Denton: Magic-Thunder Postgame Analysis
By John Denton
November 18, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Orlando Magic point guard Jason Williams casually flipped a behind-the-back pass to Rashard Lewis, who buried a 3-pointer from the wing. Then, Williams followed that up with a drive-and-kick play that was another thing of beauty, this time resulting in a three from Mickael Pietrus.
Orlando’s first game without injured all-star point guard Jameer Nelson went just fine Wednesday with Williams running the show and others helping to share the play-making load. The Magic responded to the loss of Nelson by playing their most complete game of the season in throttling Oklahoma City 108-94 before a sellout crowd of 17,461 at Amway Arena.
Rashard Lewis, in his second game back after a 10-game suspension, just missed the first triple-double of his career with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Vince Carter (18 points, six rebounds) was in attack mode as requested by coach Stan Van Gundy, and Mickael Pietrus took a major step toward his goal of becoming an all-defensive pick by shutting down Thunder star Kevin Durant (12 points).
It was that kind of feel-good night for a 9-3 Magic team that got some serious revenge against the 6-6 Thunder. Just 11 days ago, the Thunder beat the Magic 102-74. Wednesday night was a dramatically different story because the Magic moved the ball well enough for 25 assists and Williams sparked Orlando’s running game by pushing the ball.
``I just try to run all the time and hope that the rest of the guys run with me,’’ said Williams, who handed out five assists to celebrate his 34th birthday. ``I think (the Magic are better running) because then teams can’t load up on Dwight (Howard). When we slow down to the halfcourt, they’re geared up to stop Dwight. So we’re better when we run.’’
The Magic return to Boston on Friday for the first time since last spring when they eliminated the Celtics in a classic seven-game playoff series. But before we move ahead to that showdown, let’s look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from Wednesday night:
THE GOOD
---- Two nights after struggling in his first game back from the suspension, Lewis looked more like the all-star forward that he is. He was aggressively seeking out shots and his long-range jumper had much more lift on it.
And not only did Lewis help out Dwight Howard (11 point, 10 rebounds) on the glass with 10 boards, but he also tied his career-high with nine assists. With the Magic up 88-58 at the start of the fourth quarter, Lewis didn’t play in the fourth quarter, missing out on a chance for his first-ever triple-double. He did go to the scorer’s table to check in to the game with seven minutes left after OKC had cut the deficit to 18 points, but he was pulled back after a Magic flurry of points.
``It would have been good to get it, but most importantly we got the win,’’ Lewis said. ``We were winning by a lot, but when they cut it under 20 coach told us to start getting loose. If I would have gotten back in, I would have gone for it. But at the same time, it was good for some of those guys on the bench to get some minutes.’’
---- Van Gundy has been pressing Carter for the past few games to be more aggressive, stressing to him to worry less about fitting in with his new teammates and concentrate more on being a dynamic playmaker.
Carter was locked in from the start on Wednesday, scoring eight points in both the first and second quarters. He came off screens hard looking for his shot and also drove hard to the basket when Oklahoma City tried trapping him.
Said Van Gundy: ``I thought Vince really went on the attack and was very aggressive offensively. As a team, I thought we brought really great energy. The challenge now is make that consistent.’’
---- Like Carter, Pietrus went hard at the rim on several occasions. But what caught the Magic’s eye the most was the job he did against Durant, who entered the game fourth in the league in scoring at 28.5 points per game.
He bodied up on the rail-thin forward, forcing him to take several tough shots. Durant, who had burned Miami for 34 points a night earlier, made just four of 12 shots and missed all four of his 3-point tries.
``My goal is to be a first-team All-Defense pick, and that’s something I really feel like I can accomplish,’’ Pietrus said.
THE BAD
---- Russell Westbrook and Durant, the centerpieces of OKC’s much-improved team, seemed overwhelmed Wednesday against a Magic team that was out for revenge. Westbrook didn’t get into the lane nearly as much as he did 11 days ago when the teams played. He instead stayed mainly out on the perimeter, content to fire up jump shots.
And Durant looked tired from carrying the Thunder a night earlier in Miami. And when Wednesday’s game was complete, Durant had plenty of nice things to say about the Magic.
``They came out with a lot of energy and we did not,’’ he said. ``They executed and capitalized on it. You have to tip your hat off to a great team. I see why they are picked to win the East again. You can’t guard them.’’
---- Gortat had some trouble breathing early in the game while still trying to shed the after-effects of a cold and he bobbled a pass or two from Williams and J.J. Redick (nine points).
But Gortat delivered a monstrous dunk in the second quarter that brought his Magic teammates up off the bench. Said Gortat: ``If that’s not a top three dunk on SportsCenter, then they are really hating on me.’’
THE UGLY
---- Maybe the only negative of the night was Pietrus leaving the locker room shortly after the game because he was feeling congested and nauseas. He will likely be tested on Thursday for the flu and his availability for Friday’s game in Boston could be in jeopardy.
