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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| GRIZZLIES | 13 | 20 | 28 | 29 | 90 |
| MAGIC | 29 | 24 | 25 | 23 | 101 |
Recap:
The Orlando Magic defeated the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night by a score of 101-90. The win secured a 6-1 record for Orlando in the 2008 preseason and it was the team’s sixth consecutive victory.
Orlando came out in the first quarter and took a commanding lead in the first 10 minutes, forcing Memphis to call a timeout after falling behind 23-6. The Magic did not miss a shot in the game until Dwight Howard came up short on a free throw with 7:16 remaining in the first quarter. At that point, the Magic were 4-of-4 from the field, including two 3-pointers, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
At the end of the first quarter, Memphis was shooting at only a 16.7 percent rate from the field. Orlando led 29-13 at the end of the quarter and were led by Hedo Turkoglu’s eight points. Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson also notched six points each in the quarter.
The second quarter was more of the same, as the Magic played stifling defense and forced the Grizzlies into turnovers and bad shots. The Magic headed into the locker room with a comfortable 53-33 lead. The leading scorer at the half was Lewis, who notched 12 points, followed by Turkoglu’s 11.
Memphis came out playing much stronger basketball in the third quarter. Darrell Arthur got his first major minutes of the game and gave the Grizzlies hope in the game. The Grizzlies brought their shooting percentage back up to 40.4 percent in the quarter and outscored the Magic 28-25 in the frame. Still, Orlando held their lead at 17 and had four players in double figures at the end of the quarter. J.J. Redick exploded in the quarter, bringing his point total to 15 for the game, just two points lower than Lewis’ 17.
The fourth quarter got relatively sloppy, as the Magic had three players foul out of the game. Howard, Turkoglu and Marcin Gortat all committed their sixth foul in the frame, leaving Adonal Foyle on the court for much of the quarter. Foyle recorded a basket and played solid on the defensive end in his 13 minutes of play.
While Memphis played much better in the second half, they never came within single digits of Orlando. Arthur finished the game with 18 points, all in the second half, and was the leading point scorer for Memphis. The Magic were led by Lewis and Turkoglu’s 22 points a piece.
Orlando finished the game with 32 personal fouls and 19 turnovers. Memphis committed 23 fouls and were forced into 22 turnovers.
Mickael Pietrus received two stitches above his eye at halftime as he went to the floor hard on a play in the second quarter. He came back to finish with seven points, four rebounds and two assists.
The Magic finished the preseason on a six-game win streak heading into Wednesday night’s season opener against the Atlanta Hawks at Amway Arena.
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Preview:
At 7 p.m. Wednesday night, Amway Arena will play host to the Magic when they take on the Memphis Grizzlies. It will be the first home game for Orlando since their win over CSKA Moscow on October 10.
The Magic took a three-game road trip through Charlotte, Jacksonville (vs Miami) and Atlanta before landing back in Orlando Monday night. The road trip was a three-game sweep, as the Magic scored an average of 101 ppg.
Memphis takes on Miami Tuesday night and will travel to Orlando for a rare back-to-back preseason game to close out their own three-game road trip. They enter Tuesday night's game with a 2-4 record.
While their record is not strong, it is not an indicator of the talent they have on their roster. Developing star Rudy Gay is teaming up with first round draft pick O.J. Mayo this year to create one of the most athletic backcourts in the game. Darko Milicic, who is averaging 6.8 ppg and 6.5 rpg this preseason, teams with third-year forward Hakim Warrick on the front-line. Marc Gasol, who was acquired in a trade from the Lakers for his brother, Pau Gasol, is also playing well for the Grizzlies, averaging 8.3 ppg thus far. The 7-foot-1 center from Spain is expected to be a big piece in turning the Grizzlies franchise around in the near future.
Even with all of their young talent, Wednesday night's match-up may be a tough one for Gasol and his teammates to pull out. Dwight Howard has played at an MVP level throughout the preseason and Rashard Lewis has returned to his all-star caliber shooting.
