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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| BOBCATS | 9 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 80 |
| MAGIC | 40 | 25 | 29 | 24 | 118 |
Recap:
The Orlando Magic defeated the Charlotte Bobcats by the score of 118-80 in their second game of the 2008 pre-season. In a game they dominated from the get-go, the Magic scored the exact amount of points they allowed to the Atlanta Hawks Monday night in their opener.
Dwight Howard was a dominating force on both ends of the court, soaring above the competition in the first half. He scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds in the first frame. J.J. Redick also continued his solid play, notching 10 points in the first quarter and grabbing two rebounds in only 6:21 of playing time.
The Magic had a disappointing defensive effort in the second half of Monday night’s game against the Hawks, and Stan Van Gundy certainly addressed that in practice Tuesday. That showed on the court, as the Bobcats were held to only nine first quarter points, with only three players scoring. The Bobcats ended the first quarter shooting only 14.3 percent from the field.
The second quarter was much of the same, as Howard scored another six points and Rashard Lewis brought his total to 11. At halftime, the Bobcats had only one player in double figures, as Gerald Wallace had 11 points. The Magic led 65-33 at the half, holding the Bobcats to 20.6 percent shooting from the field.
In the second half, new Bobcats head coach Larry Brown whipped his team into shape. They came out playing with much more energy and shot well from the field. They went point for point with the Magic the entire quarter, matching Orlando’s 29 point output. Their shooting percentage was raised up to 28.6 percent, and Wallace brought his game total to 18 points, while Jason Richardson came to life and brought his total 15. They were the only players in double figures for the Bobcats after three quarters. They shot 9-of-22 from the field that quarter.
The Magic finished the third quarter with five players in double figures. Howard had 20, Lewis had 15, Pietrus had 13, Redick had 12 and Nelson had 10. Hedo Turkoglu fouled out of the game in the quarter, as Gerald Wallace continuously drove to the hoop against him.
The key for the game was foul shooting for the Magic. In the game, they shot 48-of-53 from the charity stripe, a 90.6 percent clip. They also shot effectively from the floor, making 47.1 percent of their shots in the game.
The fourth quarter was a chance for both coaches to see what the end of their bench could do on the court. Mike Wilks, Jeremy Richardson and Adonal Foyle played big minutes in the frame. Foyle played well, finishing the game with seven points and six rebounds.
The Magic outscored the Bobcats in fast break points by a total of 24-to-4.
Orlando takes the court next at 7 p.m. Friday night at home against Euroleague powerhouse CSKA Moscow.
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Preview:
The Orlando Magic will face the visiting Charlotte Bobcats at 7 p.m. Wednesday night in their second game of pre-season action. Monday night in their pre-season opener, the Magic lost to the Atlanta Hawks by a score of 118-101.
With a new head coach in Larry Brown, the Bobcats are looking to take the next step in their progression as a franchise. Brown is known for his coaching ability with young players, as he was a successful collegiate coach at Kansas and has since developed many players at the NBA level. His current roster hosts nine players who are 25 years old or younger and only six players with more than five years of NBA experience. This will be the first time the Bobcats take the court for a game under Brown.
The team’s two leading scorers, Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace, return from last season. These two players carried the scoring load throughout the season, averaging 21.8 and 19.4 ppg, respectively. The Bobcats' offense will run through them, either by designed play, slashing to the hoop or posting up.
The Orlando Magic defense was strong in the first half Monday night, but porous in the third and fourth quarters. The Hawks were able to get off almost any open shot they wanted in the third quarter, scoring an incredible 45 points in the quarter. The Magic will have to perform much better than that to win this game against a young and very quick Bobcats team.
The positive for the Magic is that the Bobcats will are likely run the fast break less often. Brown is known for slowing the game-tempo down and running half-court set offenses, much different from what the Hawks did Monday night.
The Magic will likely play the first half as a regular season game and tinker with different lineups and positions in the second half, as they did Monday night. Rashard Lewis was the game’s top scorer with 22 points and added six rebounds, while Dwight Howard tallied 17 points, five rebounds and eight blocks. As the top players on the team, this is expected, but to win games the team will have to play better defense.
This game offers the Magic another 48 minutes of game action to prepare their defense for the 82-game schedule that will begin exactly three weeks after Wednesday night's tip-off.
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Keys to the game:
Team cohesion: This will be the first game the Bobcats play under new head coach Larry Brown. It may take a while for the team to become comfortable with his offensive and defensive schemes. On the Magic side of the ball, the first half Monday night showed a team that played well together, while the second half showed the exact opposite. Stan Van Gundy is tinkering with his lineup to find what works and doesn’t work, and in doing so players will find themselves on the court with an awkward lineup at times.
Interior scoring: Dwight Howard and Emeka Okafor, the top two draft picks in the 2004 NBA Draft, will face each other down low throughout the game. Both Okafor and Howard are terrific rebounders, but neither have a strong outside shot. Scoring from the post will be a pivotal piece of this game, as the team who does so more effectively will open up driving lanes and outside shots for their teammates.
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Shootaround:
Stan Van Gundy didn’t like what he saw in the third quarter of Monday night’s pre-season opener against the Atlanta Hawks. He was quick and to the point about that quarter after this morning’s shootaround at RDV Sportsplex, saying, “I didn’t enjoy the third quarter. But, I’ve gotta live with it, I guess.”
Since Monday night’s game, something he hasn’t been quite as quick with is ending practice each day.
Tuesday afternoon, players reported for a practice (which begins with a film session) scheduled to run from noon until 1:45 p.m. But Van Gundy had a different schedule in mind and kept the players on court until about 2:45 p.m. He was adamant on recovering from the poor defensive effort his team displayed in the second half against the Hawks.
“Yesterday was not a typical practice you’d have the day before a game,” he said. “We went long and hard, and we’ll probably do the same tomorrow.”
In response to being asked if that would affect playing time and the rotation tonight, Van Gundy said “Certainly practice at this time of the year is important and at a premium and we’re not going to back off of practice so they’ll be fresher for an exhibition game.”
So, expect some tired legs from the Magic players tonight, but also expect a similar rotation to what the Magic put on the court for four quarters Monday. Most players were on the court between 15 and 25 minutes in that game.
Also expect a Bobcats team that will play a bit different than they have in the past. Larry Brown took over the coaching reigns of a young and talented basketball team this summer. He has won at every stop of his NBA career with the exception of New York,and has a proven track record of developing teams into contenders. As an opposing coach, Van Gundy knows what he will see from a Larry Brown-coached team.
“Larry is one of the best and most experienced coaches in the league,” he said of Brown. “His teams will be very fundamentally sound, they’ll play very unselfishly and they’ll be very good defensively.”
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Game Notes:
Oct. 8 vs. Charlotte (preseason): Orlando is 9-7 all-time vs. Charlotte (7-1 at home, 2-6 on the road), including 3-1 last season…Orlando is 2-0 all-time vs. Charlotte during preseason action...The Bobcats recorded their first win in franchise history over the Magic on Nov. 6, 2004 (111-100)...Keith Bogans played in 113 career games for the Bobcats from 2004-06…J.J. Redick played collegiately at Duke University…For last season’s stats and Magic career numbers vs. Charlotte, see p. 227 of the media guide.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. BOBCATS: 34 pts., Dwight Howard (@ Orlando, 11-23-07)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 36 pts., Gerald Wallace (@ Charlotte, 1-16-08)
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