Orlando Magic beat Washington Wizards 101-76 (Part–2)
After outscoring the Washington Wizards 31-21 in the second half, the Orlando Magic quickly turned on the heat in the third quarter. Buoyed by Dwight Howard and Jason Richardson, Orlando blew the game open with a 20-4 run to start the second stanza that
sparked them to a 68-43 lead in the eighth minute.
Howard had 15 points during that stretch, showcasing his signature jam and alley oop layups, as he firmly put the Magic in the driver’s seat. The Wizards on the other hand, fell into a familiar routine of poor shot selection and lackluster defence.
Magic guard Jameer Nelson told reporters after the game, "We had to get ourselves going. I mean, human nature kicked in a little bit. Guys knew it was All-Star break. That's no excuse for it. We were able to get it going and come out with a victory
the last three quarter we played."
A 17-minute stretch, which bridged the second and third quarters, then saw the Magic dominate the Wizards as they outscored them 50-20.
A disappointed Wizards coach Flip Saunders said after the game, "We were outmanned. Not having Nick hurt a lot. I thought we played really hard the first half, but couldn't make a shot. It was one of those things, the harder we tried the harder
we fell. It was like being in quicksand."
John Wall got the visitors to a blistering start with five straight points. However, Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy opted for a time-out just 77 seconds into the quarter. That proved to be the beginning of the end for the Wizards as they went cold
from the field. As has been the trend all season long, when the Wizards don't make shots; they usually find themselves in trouble very quickly.
That pattern rang true against the Magic once more. The up-tight Orlando defence crippled the Wizards into a 29-of-83 shooting on the night and also forced 15 turnovers, churning out 19 points from them in return. Not only did the Wizards misfire
miserably from within the arc, they also flopped from beyond the arc and the free throw line. The visitors only managed to pin three out of eleven shots from the three-point range compared to the Magic’s 7-of-21 and shot 15-of-23 from the free throw line.
Andray Blatche lamented this side’s lack of team work. He said, "We reverted back to our old selves. (The) 'I'm going to be the guy who's going to get us over the hump' instead of we’."
On the contrary, Orlando shot at 45.2 percent from the field. Howard in particular was in red-hot form, canning 12-of-15 from the field and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe. In the last two games, the phenomenal centre has converted 25 of his
31 field goal attempts.
The Magic will now return back to action next Wednesday following the All-Star break when they host the Sacramento Kings. They follow that contest up with home contests against Oklahoma City, Charlotte and New York – a stretch that may define
how their season ends.
Magic guard Gilbert Arenas, who replaced Rashard Lewis at Orlando two months back, said that several players including himself plan to stay at Orlando during the break to get in a few workouts. He said that kind of commitment is the only thing
that will give Orlando a chance to make headway in their final 25 games.
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