Orlando lose three in a row as Portland thrash them 97-83
Orlando Magic had been hampered by a nasty stomach ailment that hit Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, J.J. Redick and Mickael Pietrus. All of them were healthy though on Thursday
night and Howard notched up a season high 39 points but still the Orlando Magics fell short, as the Portland Trail Blazers swept pass them, 97-83, for their third consecutive victory.
Andre Miller came back from a one match suspension to score 22 points, 8 assists and seven rebounds while Wesley Mathews fetched 20 points as the Trail Blazer came back
from 14 down in the first quarter to hand the Magics their third loss on a trot.
Dwight Howard was on fire coming into the match as he propelled the Magics to a 22-14 lead in the first quarter. The maverick center scored 18 of the Magic points and the
stage was set for another big night for him.
Orlando caught the Portland defense napping to start the second quarter as they reeled off a six point unanswered stretch to further consolidate their advantage to 14 points.
The Blazers offense though, which had been a tad subdued in the face of the Howard onslaught till that point, started to feel the game. They stepped up their offensive with
a 8-0 run midway through the second quarter and then followed it with a 9-2 run to finish it as Portland came within striking distance at 45-46, going into the second half.
The Magics defense froze in front of a red hot Blazers offense in the third quarter, as they continued their up tempo game to not only slash the lead but also surged ahead
with a Mathews running jump shot in the fourth minute. The Trail Blazers outscored the Magics 22-16 in the third period as the teams headed for the final 12 minutes with the score poised at 67-62, advantage Portland.
The fourth quarter was all Portland as they pulled off an 11-5 spurt to start the period to quash all hopes of an Orlando comeback. The momentum continued for the Trail
Blazers as the Magics gave away too many free points and a Nicolas Batum free throw sealed the matter at 97-83.
The Magics had some serious flaws in their game as they went down without a fight against the Trail Blazers. Taking Howard out of the equation, the Magics only shot at 17-for-51
at a paltry 33.3 percent and also had 16 turnovers as compared to 11 from the Portland.
Howard had 15 of the total 40 Magic rebounds, as they also got beaten 34-50 in the paint. A visibly perturbed Howard said after the game.
"You can't coach energy. You can't coach hard work. It comes from a player. If you don't want to play hard, you've got to sit down and let somebody else step up."
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