Orlando Magic beat Washington Wizards 101-76 (Part–1)
Three days after gunning down the two-time reigning champions Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic took on the lowly Washington Wizards at the Amway Centre on Wednesday night.
The Wizards, who were on the cusp of the NBA’s worst ever away losing record just a week back, were hoping for some complacency in the Orlando ranks after their blow-out win against the Lakers.
The Magic however, afforded them no such luck.
Dwight Howard was in the zone again. The Eastern Conference’s reigning Player of the Week tormented the Wizards with 32 points and 10 rebounds in just three quarters as the Magic thrashed the Wizards 101-76.
With the win, not only did the Magic complete a season white wash against the Wizards, but have now won six consecutive contests against them. To complement that, the Sunshine State franchise now head into the All-Star break after
winning four of their last five contests and brimming with confidence.
Dwight’s heroics were backed up by some impressive performances from the rest of the front line. Jason Richardson scored 16 points including three three-pointers while Ryan Anderson chipped in with 14 for Orlando, who led by as many
as 27 points.
Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said after the game, "We got (Dwight) the ball tonight. I'm consciously trying to after timeouts make sure we're running stuff for him (and) I really didn't do that tonight. He's just been so effective."
Brandon Bass started for the first time after a knee injury layoff. The Orlando forward finished with 15 points 11 rebounds.
The Wizards were without starters Rashard Lewis and Nick Young, but got 27 points from rookie point guard John Wall. Andray Blatche had 15 points and nine rebounds while Kirk Hinrich came off the bench to score 10 points for the
Wizards, who showed very little of the spark they used to break a 25-game road losing streak against Cleveland last Sunday.
While their leading scorer Nick Young was inactive with a sore left knee, the former Orlando forward Rashard Lewis couldn’t play because of a persistent knee ailment. He however, got a huge applause from the Orlando crowd, who cheered
the 13 year veteran as soon as he entered the arena.
Both teams started off slowly, combining to shoot 15 for 49 from the field in a sloppy first quarter that ended with Washington leading 18-17. The highlight of the first twelve minutes though was John Wall. The number one draft pick
of 2010 was in his groove early, as he totally outmanoeuvred and out thought the powerful Magic defence on his way to 13 points, including the last six points of the quarter.
The teams came to terms with their shooting early in the second frame, each scoring on four of their first five possessions. Orlando however, upped the ante big time in the ensuing minutes. They started with a 12-3 run midway through
the period that was capped with a thunderous dunk from Howard, and then followed with an 8-2 run in the final minutes to lead by 48-39 at half time.
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