Orlando Magic down Miami Heat 104-100: NBA Preseason Recap
In a come from behind performance, Orlando magic showed incredible toughness down the stretch and stunned the number one contenders for the title this season, Miami Heat, 104-100.
Miami were comfortably placed at 56-42 by the end of the first half, and despite of a gallant effort by Magic in the third quarter, they were up by 80-76.
However, Magic opened the deciding frame with an outstanding 19-4 spurt that turned the game upside down. Heat tried hard to mount a comeback, but a resolute Magic defense denied them repeatedly. Glen Davis was the star of the
night and marshalled the Magic with 18 points. More importantly, he scored 13 of his total 18 in the third quarter that got Magic back in the game.
"It felt good," Davis said. "This is my new home, to come here and kind of show everybody what I can do - because there's a question mark."
Dwight Howard and Jason Richardson both added 15 each while Jameer Nelson had 14 points for the winners.
Magic Coach, Stan Van Gundy was thrilled with the fight his players showed, especially in the second half of the game;
"I don't think it was that we didn't show life (early), we didn't make shots, I thought we had good life in the second half."
Magic shot 50 percent from the field and outclassed Heat in both assists and the rebounds. However they committed 23 turnovers in the game.
One more pleasing thing about this game for Magic and their coach was that the backup players in Larry Hughes and rookie Justin Harper performed at the crucial stage of the game.
For Heat, the big three were at it again. LeBron James scored a game-high 27 points; Dwyane Wade accumulated 21 points while Chris Bosh ended with just 7 points and 7 rebounds. Rookie point guard Norris Cole impressed once again
and drained 11 points.
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra termed the loss as a wakeup call, but refused to be fazed about its impact on Sunday’s game against the defending champions Dallas Mavericks;
"It's upon us," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We have about three days to get ready ... Now it's all about getting healthy and ready for Sunday."
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