It is very rare that a game gets broken down by the first six and a half minutes and the last forty-one and a half minutes but that was the case tonight at Verizon Center. After six and a half minutes the Wizards trailed the Magic 25-8, but the Wizards outscored the Magic by 25 points over the rest of the way to win 105-97. The eight point margin was the Wizards biggest win of the season.
The Magic and particularly Jameer Nelson came out on fire, jumping all over the Wizards to open up a 17 point lead. Nelson hit three pointers on three consecutive possessions and by that six and a half minute mark was 5/5 from the field for 14 points. But he would only score two points the rest of the way, not scoring in the second half. The Magic were shooting 76% (10/13) when they took that 17 point lead and then shot under 40% the rest of the way. By the end of the first quarter the Wizards had already cut the lead to six and by halftime had the lead for good. The Magic got as close as three in the fourth quarter but the Wizards closed it out.
Two keys to the win tonight were the fact that the Wizards controlled the tempo of the game and dominated in the paint. The Wizards scored 23 fast break points compared to Orlando's 7 and only turned the ball over fewer times than Orlando. The Wizards won the battle down low by outrebounding the Magic 47-41 and outscoring the Magic in the paint 46-38.
Jordan Crawford led five Wizards in double figures with 27 points on a tidy 11/16 shooting including 3/5 from three point range and added six boards and six assists. Nene had a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds, and he also was very efficient shooting 8/11 from the field. Garret Temple stepped up in only his second game with the team shooting 6/8 for 13 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out six assists over 35 minutes. Kevin Seraphin added 17 points and Beal had 11. For the Magic, Afflalo led with 26 points and J.J. Redick had 23.
The Wizards look to close out 2012 on a winning streak as they take on the Bulls in Chicago, Saturday night at 8pm.