Pietrus missed two games earlier in the season because of an upper respiratory infection. Brandon Bass, Marcin Gortat and Pietrus have missed time so far this season with illnesses.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonNovember 18, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO – Orlando Magic point guard Jason Williams casually flipped a behind-the-back pass to Rashard Lewis, who buried a 3-pointer from the wing. Then, Williams followed that up with a drive-and-kick play that was another thing of beauty, this time resulting in a three from Mickael Pietrus.
Orlando’s first game without injured all-star point guard Jameer Nelson went just fine Wednesday with Williams running the show and others helping to share the play-making load. The Magic responded to the loss of Nelson by playing their most complete game of the season in throttling Oklahoma City 108-94 before a sellout crowd of 17,461 at Amway Arena.
Rashard Lewis, in his second game back after a 10-game suspension, just missed the first triple-double of his career with 17 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Vince Carter (18 points, six rebounds) was in attack mode as requested by coach Stan Van Gundy, and Mickael Pietrus took a major step toward his goal of becoming an all-defensive pick by shutting down Thunder star Kevin Durant (12 points).
It was that kind of feel-good night for a 9-3 Magic team that got some serious revenge against the 6-6 Thunder. Just 11 days ago, the Thunder beat the Magic 102-74. Wednesday night was a dramatically different story because the Magic moved the ball well enough for 25 assists and Williams sparked Orlando’s running game by pushing the ball.
``I just try to run all the time and hope that the rest of the guys run with me,’’ said Williams, who handed out five assists to celebrate his 34th birthday. ``I think (the Magic are better running) because then teams can’t load up on Dwight (Howard). When we slow down to the halfcourt, they’re geared up to stop Dwight. So we’re better when we run.’’
The Magic return to Boston on Friday for the first time since last spring when they eliminated the Celtics in a classic seven-game playoff series. But before we move ahead to that showdown, let’s look back at the good, the bad and the ugly from Wednesday night:
THE GOOD
---- Two nights after struggling in his first game back from the suspension, Lewis looked more like the all-star forward that he is. He was aggressively seeking out shots and his long-range jumper had much more lift on it.
And not only did Lewis help out Dwight Howard (11 point, 10 rebounds) on the glass with 10 boards, but he also tied his career-high with nine assists. With the Magic up 88-58 at the start of the fourth quarter, Lewis didn’t play in the fourth quarter, missing out on a chance for his first-ever triple-double. He did go to the scorer’s table to check in to the game with seven minutes left after OKC had cut the deficit to 18 points, but he was pulled back after a Magic flurry of points.
``It would have been good to get it, but most importantly we got the win,’’ Lewis said. ``We were winning by a lot, but when they cut it under 20 coach told us to start getting loose. If I would have gotten back in, I would have gone for it. But at the same time, it was good for some of those guys on the bench to get some minutes.’’
---- Van Gundy has been pressing Carter for the past few games to be more aggressive, stressing to him to worry less about fitting in with his new teammates and concentrate more on being a dynamic playmaker.
Carter was locked in from the start on Wednesday, scoring eight points in both the first and second quarters. He came off screens hard looking for his shot and also drove hard to the basket when Oklahoma City tried trapping him.
Said Van Gundy: ``I thought Vince really went on the attack and was very aggressive offensively. As a team, I thought we brought really great energy. The challenge now is make that consistent.’’
---- Like Carter, Pietrus went hard at the rim on several occasions. But what caught the Magic’s eye the most was the job he did against Durant, who entered the game fourth in the league in scoring at 28.5 points per game.
He bodied up on the rail-thin forward, forcing him to take several tough shots. Durant, who had burned Miami for 34 points a night earlier, made just four of 12 shots and missed all four of his 3-point tries.
``My goal is to be a first-team All-Defense pick, and that’s something I really feel like I can accomplish,’’ Pietrus said.
THE BAD
---- Russell Westbrook and Durant, the centerpieces of OKC’s much-improved team, seemed overwhelmed Wednesday against a Magic team that was out for revenge. Westbrook didn’t get into the lane nearly as much as he did 11 days ago when the teams played. He instead stayed mainly out on the perimeter, content to fire up jump shots.
And Durant looked tired from carrying the Thunder a night earlier in Miami. And when Wednesday’s game was complete, Durant had plenty of nice things to say about the Magic.
``They came out with a lot of energy and we did not,’’ he said. ``They executed and capitalized on it. You have to tip your hat off to a great team. I see why they are picked to win the East again. You can’t guard them.’’
---- Gortat had some trouble breathing early in the game while still trying to shed the after-effects of a cold and he bobbled a pass or two from Williams and J.J. Redick (nine points).
But Gortat delivered a monstrous dunk in the second quarter that brought his Magic teammates up off the bench. Said Gortat: ``If that’s not a top three dunk on SportsCenter, then they are really hating on me.’’
THE UGLY
---- Maybe the only negative of the night was Pietrus leaving the locker room shortly after the game because he was feeling congested and nauseas. He will likely be tested on Thursday for the flu and his availability for Friday’s game in Boston could be in jeopardy.
Pietrus missed two games earlier in the season because of an upper respiratory infection. Brandon Bass, Marcin Gortat and Pietrus have missed time so far this season with illnesses.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
