Orlando Magic 110, Seattle SuperSonics 94

by Ben Q Rock on Nov 29, 2007 1:05 AM EST in 2007/2008 Recaps Comment 4 comments

Dwight Howard dunks down 2 of his career-high 39 points against the Sonics on Wednesday night.
Photo by Joe Murphy, NBAE/Getty Images

It took career-highs from two key Magic players for the team to knock off the 2-13 SuperSonics, but they pulled it off in the end by going on a 17-2 run to close out the game. Here's the boxscore.

Dwight Howard posted 39 points, 16 rebounds, and 5 blocks, picking up the slack left by teammate Rashard Lewis, who managed just 9 points on 3-of-19 shooting in his return to Seattle. Carlos Arroyo, playing more minutes to accommodate an ailing Jameer Nelson, ran the offense splendidly by handing out 14 assists, a career-high, while committing only 1 turnover.

The game was much closer than the final score indicates, but it should not have been that way. The SuperSonics were a miserable 34-of-96 from the field, but managed to hang around thanks to a pesky zone defense and a plethora of offensive rebounds. Credit them for sticking with a far superior team and for not giving up on the game.

But credit the Magic for not giving up on their game plan. Despite the team's 7-of-26 mark from three-point range, Hedo Turkoglu didn't hesitate when he jacked a three-pointer with 2:31 remaining. It went in, boosting the Magic's lead to 102-94. Keith Bogans hit three pointers on consecutive possessions to ice the game for Orlando. Stan Van Gundy has made it clear to his players that they are to shoot the three-pointer if it presents itself, percentages be damned, and that strategy keyed the Magic's win this evening.

One of the Magic's keys to victory was J.J. Redick, who filled in for Keyon Dooling at backup shooting guard. Redick scored his first 11 points of the season on just 5 shot attempts to give the Magic an offensive boost.

The Magic get Thursday off before facing the Suns in Phoenix on Friday. They'll need all the rest they can get.

Half-awake notes:

Rashard may have stunk it up from the field, but he did manage to pull down 10 boards, a season high.
Kevin Durant and Wally Szczerbiak combined for 44 of Seattle's points... and shot a combined 12-of-41. Efficiency is not a hallmark of SuperSonics basketball, at least not this season.
By my unofficial count, Dwight had 6 dunks.

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Win

Lewis couldn’t buy a bucket but he did play hard and Dwight picked up the slack. Man that Kid can play. His hook is already looking like a go to shot, which he did not have just last year.
On another point, this was a perfect example of why I don't like Dooling. The rotation with J.J. involved is so promising and exciting but with Dooling in the mix J.J. seems to go to the wayside. Dooling is a great player but the Magic are deep enough to where they would not miss him and J.J. could continue to develop. He is a long term option where as Dooling is probably done after this year.

by Eyriq the Red on Nov 29, 2007 7:47 AM EST reply actions

Win

I'm with you on Dooling and think that he's going to need to get moved farther down the bench. Keyon tries to score from many different locations and to his credit, does attack the basket more than any of the other guards.

He's a good scoring option when the shots aren't falling or aren't going to be available on the permimeter.

I'd say he can spell Jameer and I would rather have him doing so as compared to Arroyo, but we need a true backup point guard. Not a gang of too-small shooting guards.

by evan on Nov 29, 2007 11:04 AM EST up reply actions

Keyon

You want to move Keyon further down the bench? He had been playing so well!

Is it totally obvious that Keyon is one of my favorite players?

by Ben Q Rock on Nov 29, 2007 6:41 PM EST up reply actions

Re: Win

J.J. indeed showed promise last night, but I still prefer Keyon. He had been on a bit of a hot streak before he became ill, and he plays pretty good defense. I still think he should be the first two-guard off the bench. That said, if J.J. continues to play well in limited minutes, it may mean we trade Keyon, who has an expiring contract. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

by Ben Q Rock on Nov 29, 2007 6:41 PM EST up reply actions