Expect the Grizzlies to come out fighting from the tip-off, but losing their legs late in the game. This will be the first back-to-back game the Grizzlies play all season, and playing the up-tempo Magic isn't going to help the cause. Memphis will need to continue to take care of the ball in this game to make up for their tired legs. Through six exhibition games, the Grizzlies average only 14.8 turnovers per game.
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Keys to the game:
Team play: Since losing their October 6 opener to the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando has gone on to win five consecutive games this preseason. The Magic have played well as a team, but a recent spur of injuries may play a part in their cohesiveness on the court. The Grizzlies aren't facing the injury bug, but they are young and attempting to develop as one unit. Four rookies are currently on the Grizzlies roster, including first round pick O.J. Mayo. Two of those rookies, Mayo and Marc Gasol, have started all six exhibition games for the Memphis. In their seventh game of the preseason, watch early to see if this young roster can bond well on the court.
3-point shooting: The 2007-08 season cemented Orlando as the top 3-point shooting team in the NBA. This preseason, their 3-point efficiency has deteriorated to only 34 percent shooting. Memphis has also shot the ball poorly from beyond the arc, making only 33 percent of their attempts. While the Magic have not been as consistent from 3-point range through the preseason, look for their numbers to increase in this game. The Grizzlies have allowed opponents to make nearly 42 percent of their 3-point attempts in their six exhibition games this season.
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Shootaround:
If you thought Magic stars like Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis were going to rest in tonight’s preseason finale against the Memphis Grizzlies, you’ve got another thing coming.
After Wednesday morning’s shootaround, Stan Van Gundy stated that he plans to push his starters tonight in order to prepare them for the regular season.
“I think what we’ve tried to do, and you’ve seen really across the league now is, it’s time to start pushing everybody’s minutes up so that, you know, they’re not in shock on the first night when all of a sudden you ask them to go 36 to 38 minutes it’s not the first time it’s happened,” Van Gundy said.
The Memphis Grizzlies may do the same tonight, but injured forward Rudy Gay is expected to miss the game due to a staph infection. If Gay does not take the court, the Grizzlies may have to rely heavily on rookie combo guard O.J. Mayo. Van Gundy can already tell Mayo is going to be a player even with his limited NBA experience.
“He (Mayo) looks great,” said Van Gundy. “He doesn’t look like a rookie to me. I mean, going into last night he was shooting over 40 percent from three, he can get his shot whenever he wants, he’s got great range on it, he’s got real good court awareness of where other people are and how to play the game.”
Mayo heads into tonights contest averaging 16.1 ppg while shooting nearly 47 percent from the field. Defending him will be a tall order, and one player who will have to do so is J.J. Redick.
Redick did not play in Monday’s game against the Hawks but is expected to play tonight. Throughout the preseason, Redick and Keith Bogans have been on a rotation of playing big minutes every other game. Of the three backup shooting guards, Van Gundy stated that Redick will play tonight but he is unsure of how Courtney Lee and Keith Bogans will fit into the rotation against the Grizzlies.
Another big topic Van Gundy hit on was Howard’s turnovers. Monday night Howard committed seven, many of which were a result of offensive fouls or three-second calls in the paint. Howard has played fantastic in all six games of the preseason, but this is one area he will have to concentrate on heading into tonight’s match-up.
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Game Notes:
Oct. 22 vs. Memphis (preseason): Orlando is 14-10 all-time vs. Memphis (8-4 at home, 2-5 at Memphis, 4-1 at Vancouver) during regular season action, including 1-1 last season...Orlando is 3-3 all-time vs. Memphis during preseason action...Orlando has lost nine of the last 12 meetings overall…Prior to that, the Magic had recorded nine straight victories against the Grizzles…For last season’s stats and Magic career numbers vs. Memphis, see p. 249 of the media guide.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. GRIZZLIES: 37 pts., Anfernee Hardaway (@ Orlando, 11-22-95)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 32 pts., Rudy Gay (@ Orlando, 12-15-07)
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