Orlando Magic clobber Memphis Grizzlies
The Orlando Magic leaned on their suffocating defense to bag their seventh win of the season when they clobbered the Memphis Grizzlies, 89-72, on Monday 15 November at the Amway Center in
Orlando.
Two-time and reigning defensive player of the year Dwight Howard paced his team as he scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Magic, who still struggled with their offence, making
a lot of sloppy plays in the entire game.
“Our offence hasn't been as fluid as we would like it to be, but defensively we were up and active all night,” said Howard, who also had two steals and two blocks.
Vince Carter led the Magic in scoring with his 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the floor, while starting point guard Jameer Nelson scored 11 points and dished out nine assists, helping
Orlando improved their record to 7-3.
“We're a defensive team,” said Magic guard Quentin Richardson, who finished the game with eight points and five rebounds. “For us to say those things, it was good to go out there and be that.”
The Magic built an early 20-12 lead in the opening period, although they were too sloppy in their offensive sets, committing 10 turnovers, but they protected the ball well in the second half,
giving them a 47-34 halftime lead.
Orlando never looked back in the second half, maintaining their huge lead to bounce back from three-straight mediocre performances.
“If we're serious about being contenders, we have to play like this,” Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy said. “Now we also have to play like this and play better offensively. We cannot be like
that at the end of the year, but we are 10 games in. What's important tonight is we got back to playing with intensity, and we need to stay there.”
Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies with his 14 points and eight rebounds, while O.J Mayo and Mike Conley had 11 points apiece, with the latter dishing out eight dimes, but they could not overcome
the tough defence of Orlando.
“That's the best defense that they've played, that I've seen on tape, since probably early in the season,” said Memphis coach Lionel Hollins, whose team only shot 36.2 per cent for the field
and had 18 turnovers. We were rushing things, but it was their defence that was causing it.
Disappointed with their performance, the Grizzlies, who had their lowest scoring output since their 86-66 loss against Portland Trail Blazers on 28 March 2009, decided to have a team meeting
after the game.
“We needed to talk. It's never too early to have a team meeting,” said point guard Mike Conley. “The issues we have as a team, being accountable individually, we've got to step it up and
have all the guys in tune.”
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