Denton: Magic-Nets Postgame Analysis
By John Denton
October 30, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
Vince Carter’s return to New Jersey started Friday with a thunderous dunk off a drive to the hoop, but his night ended early with a scary thud.
When Carter jammed his left ankle in the second quarter after stepping on the foot of New Jersey guard Devin Harris, the Orlando Magic’s star newcomer went down in a heap and the hopes and hearts of Magic fans everywhere likely skipped a beat.
As it turns out, the Magic didn’t need Carter late Friday to beat the rebuilding Nets 95-85 and improve to 2-0 on the young season.
Carter’s injury initially robbed the Magic of some of the joy of the win, but word emerged after the game that Carter’s injury isn’t that serious. The superstar guard is officially listed as day-to-day and is likely to play Sunday when the Magic travel back to Toronto. X-rays on Carter’s ankle were negative and the swelling was minimal.
``I heal like a young guy so I’ll be good (on Saturday),’’ said Carter, who is three months shy of his 33rd birthday. ``Hopefully Sunday though. I’m feeling better, I'm walking better.’’
Carter’s injury made the win feel somewhat like a loss, but with the severity of the ankle sprain not expected to be serious the Magic emerged optimistic about winning a game that was truly a struggle.
Here’s the breakdown of the game, looking at The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Friday night:
THE GOOD
Before the injury, Carter was very good. He was given a warm ovation back in New Jersey, where he had played the previous five seasons. Carter wasted little time making his presence known, blowing by former Magic guard Courtney Lee for a big right-handed dunk. Carter then followed up that play by running the pick-and-roll to perfection, hitting Dwight Howard for another dunk.
Van Gundy has been on Carter of late to try and get to the rim more, and he took that message to heart. He repeatedly got to the rim on curl plays. He made six of eight shots, two of three 3-pointers and had 16 points, four assists and three rebounds before hurting his ankle midway through the second period.
``The first play of the game was a pretty good omen for him,’’ Van Gundy said of Carter. ``When a guy comes out attacking like that, he was ready to go. It’s a shame that it had to happen on a night like this. I’ve been on the other side of some of those games with Vince and you don’t enjoy it, and I was ready to sit back and enjoy one of Vince’s great ones (Friday night). Sixteen points in 15 minutes, he was rolling. As it was (with the injury), it made it harder but our guys fought through it.’’
The Magic fought through it because superstar center Dwight Howard was head and shoulders the best player on the floor. Howard finished with 20 points, 22 rebounds and four blocked shots. It was the 24th 20-point, 20-rebound game of Howard’s six-year career.
Van Gundy has been on the Magic about their defense for week’s now, and he absolutely gushed about Howard’s do-it-all effort on the defensive end of the floor.
``That was the Defensive Player of the Year playing like the Defensive Player of the Year,’’ he said of Orlando’s Superman. ``He protected the basket and took that game over guarding everybody and getting every rebound. He was trying to block a shot, force a guy to change his shot and then come back to the other side of the rim to get the rebound. He was amazing.’’
Orlando was again without all-star power forward Rashard Lewis, but it didn’t miss a beat because of the shooting of Ryan Anderson and Brandon Bass. They combined to make 12 of 20 shots for 39 points.
Anderson, also a former Net included in the Carter trade, hurt the Nets from the outside with two 3-pointers and two dunks when he was left alone. Bass played powerfully, getting to the rim often for 13 points.
Said Anderson: ``My teammates are getting me open shots. I have all-stars all around me. It’s an all-star cast here and no one is really looking at me.’’
THE BAD
Carter’s ankle injury was bad, but it wasn’t one of those grotesque sprains where the ankle rolls over. The Magic wanted him driving more and he did just that on the play he got hurt, but stepped on Harris’ foot after he had beaten Lee off the dribble.
Carter was very fortunate the injury wasn’t much worse, and it looks as if he will play Sunday in Toronto. Vince actually joked earlier in the week that he thrives on the boos in Toronto, and he’ll get back for Sunday’s game if it’s possible.
Said Carter: ``It’s not disappointing. We still won. It is never disappointing when you win.’’
Brook Lopez is one of the game’s better young centers and he proved that in the Nets season-opener against Minnesota with 27 points, 17 rebounds and five blocked shots. But Friday’s game against Howard was a forgettable one for Lopez. He was only on the floor for 25 minutes because of foul trouble and he managed just 11 points. That’s about how many dunks that Howard had (seven).
Magic fans are seem united in their love for Lee, the starting shooting guard who helped Orlando to the NBA Finals last season. He was shipped to New Jersey in late June for Carter, and admittedly it took him weeks to get over the shock of the trade.
