MVN - Most Valuable Network

Magic beat Miami, win eight out of last 10

Coach Stan Van Gundy said that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if the Southeast Division leading Orlando Magic (43-24) lost to the Miami Heat, who have the NBA’s worst record at 11-53. However, SF Rashard Lewis thinks that Van Gundy might haven’t played it as cool if the Magic did fall.

“Coach would have jumped down our throats, especially since he was here at Miami.,” said Lewis, who had 15 points and 8 rebounds in Orlando’s 103-94 victory.

The Heat were without Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion and Udonis Haslem, but Jason Williams picked up the slack for the Heat, totaling 34 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds on the night. Williams’ efforts weren’t enough, as the Magic pulled ahead in the fourth quarter.

The game was at 94-90 until Hedo Turkoglu continued his late game dynamics and nailed a three-pointer to give the Magic some breathing room. Turkoglu bolstered another full stat line, putting up 20 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.

However, it was a total team effort for the Magic, as four starters finished with 15 points or higher. Dwight Howard was double-teamed through most of the game, but still managed to score 18 points and grab 16 boards. Perhaps the most impressive performance on the night though came from Jameer Nelson, who knew that the Magic couldn’t overlook the woeful Heat.

“People call this a ‘trap game’,” said Nelson. “They have all those guys out…You don’t see those names. Despite all that, we still had to come out and play.”

Nelson had zero turnovers, and seven assists to go along with a team high, 21 points. This efficiency has been expected of Nelson, who has played well as of late and is a key reason for the team’s success in the past couple of weeks.

Many feared that the team would overlook teams heading into a stretch where they would face numerous sub .500 teams, but Orlando has played well, winning 8 of its last 10 games. Consistently across the board, the Magic have been putting up solid statistics as a team, as the Magic have been getting a contribution from every player on a nightly basis. Keyon Dooling had 10 points off the bench, Brian cook had 4 and 3 on the night and Maurice Evans finished with 8 points.

This total team effort is what is spurring Orlando’s run into the playoffs, and the Magic need just two more wins to guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs. Tonight, Orlando will face the Indiana Pacers, who usually play the Magic tough. I wouldn’t be surprised if a tired Magic team loses on the trail side of the back to back. The marquee match up however will be on Monday when they host the number-four seed Cleveland Cavilers, who the Magic have built a 5 and-a-half game lead over.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 15th, 2008 at 10:07 am and is filed under Orlando Magic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.