MAGIC: Quotes: 04/16/08 vs. Washington

FINAL: Orlando Magic 103 - Washington Wizards 83

April 16, 2008 - Amway Arena

	1	2	3	4	F
WIZARDS	19	22	19	23	83
MAGIC	24	23	23	33	103

Orlando Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy:
On the overall game�
�The night couldn�t have gone much better. We wanted to obviously limit the minutes on some of our main guys and get a lot of minutes for some of the other guys. And they played real well on top of it. It couldn�t have been a much better night for us in terms of what we wanted to get done and what we hope to see. In fact, the guys came in and played with some great energy and those young guys from Washington, when people were out, had some big nights and some big wins, so I thought it was a good test for our young guys and our bench playing against them and they did a very good job.�

On preparation before first playoff game�
�We�re in as good as a position as you can be in right now. That�s no guarantee of anything, but I like our energy. I think we�re both rested and sharp right now, but you just never know. It starts Sunday and you don�t know. That�s why everybody wants to watch postseason play and stuff. What we�re going to do tomorrow night, we won�t practice, we�ll meet for dinner, we�ll start showing them film on Toronto, we�ll give them their scouting reports and their books and sort of put in a game plan, and go over the basics of how we want to play, and we�ll practice pretty normally on Friday morning. And after that they�ll meet in groups and watch film on personnel of Toronto. And then we�ll have normal practice Saturday, then Sunday it�s time to go out and play.�

On Magic flying under the radar and being eager to prove themselves�
�The flying under the radar stuff, I don�t know. I don�t think it really matters. Again, when the game starts you�re either going to win or you�re going to lose. We�ve played well. We had a great regular season. I think the regular season was terrific. What I said to them tonight is, now the fun starts. The regular season is hard. I think the regular season is probably the bigger test of a team�s character and stuff. When you�re on the road and you�re playing like we did earlier in the year (with) that tough schedule I think your character really gets tested. When you get to the playoffs it�s fun. There�s no problem getting yourself up and ready to play now. It�s not like you�re on the road and on your fourth game in five nights in a half full building or something. It�s all excitement now, so this is the good part for an NBA player. I think they�re excited about it, and we�ll see what happens. We�ll see what happens. I expect that we�ll play real, real well, but we�ve got to be ready for anything at this time of year. I�m looking forward to the challenge. I think our players are looking forward to the challenge. We�ll get prepared in the next couple of days and we�ll let it fly on Sunday.�

Orlando Magic GuardCarlos Arroyo:
�It�s (Toronto) a great team. They have some playoff experience. I think we match up well with them and it�s going to be a great battle and we�re looking forward to it.�

Orlando Magic ForwardRashard Lewis:
�I think the city�s excited, we�re excited. We feel like they (the media) haven�t talked about us a lot but we�ve got something to prove out there.�

Orlando Magic GuardKeyon Dooling:
�We�re building something here. We�re better, we�ve gotten progressively better every year and this year, we feel like we�ve got a legitimate shot at being a contender. We�ve been looking forward to it.�

(On Toronto) �They are a challenging team, but I think all teams in this position are pretty challenging. I think we�re a pretty good team; it�ll be challenge for us, but we�ll be a challenge for them also.�

�We have similarities, but we obviously have Dwight Howard. I think he�s the most unique player in the league right now. So I like our energy in the middle right now.�

�I think they have one of the best point guard tandems in the league. They pretty much facilitate everybody, get everybody involved. So I think the key is to control those guys and rebound the basketball.�

Orlando Magic CenterDwight Howard:
�It was about rest, and getting ready to go to work. We�re playing against a great team in Toronto. But I think we�re mature enough this whole season, we know what it takes to win.�

�We�ve just got to play our game. Everybody�s been underestimating us. But we know that we can do it. Stan�s been on us all year along about not being mediocre. So we�re very motivated in getting ready for the play-off season.�

(On fan support) �Oh, it�s very important. (The fans have) to support us the whole game. It�s going to be tough, and we�re going to need them.�

