Orlando Magic 125, Philadelphia 76ers 111
by Evan Dunlap on Apr 15, 2010 12:31 AM EDT
in 2009/2010 Recaps
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PrintThe Orlando Magic capped off their 2009/2010 regular season with their 6th straight win, and secured homecourt advantage for the NBA Finals, with their 125-111 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Magic essentially put the game away in the first period, in which they jumped out to a 37-20 lead and shot 15-of-18 from the floor. Vince Carter's three-pointer just before halftime helped the Magic set a new single-season record for three-pointers made. Carter and Jameer Nelson combined for 38 points, 6 rebounds, 10 assists, and 7 of Orlando's 11 treys as Philadelphia's defense couldn't, wouldn't, or didn't want to--take your pick--close out on any shooters. And Dwight Howard shot 6-of-8 from the floor, virtually assuring that he'll lead the league in field goal percentage this season and, in so doing, become the first player to ever pace the league in shooting, rebounding, and shot-blocking. The bad news for Orlando is that it played a pretty horrid defensive game, yielding 111 points in a low-possession game to a 76ers team that affixed a stamp to this season long ago.
| Team | Pace | Efficiency | eFG% | FT Rate | OReb% | TO Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 76ers | 89 | 124.9 | 55.4% | 22.9 | 22.5 | 9.0 |
| Magic | 91 | 137.4 | 66.5% | 19.5 | 26.7 | 13.2 |
| Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average. | ||||||
Yes, the regular season wound to a close tonight with the successes listed above. But I don't think coach Stan Van Gundy can be happy with the way his team closed the season on the defensive end of the floor. We like to have fun with Van Gundy when he burns timeouts in seemingly silly situations, but when Marreese Speights cut right down the center of the lane and threw down a nasty, one-handed slam early in the fourth period to cut Orlando's lead to 23 points, Van Gundy was 100% right to call timeout immediately to try to wake his team up defensively. In the 82nd game, defensive breakdowns like that just shouldn't happen. And that is, to me, the Magic's biggest concern heading into the playoffs. While the team's playing great ball for the most part, the defensive slippage here is too great to ignore. Since beating the Mavericks in Dallas two weeks ago, the Magic have allowed opponents to score 110.3 points per 100 possessions, which is much higher than league average, and much much higher than Orlando's usual standard.
But apart from the D? No complaints. The Magic head into the postseason on a high note, as opposed to last season, when they lost 4 of their last 6 games but went all the way to the NBA Finals anyway.
Orlando will open its first-round series against the Charlotte Bobcats this Sunday at 5:30 PM Eastern.
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With today's victory the Magic can still say that they have never had a decline since SVG is head coach.
For some reason I think that this 59-23 is better than last year’s 59-23. Sure, last year Nelson was missing for almost half of the season, but this year the Magic had to deal with Rashard’s suspension, some minor injuries here and there, inserting several new players to the rotation, and more than anything, Carter’s shoulder injury and the horrible January month that resulted from such injury.
I think the main reason I feel like this year was better than last is the way the Magic played since the All-Star break, while last year they were much more stronger during the first half of the season (before Jameer went down), and then lost some steam.
I’m actually happy the drew the Bobcats for the first round, because they will put up a fight. The Magic need to be a little battle-tested to be prepared for when they go against the Cavs in the EFC.
Magic Fan since the 1992-1993 Season.
by North of the South on Apr 15, 2010 12:58 AM EDT reply actions
Though the D has slipped, I don't think it's a cause for concern
The first quarter set the tone for the whole game. When these guys are on fire like that, they start feeling loose and that extends to the defensive side. With the way they were jacking up shots and doing the Polish Hammer on the bench, it seemed like they were all ready for their after parties downtown.
I’m sure tonight will be the only time they aren’t focused on basketball and it’s well deserved after another great regular season. We’ve seen how serious these guys are about the championship and I don’t think that is going to change. They’ll be ready on Sunday and the defense will be just fine.
Blue & White Ignite!
(So lame, but I'll roll with it!)
liking the playoff seeding...
in that we don’t face the heat or boston unless they make it through to the ECF!