Lee had a miserable opener, missing nine of 11 shots. And he had tremendous trouble trying to stay in front of Carter, who dunked on Lee’s head on the first play of the game. Offensively, Lee finished with 18 points, but his six of 17 shooting was still a struggle.
THE UGLY
What gives with NBA teams wearing their darker road jerseys at home the way the Nets did Friday night at Izod Center? Assuredly, it’s a marketing move, but it just seems bizarre seeing road teams in white and home teams in dark colors.
Howard’s free throw form continues to be a major struggle. He made just four of 11 tries on Friday. And that was somewhat of an accomplishment considering how badly Dwight missed his first three free throws.
Howard is just seven of 17 from the stripe in two games, and that has to be particularly galling to him considering that he worked to hit 200 free throws a day during his summer workouts. Howard feels he’s putting too much pressure on himself rather than just simply allowing himself to shoot the ball with ease. He continues to work at his craft and is usually the last player off the court following practices and shootarounds.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonOctober 30, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
Vince Carter’s return to New Jersey started Friday with a thunderous dunk off a drive to the hoop, but his night ended early with a scary thud.
When Carter jammed his left ankle in the second quarter after stepping on the foot of New Jersey guard Devin Harris, the Orlando Magic’s star newcomer went down in a heap and the hopes and hearts of Magic fans everywhere likely skipped a beat.
As it turns out, the Magic didn’t need Carter late Friday to beat the rebuilding Nets 95-85 and improve to 2-0 on the young season.
Carter’s injury initially robbed the Magic of some of the joy of the win, but word emerged after the game that Carter’s injury isn’t that serious. The superstar guard is officially listed as day-to-day and is likely to play Sunday when the Magic travel back to Toronto. X-rays on Carter’s ankle were negative and the swelling was minimal.
``I heal like a young guy so I’ll be good (on Saturday),’’ said Carter, who is three months shy of his 33rd birthday. ``Hopefully Sunday though. I’m feeling better, I'm walking better.’’
Carter’s injury made the win feel somewhat like a loss, but with the severity of the ankle sprain not expected to be serious the Magic emerged optimistic about winning a game that was truly a struggle.
Here’s the breakdown of the game, looking at The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Friday night:
THE GOOD
Van Gundy has been on Carter of late to try and get to the rim more, and he took that message to heart. He repeatedly got to the rim on curl plays. He made six of eight shots, two of three 3-pointers and had 16 points, four assists and three rebounds before hurting his ankle midway through the second period.
``The first play of the game was a pretty good omen for him,’’ Van Gundy said of Carter. ``When a guy comes out attacking like that, he was ready to go. It’s a shame that it had to happen on a night like this. I’ve been on the other side of some of those games with Vince and you don’t enjoy it, and I was ready to sit back and enjoy one of Vince’s great ones (Friday night). Sixteen points in 15 minutes, he was rolling. As it was (with the injury), it made it harder but our guys fought through it.’’
Van Gundy has been on the Magic about their defense for week’s now, and he absolutely gushed about Howard’s do-it-all effort on the defensive end of the floor.
``That was the Defensive Player of the Year playing like the Defensive Player of the Year,’’ he said of Orlando’s Superman. ``He protected the basket and took that game over guarding everybody and getting every rebound. He was trying to block a shot, force a guy to change his shot and then come back to the other side of the rim to get the rebound. He was amazing.’’
Anderson, also a former Net included in the Carter trade, hurt the Nets from the outside with two 3-pointers and two dunks when he was left alone. Bass played powerfully, getting to the rim often for 13 points.
Said Anderson: ``My teammates are getting me open shots. I have all-stars all around me. It’s an all-star cast here and no one is really looking at me.’’
THE BAD
Carter was very fortunate the injury wasn’t much worse, and it looks as if he will play Sunday in Toronto. Vince actually joked earlier in the week that he thrives on the boos in Toronto, and he’ll get back for Sunday’s game if it’s possible.
Said Carter: ``It’s not disappointing. We still won. It is never disappointing when you win.’’
Lee had a miserable opener, missing nine of 11 shots. And he had tremendous trouble trying to stay in front of Carter, who dunked on Lee’s head on the first play of the game. Offensively, Lee finished with 18 points, but his six of 17 shooting was still a struggle.
THE UGLY
Howard is just seven of 17 from the stripe in two games, and that has to be particularly galling to him considering that he worked to hit 200 free throws a day during his summer workouts. Howard feels he’s putting too much pressure on himself rather than just simply allowing himself to shoot the ball with ease. He continues to work at his craft and is usually the last player off the court following practices and shootarounds.
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