Washington Wizards Head Coach Eddie Jordan:
On the loss:
�Our young guys had a chance to play a little bit and now it�s time for the big dogs to start hunting. The playoffs start and our top eight or nine guys seem to be ready and healthy. We wanted to come out of here healthy and get our young a little taste and that�s it. We wanted to play as hard and well as we could to win the game. Right now it�s a different day. It�s over and now we start talking about the playoffs.�

On the playoffs:
�I�m very excited. We�re going to have practice tomorrow and I�m just hoping we�re not as jagged as I think we might be just for tomorrow but we�ve got to smooth things out. Our top eight guys haven�t played a whole lot together and we�ve got to straighten some things out and then we�ll be ready.�

On Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antwan Jamison having not played together much:
�What it is is Gilbert having to play like he played the last game; a big fourth quarter and being a game changer for us. We need that experience on the floor. It�s just not the big three need to play together, it�s the top nine, but mostly it�s Gilbert stepping it up another notch like he did the other night.

�We�ve got to get some rhythm reestablished tomorrow and Friday. We�ve got to shore up some defensive deficiencies. We�ve got to get our transition defense better; we�ve got to fight the post a little bit better. Everything has to get better; the basic package has to get better. I want those guys to get some running and some rhythm and some flow.�

Washington Wizards GuardDeShawn Stevenson:
�I think it is going to be a good matchup (vs. Cavaliers). I am glad we got everybody back and we are going to go to practice and get started.�

(on whether matchup vs. Cavaliers was one he wanted) �I really didn�t care. When it happened, it made everything perfect. It is going to be a big series for us and fun to watch too.�

(on being eliminated past two years by Cavs) �I really didn�t count last year. We really didn�t have anybody. We didn�t have our full team like it is now. They have their full team and we have our full team. We are going to go at it.�

�I backed it up (on referring to Lebron James as �overrated�) the night when I said he was overrated. I am not worried about it. I am going to go out there and play my game. He will have to see me for the whole series. I am going to make it hard for him. It is going to be a really fun series.�

�I felt good. Coach just didn�t want me to play a lot.�

POSTGAME NOTES

� The Orlando Magic closed out the regular season with their 52nd win on Fan Appreciation Night at Amway Arena by defeating the Washington Wizards 103-83. The win gives the Magic a 25-16 record at home for the season, matching their home record from the 2006-07 season. The Magic are now 469-293 all-time at home. (762 games)
� The loss drops the Wizards to 43-39 on the season, 18-23 on the road.
� Marcin Gortat turned in a career performance for the Magic, as he finished with his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while also dishing out two assists in 26 minutes of action. Gortat shot 5-of-11 from the field and was 2-of-3 from the charity stripe.
� J.J Redick finished the night with a career-high 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, while also notching a season-high four rebounds and three assists in 25 minutes of action.
� James Augustine rounded out the career-high performances for the Magic as he tallied a personal-best eight points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
� The Magic finished the night with 12 3-pointers, making it the 82nd consecutive game (every game this season) that the team has recorded at least five 3-pointers in a game. This feat is the longest streak in the history of the NBA. The last time the Magic failed to make at least five 3-pointers was April 18, 2007 vs. Miami. The old record of 51 consecutive games with at least five 3-pointers made was set by Phoenix from Jan. 19, 2005-Nov. 18, 2005.
� Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu finished with 15 and 11 points, respectively, while Keith Bogans rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Magic with 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. He also tied a season-high in assists with four, which he accomplished for the fourth time this season.
� In his 20th start of the season, Carlos Arroyo dished out 10 assists, making the second time this season that the guard has finished with 10+ assists in a game. Arroyo previously notched 14 assists on Nov. 28 at the Seattle Sonics.
� Oleksiy Pecherov came off the bench for Washington to notch a career-high 10 rebounds, while also scoring 10 points for his first double-double of the season.
� Andray Blatche also turned in a double-double performance for the Wizards with 20 points and 11 rebounds, his ninth of the season. He finished the night shooting 9-of-13 from the field, 2-of-3 from the charity stripe.
� Both Darius Songaila and Roger Mason finished with 10 points a piece to round out the double-digit scoring for the Wizards.