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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| KINGS | 28 | 21 | 27 | 27 | 103 |
| MAGIC | 32 | 27 | 29 | 33 | 121 |
Recap:
The Orlando Magic took the court with a purpose tonight – to secure their first victory of the season. They set the tone early and carried the momentum through the game, finishing off the Sacramento Kings by a score of 121-103.
After a Friday night game in which Dwight Howard took only nine shots, Orlando made it a point to get him the ball early and often. He did an extraordinary job of getting superb position on the block and it paid off in a big way. Howard finished the game with 29 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots. This was the third consecutive game Howard has recorded a double-double.
Orlando outscored the Kings in every quarter and won every major statistical category in the game with the exception of turnovers. The Magic had 13 turnovers compared to Sacramento’s 12. Howard and his teammates dominated the boards, limiting the Kings to only 28 rebounds in the game and only six on the offensive end.
Four Magic players scored 20 or more points in the game, led by Howard’s 29. It’s the first time four Magic players have done that in the same game since November 9, 2007 when Orlando played in New York. Rashard Lewis caught fire down the stretch, making three 3-pointers in the final two minutes to bring his total to 26 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dished out a game-high six assists. Mickael Pietrus played a strong game as well, notching 20 points and four rebounds. He made all seven of his free throw attempts in the game. Hedo Turkoglu scored 21 points on an efficient night from the floor as he made seven of his 13 shots.
Orlando looks to even their record 7 p.m. Monday night against the Chicago Bulls. Sacramento continues their season-opening road trip when they take on the 76ers at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon in Philadelphia.
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Quarter-by-quarter Baseline Blog:
*Tonight's live play-by-play Baseline Blog is unavailable due to technical difficulties. We hope to have these problems resolved in the very near future. Until then, enjoy the quarterly updates!
1st Quarter: In the first quarter, it was clear that both teams were playing in the second game of a back-to-back. Both defenses were reacting very slowly and allowing easy buckets early on. Each team shot over 55 percent from the field in the quarter and the Magic took a 32-28 lead when Hedo Turkoglu hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining. Quincy Douby’s shot came up short at the buzzer.
Dwight Howard led the Magic with nine points in the frame. For the Kings, three players, Beno Udrih, John Salmons and Kevin Martin, all scored six points in the first. Both teams passed the ball well and seem to be clicking on offense. It looks like this is going to be a high-scoring affair that with both teams on pace to break 110 points.
Orlando 32, Sacramento 28
2nd Quarter: Dwight Howard continued his dominance in the second quarter and wound up having a monster first half. He finished the half with 16 points and seven rebounds in leading the Magic to a 59-49 halftime lead. Hedo Turkoglu also had an effective first half, scoring 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. Orlando shot 53.7 percent from the floor as a team in the half. Kevin Martin led the Kings in scoring, dropping 16 on the Magic on 6-of-10 shooting.
Both teams played extremely effectively on the offensive end. Orlando finished with 12 assists and only six turnovers, while Sacramento tallied 12 assists and six turnovers. Orlando seemed to pick their defensive intensity up in the second quarter and limited the Kings to only 21 points and many tough shots.
The highlight of the quarter was an alley-oop from Jameer Nelson to Rashard Lewis that put the Magic up 50-42. That play seemed to bring the crowd to life and energized the players as well.
Orlando 59, Sacramento 49
3rd Quarter: The third quarter was more of the same for Howard – points, rebounds and keeping his team in the lead. Howard scored another nine points in the third and grabbed six rebounds, taking his totals to 25 points and 13 rebounds. At the end of three, all five Magic starters had reached double figures. Mickael Pietrus continued to slash to the basket and brought his point total to 15 for the game. He is 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
For the Kings, their only bright spot is the play of Kevin Martin, who has a game-high total of 26 points. He is shooting 9-of-17 from the floor and is one of the big reasons Sacramento is hanging around.
Orlando 88, Sacramento 76
4th Quarter: The fourth quarter was Orlando’s time to pull away and finish the Kings off for good. While Howard continued to shine, bringing his totals to 28 points and 14 rebounds, Rashard Lewis stepped up his game and shut the door on the Kings when he made three consecutive 3-pointers down the stretch. Lewis finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Mickael Pietrus also chipped in 20 and Hedo Turkoglu scored 21. The Magic’s offense looked far better than is had in the first two games, moving the ball around the court and getting each other open looks. Orlando finished on top in every major category in the game. Kevin Martin was the sole King who stood out tonight, pouring in a game-high 31 on 11-of-20 shooting from the field.
