GameNight SpecificsNBA Coverage: Game InfoDate: Sunday, April 3Time: 6 p.m.Location: Air Canada Centre (TORONTO, ON)Radio: AM 580 WDBO, AM 1270 WRLZTelevision: FS Florida
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GAME RECAP
(Sports Network) DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, Jerryd Bayless had 23 and the Toronto Raptors played the role of spoiler in a 102-98 victory over the Orlando Magic.
Orlando's loss, coupled with Miami's win over New Jersey on Sunday, clinched the Southeast Division for the Heat.
Dressing just eight players, the banged-up Magic remained solidly in the No. 4 spot in the Eastern Conference.
But they were handled by a 21-55 Toronto team that won the rebounding battle, 48-30, and put up 21 second-chance points -- including eight in the fourth quarter after falling behind by eight points.
"They out-hustled us, they out-quicked us. They just totally outplayed us and they deserved to win," said Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy. "You don't see teams get out-rebounded by 18. That's absurd."
Leandro Barbosa chipped in 14 points for the Raptors, who shot better than 50 percent from the field to snap a six-game losing streak.
"We talked about keeping our energy up for the full 48 minutes and we did that," said Bayless. "This was a big win for us."
Dwight Howard had 31 points and nine rebounds for Orlando, snapping his consecutive double-doubles streak at 33 games.
Howard's ninth rebound -- after Jameer Nelson missed a three-pointer -- came in the final minute with the Magic trailing by four. But it was stripped from his hands by DeRozan, and Bayless knocked down a free throw at the other end to make it 100-95.
After Jason Richardson missed a three for Orlando, Bayless made two more free throws to put the game away. About the only big shot Orlando hit down the stretch was Richardson's three-pointer from the left corner -- in the final seconds, when it was too late, for the game's final margin.
"We certainly didn't even try to turn it on tonight," said Van Gundy.
Nelson had 21 points, Richardson and Brandon Bass scored 13 apiece and Hedo Turkoglu added 11. But the Orlando bench -- just Quentin Richardson, Ryan Anderson and Malik Allen -- scored only nine points in more than 51 combined minutes.
The Magic were missing Gilbert Arenas, Chris Duhon, J.J. Redick and Earl Clark for different reasons. They have five games left against the Bucks, Bobcats, Bulls, 76ers and Pacers.
The Raptors, with six games remaining, have little to play for except trying not to finish with the worst record in the NBA. Unless they lose all their remaining games -- and Cleveland wins its six -- the Raptors are safe.
They led 23-19 after a back-and-forth first quarter, then fell behind 49-46 at halftime. Orlando took a 79-73 lead into the fourth and extended it to a game- high eight points when Turkoglu opened the quarter with a bank shot.
But Toronto followed with a 12-3 run to take the lead, then out-hustled a tired Orlando team in a tight game down the stretch to pull out the victory.
"I think they played harder than us," said Howard. "That was it."
DENTON'S RECAP AT RAPTORS
In the grand scheme of things, the game meant very little to the Orlando Magic. But, still, Sunday night’s loss to the woeful Toronto Raptors seemed to defy all sort of logic for a stunned Magic squad.
Facing a Toronto team that had lost six games in a row, was playing on the second night of a back-to-back and was without its two best players, Orlando seemed to have a gimme – especially after jumping to an eight-point lead early in the fourth quarter.
But when the Raptors keep pounding the glass and getting big shots from their guards and the Magic faded badly down the stretch it resulted in a puzzling 102-98 defeat for Orlando at the Air Canada Centre.
Orlando (48-29) lost because it got outrebounded 48-30 by a Toronto team that was without 7-footer Andrea Bargnani and point guard Jose Calderon. The Raptors (21-55) grabbed 15 offensive boards, three of them coming in the final two minutes to keep possessions alive that doomed the Magic.
``You get outrebounded by 18 and you give up 21 second-chance points and 14 fastbreak points to two … I mean, look, they deserved to win,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy fumed. ``One team played a lot harder than the other team so they win. I can understand our guys being tired at the end, but we weren’t ready to play in the first quarter. They wanted to win and we didn’t care, so they won.’’
Magic superstar center Dwight Howard had a game-high 31 points, but his double-double streak ended at 33 games when he grabbed just nine rebounds. Howard started the streak on Jan. 21 coincidentally against the Raptors.
The Magic had no answer for DeMar DeRozan (24 points) and Jerryd Bayless (23 points) and the rebounding work of Reggie Evans (17 boards). Also, an Orlando team that was again without J.J. Redick (lower abdominal strain), Gilbert Arenas (flu) and Chris Duhon (sprained thumb) ran out of gas late in the game, getting outscored 29-19 in the fourth quarter.
Jameer Nelson scored 21 points, while Jason Richardson and Brandon Bass each chipped in 13 points. Hedo Turkoglu, who was booed each time he touched the ball in his first regular-season game back in Toronto following his one disappointing season with the Raptors in 2009-10, had 11 points.
Here’s a look back at what went right, what went wrong and some final observations from Sunday’s game at the Air Canada Centre:
READ THE REST OF DENTON'S ANALYSIS
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