half and that�s the name of the game.�

On Tim Duncan�s defense against Dwight Howard:
�Tim�s timing is great. He�s not Mr. Athlete. He�s not going to do it with athleticism. He�ll do that sort of thing with timing and understanding of what�s going on. He�s really got a great feel defensively.�

On what has been the difference for the Spurs the past five games:
�Making shots. We had a period there where we couldn�t throw it in the ocean. We�ve always been pretty good on defense, usually one of the top four or five teams. We�ve got to make shots. Tim Duncan�s going to get double teamed, he gets a lot of attention, and other guys have to step up and make them. We were really in a drought and over the last couple of weeks we�ve been making shots and our offense has been there.�

San Antonio Spurs GuardManu Ginobili:
�It is really hard to play these guys with two bigs with the way they spread the court. They are the best three-point shooting team in the league. You have to contest and play with quicker guys.�

�We made a decision to make them penetrate. We were not going to let Rashard, Hedo, and Bogans take wide open shots. We were going to send them to Tim or the other �Big�. We tried to rotate and of course with Hedo not playing a good part of the game of course it helped. Rashard made some tough ones, but I thought we did a very good job especially in the second half.�

(On Spurs containing Howard offensively in 2nd half) �He played great in the first half. At halftime we just said we were going to be more aggressive on him. We went to blitz or matchup quicker on the catch. Tim guarded him better. We were more active. It was a great team job.�

�Hedo is a big part of what they do. He is not only spotting up for threes, but now he is a creator. He dishes a lot of assists. The fact of him not playing and Jameer of course helped us.�

�It is hard to tell (on what is clicking during recent winning streak). We are just closing games better. We are playing better 48 minutes. We were playing better before too. There are not many reasons.�

San Antonio Spurs ForwardTim Duncan:
�It worked pretty well (on defending three point line). We kept them under their season average in points. We know they have a lot of great shooters. Hedo went down and Jameer went down. That hurt them obviously, but just the same I thought we did a pretty decent job on them.�

�He (Finley) has had one of those games coming. It is great to see him shooting it confidently and knock down a couple shots. Just that will help us down the stretch here. We need to get him into a rhythm and getting to the point where he is looking to fire that thing. We have the confidence he is going to knock them down.�

�We are just slow and steady. We are trying to get to the point we are playing those 48 minutes the right way. We are headed in that direction. It is coming down to crunch time here and we are healthy and have been for a little while. That is a big part of it.�

POSTGAME NOTES

� Center Dwight Howard finished the night with his league-leading eighth 20/20 game of the season as he tallied 24 points and 21 rebounds. The last time Howard notched a 20/20 this season was on March 1 against the New York Knicks when he finished with 26 points and 22 rebounds. This is Howard�s 14th 20/20 of his career.
� Howard also finished the night with his 63rd double-double of the season, 215th of his career. Howard is now five double-doubles shy of matching the franchise record for most double-doubles in a season, previously set by Shaquille O�Neal during the 1992-93 season.
� Guard Maurice Evans finished with a career-high seven assists for the night. Evans� previous career-high of four assists was set three times in his career, lastly against the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 25, 2007.
� Keyon Dooling finished the night with a season-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Dooling�s previous season-high was 17 points set on Nov. 24th vs. the Miami Heat. Dooling�s career high is 25 points, which he tallied on Nov. 15, 2006 against the Denver Nuggets.
� The Orlando Magic fell 107-97 to the San Antonio Spurs at the Amway Arena to fall to 46-27 on the season, 23-14 at home. The win improves the Spurs to 48-23 on the season, 20-17 on the road. The Spurs hold the advantage in the season series 2-0.
� Forward Rashard Lewis finished with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting (58.3 percent) from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line. Lewis also grabbed seven rebounds and notched one steal.
� Carlos Arroyo rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Magic as he came off the bench to finish with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, while staying a perfect 2-for-2 from the free-throw line.
� The Spurs' Manu Ginobili led all scorers for the night with 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting from the field and 100 percent (7-of-7) from the free-throw line.
� Guard Michael Finley finished with a season-high 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting (69.2 percent) from the field, 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.
� Tim Duncan finished with 19 points, while Bruce Brown and Tony Parker both finished with 11 points apiece. Parker also dished out a game-high nine assists.