The Orlando Magic just keep on rolling.
Vince Carter scored 21 on Wednesday night to keep the Magic’s preseason… magic… alive and well, as Orlando rolled the Indiana Pacers 117-87 to move to 7-0 on the preseason.
“It feels good to be winning — and we’re headed in the right direction — but it really doesn’t mean anything at this point,” Magic center Dwight Howard said. “I’m happy with our progress, but we’re still 0-0 when the season starts.”
Howard finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 21 minutes, although to the chagrin of those who drafted him in fantasy basketball, he shot six of 16 from the free throw line. Howard has averaged slightly better than 50% free throw shooting during the preseason.
All-Star PG Jameer Nelson scored 11 pts, grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists in 26 minutes of work.
“They (Magic) have so many All-Stars on that team that I lose count,” said Indiana’s Danny Granger. “They probably will go far again this season. They are good team, and a veteran team.”
The Magic were missing All-Star forward Rashard Lewis, who coach Stan Van Gundy kept out of the lineup to prepare Orlando for the start of the season. Lewis was suspended for the first ten games of the season for violating the NBA’s drug policy.
“Missing Rashard at the start, we’re going to have to do some juggling,” said forward Matt Barnes, who took Lewis’ starting spot Wednesday. “Right now, we’re just trying to find a groove without him. Being unbeaten sounds nice, but we’re just trying to improve. That’s what’s important.”
Orlando plays Atlanta on Friday night, hoping to close out the first undefeated preseason in franchise history.
Friday, October 23, 2009 at 12:13 am by bryan
The Orlando Magic hope the regular season comes as easy as the preseason has for them. If so, it might not be too early to book their ticket to the NBA Finals for the second straight year.
The Magicbarnstormed the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday night in a 121-86 rout, led by Magic PF Ryan Anderon’s 22 points.
Anderson, who came to the Magic in the Vince Carter trade, scored 16 of those points in a 3 ½ minute span, including four three-pointers. He finished six of nine from downtown for the game, while trade-mate Carter dropped 18 of his own for the Magic.
“That was fun,” Anderson said. “It’s always fun when you’re feeling it, but when the guys got me open and the crowd got into it, it was great.”
“People keep calling (Anderson) the other guy in the Vince Carter trade,” Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said, “and when I told you guys (in the media) he was a big part of the thing, you rolled your eyes. But he fits the way we play. Our team is built inside out, and you can’t leave him open.”
The Magic proved Van Gundy’s words, as torrid offense paced Orlando past New Orleans. The Magic shot a ridiculous 63.3 percent from behind the three-point line, and shot 60.9 percent overall for the game. They briefly held a 40-point lead – at 104-64 – on a three-pointer by Carter that came early in the fourth quarter.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 10:18 pm by bryan
The Orlando Magic don’t appear to have lost a step from the NBA Finals in June, as they rolled to their second straight victory in the preseason, this one a 90-86 battle with the Miami Heat.
In Vince Carter’s debut game in a Magic uniform, the hometown hero turned in a bit of a clunker, only scoring 8 points on 2-11 shooting and notching three assists in 22 minutes. Luckily for Carter, he has Dwight “Superman” Howard on his team.
“It’s fun to play on a team like this,” Carter said. “There’s so many weapons when I’m driving down the lane and step in the paint.”
Howard controlled the paint, being the dominant force that propelled the Magic to the NBA Finals, with 11 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks. The Magic, as a team, finished with a ridiculous 16 blocks against the Heat – with former Duke star J.J. Redick even recording two of them.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, however, could only focus on his team’s ball control, as the Magic also turned the ball over 22 times.
“We were bad with the ball a lot,” Van Gundy said. “You’re not going to win too many regular-season games like that.”
Van Gundy kept SF Rashard Lewis out of the lineup, as he is suspended for the first 10 games of the regular season for testing positive for an elevated level of testosterone. Van Gundy is mixing-and-matching lineups in the preseason to use as a barometer of things to come while Lewis remains on the bench for those first ten games.
Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 7:28 pm by bryan
In the Magic’s preseason opener against the Mavericks, their new offseason acquisitions made them look like geniuses in a 110-105 victory over Mark Cuban’s Mavs.
Vince Carter, the star SG the Magic signed to replace SF Hedo Turkoglu (who left for the Toronto Raptors), scored 21 points in his Magic debut, including 15 in the third quarter.
And PF Brandon Bass, who served as a key reserve for the Mavericks the past two years before signing a four-year deal with the Magic in the offseason, scored seven of his 13 points in the final two minutes of the game to seal the deal for the Magic.
Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard had his first double-double of the season (naturally), scoring 17 and grabbing 11 rebounds before fouling out with 4:31 in the third quarter.
The Magic’s starting small forward, Rashard Lewis, added 18 points in the win. Lewis is suspended for the first 10 games of the season after testing positive for a banned substance and violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy; the banned substance was found in an over-the-counter supplement he was taking.
All in all, a good start for a team hungry to return to the NBA Finals and bring home the trophy they failed to earn last season.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 8:47 pm by bryan
