The AP reports: Mickael Pietrus came back from his broken wrist as good as new. He had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Orlando Magic to a 135-111 victory Tuesday night over the Indiana Pacers. Pietrus, who missed the previous 12 games with a broken right wrist, came off the bench to lead a well-balanced Magic attack. Seven players reached double figures scoring, including Rashard Lewis with 24 points and Dwight Howard with 22… T.J Ford, had 23 points for the Pacers and Granger, who came into the game averaging 26.1 points, had only 10.
Category: Orlando Magic Blog
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Heat end slide against Magic, 103-97
The AP reports: Mario Chalmers stripped the ball from Nelson with 8 seconds remaining, ensuring that the Miami Heat—after 10 straight losses to their Sunshine State rivals— would beat the Magic 103-97 on Saturday night. The Heat wasted every bit of the 15-point lead they carried into the final period, yet still found a way to beat Orlando for the first time since Feb. 15, 2006… Dwyane Wade scored 27 points, Chalmers added 20 and Udonis Haslem added 12 points—including two huge baskets down the stretch—for Miami, which finished with four turnovers, an all-time franchise low, to deal Orlando its second straight loss… Dwight Howard had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Orlando before getting ejected with 1.1 seconds remaining. Rashard Lewis scored 21, Hedo Turkoglu scored 18 and Nelson added 16 for the Magic, including the 3-pointer that tied it with a shade under 3 minutes remaining.
Celtics win 7th straight, top Magic 90-80
The AP reports: Paul Pierce had 27 points and 10 rebounds, Glen Davis added a season-high 16 points and Boston disrupted everything Orlando wanted offensively, holding the Magic to a season-low in points. Kevin Garnett scored 16 points to help the Celtics (36-9) extend their winning streak to seven games… Dwight Howard, who on Thursday became the first player in league history to receive 3 million votes in a season for the All-Star game, was held to a relatively ordinary 11 points and 11 rebounds. He fouled out with 2:30 left, and Orlando’s run of seven straight wins was snapped… Hedo Turkoglu scored 22 points, Rashard Lewis finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson had 17 points for Orlando, whose previous low scoring total this season was 82.
InsideHoops.com notes: The Celtics hit 46.7% of their shots, the Magic just 38.2%. The difference in three-pointers made and attempted was amazing: Celtics 0-of-6, Magic 7-of-22. Rebounds, assists and other stats were pretty close.
Official 2009 All-Star starters
Here are the official starters for the 2009 NBA All-Star game:
East: Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard
West: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, Yao Ming.
Read basketball fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.
Turkoglu scores 31 points in Magic’s win over Nuggets
The AP reports: The Orlando Magic believe in themselves. After a dominant road trip, the rest of the NBA is believing in them, too. Hedo Turkoglu scored 31 points, Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis had 23 each and the Orlando Magic completed a perfect four-game West Coast trip with a 106-88 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night… Dwight Howard had 14 points and 20 rebounds to help the Magic win their seventh straight and ninth in 10 games. It was Howard’s second straight 20-rebound game… Linas Kleiza, who had a season-high 26 points, led the Nuggets with seven points in the third.
Nelson, Howard lead Magic past Lakers
The AP reports: With Dwight Howard a power in the middle, Jameer Nelson and his backcourt mates sharpshooting from outside, the Magic showed their multiple talents with a 109-103 victory over Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. Howard had 25 points and 20 rebounds, and Nelson scored 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter to help Orlando win its sixth in a row. Bryant had 28 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for Los Angeles, but missed two jumpers in the waning moments… All the Orlando starters scored in double figures, with Rashard Lewis getting 15, Hedo Turkoglu 13 and Courtney Lee 12. Lamar Odom had 17 points for Los Angeles, and Vladimir Radmanovic had 15, all coming on his 5-of-8 shooting treys. Andrew Bynum had 14 points and three rebounds, but scored just two points after halftime and again was outplayed by Howard, who also blocked three shots.
Magic make NBA-record 23 3s in rout of Kings
The AP reports: Seldom-used Jeremy Richardson’s lone basket proved the most memorable Tuesday night, a 3-pointer with 2:20 left in the fourth quarter that gave the Magic an NBA-record 23 3s in a 139-107 victory over the Sacramento Kings. The Magic made 23 of 37 attempts (62 percent) in breaking the old mark of 21, set by Toronto on March 13, 2005, against Philadelphia. Orlando rang up its highest point total since scoring 152 at Milwaukee on Feb. 20, 1995… Jameer Nelson made all five 3-point attempts and had 23 points and 11 assists, Rashard Lewis scored 19 points, Hedo Turkoglu contributed 17 points and eight assists, and J.J. Redick added 15 points… Kevin Martin scored 30 points for the Kings, who allowed a season-high point total. Francisco Garcia scored 15 points, Spencer Hawes had 14 and Bobby Jackson added 13.
Howard scores 24 in 105-98 Magic win over Spurs
The AP reports: Dwight Howard scored 24 points, Jameer Nelson had eight of his 22 in the final two minutes, and the Magic beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-98 on Sunday night. Hedo Turkoglu added 21 points for the Magic (30-8), who are tied with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA lead in victories. Orlando has won four straight and 13 of 15 games… Tony Parker scored 31 points for the Spurs (24-12), but missed a pair of layups in the final two minutes as San Antonio closed the game by missing six of seven shots… In the matchup against Howard, Tim Duncan had 18 points, hitting 7-of-14 from the floor and all four foul shots along with 10 rebounds. Howard was 9-of-12, going 6-of-7 on free throws and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Magic lead by 38 at half, rout Hawks 121-87
The AP reports: The Orlando Magic won their 11th straight home game and put on their most devastating offensive show of the season in routing the Atlanta Hawks 121-87 on Friday night… Orlando scored a season-high 41 points in the first quarter, then tied its season highs for points in a half (71) and game. The Magic also tied a season high with 16 3-pointers. Turkoglu hit all five of his attempts from long range and reserve J.J. Redick was 4-of-5 from behind the arc while scoring a season-high 15 points. Dwight Howard had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Jameer Nelson added 14 points and nine assists… The Hawks starters, by contrast, were only 15-of-48 from the field and only Joe Johnson reached double figures with 11. Acie Law scored 16 and fellow reserve Solomon Jones added 12 points and eight rebounds for Atlanta.
Orlando builds big lead, holds on to beat Hawks 106-102
The AP reports: Putting on a show for the home folks, Dwight Howard had 23 points and 19 rebounds as Orlando preserved a 106-102 victory Wednesday night in a matchup of the top two teams in the Southeast Division. Orlando nearly squandered a 21-point advantage, catching a huge break when Mike Bibby missed a breakaway layup that should have made it a two-point game with just under 1 1/2 minutes remaining… Josh Smith led Atlanta with 21 points, but he missed all four of his free-throw attempts—the worst culprit in a 14-of-25 performance at the line that came back to haunt the Hawks at the end… Mike Bibby scored 17 points but was only 6-of-17 from the field. Joe Johnson, the Hawks’ leading scorer, was just 5-of-17 for 13 points—matching his second-lowest output of the season.