Dirk Nowitzki banks in a winner as Dallas Mavericks beat Orlando Magic 100-98 - NBA Recap
Dirk Nowitzki banked in a late game winner as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Orlando Magic 100-98.
On Friday, in a match between the reigning NBA Champions and the Orlando Magic, Dirk Nowitzki, the German giant, came out as the leading scorer as he and the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Orlando Magic for the sixth time in Maverick`s six trips to Orlando.
It was a closely contested game until the last minute when Nowitzki came up with a late winner. The game could have gone to over time if Ryan Anderson had made his last attempt count for the Magic.
The match started off with both teams going toe to toe in all aspects of the game. The scores were pretty close till the midway stages of the first quarter. From the 5:50 mark till 3:14 remaining in the quarter, the Magic went on a 10-0 nothing run to open up a definitive advantage over their opponents.
Magic went on to end the quarter 10 points ahead of the Mavericks (27-17). Jameer Nelson had 8 points; Howard had 6 points for the home team while on the other end Vince Carter had 5 points for the Mavericks.
In the second quarter, Dallas needed to get back into the game and they did so too behind Nowitzki, who was dropping bombs from the long range and with the rest of the Mavericks cast helping out. Dallas was able to cut the Magic lead down to 1 point.
Magic however laid rest to the Mavs come back and formulated their lead back. At the half way stage, Magic were leading by 9 points. Ryan Anderson was leading the Magic cause with 12 points. From the other end the man from Germany was pulling out all the stops with 18 points.
Early in the third quarter, the Magic were able to extend their lead to as much by 15 points. As the third period was about to come to an end though, Magic`s game was paralyzed by turnovers which helped the Mavericks as they were able to cut the lead down, thus ending the third period only 7 points behind (71-78).
Basketball is truly a game of two halves. In a game in which the Magic dominated the first half, their second half performance was the complete opposite of it. In the final 14 minutes of the game, the Magic committed 8 turnovers which demolished the very strong chances the Magic had of winning this game comfortably.
In the fourth quarter, Jason Terry and Delonte West combined for 17 points putting the Mavericks in a match winning situations. Terry, West and the rest of the cast had performed their roles to perfection. The stage was all set, if there is any one the Mavericks could rely on to hit a match winner that is surely Dirk Nowitzki and tonight was no different as the man from Germany was able to bank in a jump shot to give the Mavericks a 2 point lead with still 5.9 seconds remaining in the game.
There could have been more drama if Ryan Henderson had been able to convert his last layup as the final buzzer blew but he was unsuccessful as the Mavericks came out with a tough win.
Nowitzki had 28 points while also shooting 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Terry had 17, West and Marion had 15 each. Marion also had 9 rebounds. For the Magic, Dwight Howard pounded 19 points and 15 boards; Jameer Nelson had 24 and Anderson also chipped in 21 points.
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