Why is there always worry or
some negative spin on Magic wins around here? I understand why SVG takes that approach, but why on a fan blog? Why so serious and ‘concerned’ all the time BQR? Other good teams punched out weeks ago, and the Magic are still smashing teams all the way to the end. Really,at this point, why should guys be killing themselves on D?
Hence the reason why this is the place where I get my post game analysis...
and E’s new site
"He is fast, but what I like about him is he looks like one of those track guys that actually knows how to run the ball and has good vision and patience. He is not just running at top speed. He knows when to use his speed, and he has some power and toughness, too.'' Barry Sanders about CJ2K
Dwight Howard >The Justice League of America
by Bonafidebrother on Apr 15, 2010 8:43 AM EDT up reply actions
Nah
You could see the Magic wanted to win, but they also were planning to win on offense in the first quarter. I think it was by design, they wanted to win, but they also wanted to keep their eyes on the prize. If Dwight and co. comes out with that defense on Sunday then I will feel your concern, but Philly in game 82, nope. Especially not the way the Magic are, they always get lax when they go up big, and they happened to do that in the 1st quarter. I expected a bigger let down in quarters 2 + 3 so I was actually impressed.
I hear ya,
But things are pretty sunshiney in Magicland right now. I guess what I’m saying is that I can see and appreciate how this blog reflects the attitude and current status of the Magic, and I suppose the fanbase at large (high expectations, not satisfied with anything but a championship, etc.). But its important to remember that these are high heady days for this franchise, and this stretch of excellence will not last forever. Its not about homerism, just enjoying following an exceptional, very likeable team playing together at a high caliber.
Speights
That guy opened the year with a 26-point game against the Magic, and ended it with a 23-point game against the Magic. In the 80 games between, he scorerd 23 or more points only once.
Bass is a kind of fish.
In RE: The defense.
I think it has simply been a result of having large leads in nearly every single game we have played. All the teams that have shot 50% on us have done so while down a lot of points. We were comfortably ahead the entire game, and I believe the closest the 76ers got in hte second half was 10 points, which was quickly pushed back up to 15 or 20 every time they made a run. Any scoring of consequence came when Orlando was playing at least decent defense.
Until the third quarter, Philly had been shooting just 45% and had just 70 points. It is difficult to find fault with the bench guys for not wanting to clamp down defensively when they had a 20 point lead going into the final quarter of the regular season. 76ers shot 15-21 in the 4th Q with a lot of those coming on jumpshots. Some defensive breakdowns but I don’t think it will be anything concerning come 1st round vs. Jordan-cats.
Honestly, this team reminds me of the pre-season Magic more than anything else.
Just going out there and freewheeling it… but they’ve clamped down on D more than once in the last couple weeks. I don’t think there’s any question they’ll be able to do it again when it matters. It just hasn’t mattered in the last few games.
I mean, their D on the Pacers was actually pretty great (98.6 efficiency, despite the fact that there were roughly 36 minutes of garbage time in that match-up)… and it’s hard to praise the Magic too much for this, but they did keep Cleveland (minus LeBron) in check reasonably well. Wizards had a 101 efficiency. So the defensive shortcomings in the last 5 games came here and in the Knicks game. And… well, you know? Was either one of those games in doubt any point?
Not saying it’s great that they weren’t getting intense on defense. But, eh, you know.
Bass is a kind of fish.
Finally!
Playoffs are here! Magic are playing so well right now, they should have a lot of momentum going into the playoffs. Tough for the Sixers, knowing that immediately after the game the Coach is getting fired.
But, I was holding out hope that Foyle was going to get in. Pretty unique season for him; he was healthy all year and didn’t play a minute. I know he is here for his locker room presence, but it would still be cool to see him in a game.
Sweep the ’Cats!
LT Style, Electric Glide
"It's all part of the plan." Jeff Moorad and The Joker in the Dark Knight.
"Just because you went to the Finals last year, you can’t go out on the floor and expect teams to lay down. We got no heart. You can only make so many excuses. Everybody has to come and play hard, not just one or two guys."-Matt Barnes
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