Orlando 121, Sacramento 103
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Preview:
In the second night of a back-to-back, Orlando will host the Sacramento Kings at 7 p.m. Saturday night. The Kings will also be playing in the second night of a back-to-back as they travel to Orlando from Miami. Both teams will be playing for their first victory of the season.
For the Kings, their leader is Kevin Martin. Over the past two seasons he has solidified himself as one of the top scorers in the league and averaged 23.7 ppg. last year. During their 103-77 loss last night in Miami, Martin only managed to score nine points on 2-of-8 shooting. Quincy Douby and John Salmons tied for the scoring lead last night with 14 points a piece. Sacramento's visit to Orlando will mark their third of four road games to begin the season.
The Kings finished the preseason with a 1-7 record but lost by five or less points in three of those contests. For this game to stay close, the Kings will need to play much better defense than they have displayed throughout the preseason and the early regular season. Opponents shot at an incredible average of 47.5 percent from the floor in their eight exhibition games and that trend has carried over to the regular season. In two regular season games, opponents are shooting at a 47.6 percent rate from the floor against the Kings. The Magic are known for their shooting ability but have not shot the ball consistently this season. Tonight will be a great opportunity to see if they can capitalize on open shot attempts throughout the game.
If the Kings are going to make this a close game, Kevin Martin and Spencer Hawes will have to have a great inside-outside connection for 48 minutes of play. They are the leaders of the team and their top offensive threats.
The Magic will need their top two players to contribute for all 48 minutes if they hope to win as well. After fouling out of the opener only two minutes into the fourth quarter, Rashard Lewis played fantastic last night, scoring 23 points and grabbing five rebounds. Dwight Howard recorded his second double-double of the season in last night's tough loss to the Grizzlies but he took only nine shots.
Spencer Hawes, who will be guarding Howard, is a big body and a rebounding machine, but look for the Magic to come out and establish Howard down in the post. He is the guy in Orlando, and nine shot attempts simply isn't enough. If Howard can dominate on the post and score early on, it will open up outside shots for Lewis and driving lanes for others. His effectiveness early in the game may be a telling factor of where this game will wind up when the final buzzer sounds.
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Keys to the game:
Hustle: The Magic have an obvious lead in overall talent between these two teams. Sarcamento will have to win the hustle category to overcome the talent deficit. Diving for loose balls, grabbing offensive rebounds and beating the Magic on fast breaks for easy baskets could net them a road victory. On the other hand, the Magic will have to match the Kings' hustle in order to notch their first victory at home.
Conditioning: Both teams will be in the second game of a back-to-back for the first time this season. Conditioning should play a huge role in the game, especially if the score is close down the stretch. Stan Van Gundy played his starters a lot in the preseason in an attempt to get his team ready for this type of situation, so expect the Magic to deal with the situation well.
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Game Notes:
Nov. 1 vs. Sacramento: Orlando is 17-22 all-time vs. Sacramento (13-7 at home, 4-15 on the road) during regular season action, including 1-1 last season...Orlando has won four of the last seven meetings, but lost 12 of the last 17 matchups overall…The Magic have won five of the last seven outings at home…The Kings had won 11 straight meetings in Sacramento until a 92-89 victory by Orlando on Dec. 4, 2006...Hedo Turkoglu played in 221 career games with Sacramento from 2000-03…Anthony Johnson was originally drafted in the second round (40th overall) by the Kings in the 1997 NBA Draft and played 104 regular season games in Sacramento (1997-98, 2007-08)…Head Coach Stan Van Gundy is a native of Indio, CA…Assistant GM Dave Twardzik served as a scout for the Kings from 1999-2002…For last season’s stats and Magic career numbers vs. Sacramento, see p. 271 of the media guide.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. KINGS: 44 pts., Tracy McGrady (@ Orlando, 11-19-01)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 42 pts., Mike Bibby (@ Sacramento, 1-15-06)
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