Hedo Turkoglu leads the Orlando Magic to 95–85 win over the New Jersey Nets
A brilliant performance from Hedo Turkoglu led the Orlando Magic to a 95–85 victory over the New Jersey Nets at the Amway Centre in Orlando on Friday. Turkoglu finished with 20 points and 13 assists, while going 8-for-11 from the floor to give the Magic
to their fifth-straight win.
The Nets were missing All-Star guard Deron William, Sundiata Gaines and lost Quinton Ross to a back-injury shortly into the game. The Orlando Magic was also playing shorthanded, with J.J.Redick and Quentin Richardson out due to injuries.
Jameer Nelson was the latest victim for Orlando, as he injured his knee after landing awkwardly during the game. The Magic were up by 10 points at the half.
Nets’ centre Brook Lopez made two free throws to tie the game at 63–63 with less than two minutes to go in the third quarter. Turkoglu responded by nailing a fade-away jumper and then followed it up with a free-throw to give the Magic a three point advantage
heading into the fourth. The Magic were outscored 25-13 in the third quarter.
New Jersey shot 47.4 percent from beyond the arc to keep the Magic guards on their feet.
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said after the game, "Our rotation right now on the perimeter - guys are having to play big minutes. I just thought we were a little out of sorts. I wasn't real happy with the way we guarded or anything, but I'm not overly concerned."
While the Orlando Magic didn’t rotate fast enough on the perimeter to deny open looks for the Nets’ shooters, they did play some smart defence. Orlando only committed seven personal fouls in the game; a new franchise record.
Orlando shot an impressive 50.7 percent from the field, with the exception of Gilbert Arenas who was 1-of-12 from the field. Ryan Anderson had 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Magic, and Jason Richardson chipped in with 16.
Dwight Howard continued to impress by collecting 21 points, 14 rebounds and making three blocks against the Nets. New Jersey made a couple of shots to regain the lead early in the final quarter and Orlando countered by firing off a 13–0 run to go up by 11
points. New Jersey kept making shots periodically to keep the game close but were unable to overcome the Magic lead.
The New Jersey Nets, who had six players in double figures, couldn’t contain the Magic.
Orlando Guard Chris Duhon praised his side's performance on the night. He said, "Obviously that third quarter we didn't play well at all. We didn't shoot the ball well, we let them creep back in the game. For us to be able to overcome all of that and get
stops when we needed to get stops says something about us - that we're growing as a team and we're making the proper steps for us to make a championship run."
Anthony Morrow contributed 19 points for the New Jersey Nets, while Jordan Farmar handed out 16 assists and racked-up 15 points on the night. New Jersey have now lost 4 of their last 5 games.
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