AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack
The Orlando Magic opened up their 2009-2010 season at Amway Arena for the last time Wednesday night before they move to the brand new Amway Center in the Fall of 2010 with a 120-106 beating of the Philadelphia 76ers. To christen the event, the Magic raised their 2008-2009 Eastern Conference Championship banner. For most fans, the last memories they have of the Magic are when the team lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. The sting of the defeat seemed to resonate during Wednesday’s festivities.
Fans and players alike seemed to approach the start of the new season with a subdued confidence. Last year was great, but it wasn’t enough. During pregame introductions, Head Coach Stan Van Gundy sat stern-faced on the bench as if he were already watching a tough game. For Van Gundy, this is going to be a tough season. The players followed the lead of their coach as they too maintained a serious demeanor during introductions. They haven’t gotten what they came for.
“Superman” Dwight Howard leads Orlando and he has quite the supporting cast in Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, and Mickael Pietrus – all of them All-Stars but Pietrus. Carter, who averaged 20 points, 4.7 assists, and 5 rebounds per game last year, is a new addition, brought on by general manager Otis Smith in a trade following small forward Hedo Turkoglu’s departure for the rival Toronto Raptors. On the promise of coming to the Magic Carter said, “I [have] never been on a team that had an opportunity to win a championship,” implying the high expectations this team now has. The other new faces include supporting men power forward Ryan Anderson, small forward Matt Barnes, point guard Jason Williams, and power forward Brandon Bass. Conventional wisdom wouldn’t think to blow up a Finals caliber team, but the consensus is that Smith has created a stronger contender in the 09-10 Magic.
The opening night cast for the Magic was not quite complete as Lewis began serving his ten-day suspension for elevated testosterone levels; Ryan Anderson will start in his place during the suspension. The opening game against Philadelphia provides a rematch of the first round matchup from last years playoffs.
The first quarter saw the 76ers acquire an early lead that would be stolen by the end of the first quarter. By halftime, the Magic led by 23, 70-47. The large lead was the result of a potent offensive second quarter that yielded 41 points for the Magic.
One of the most important aspects of the season will be the distribution of shot attempts. It is crucial to everything that the Magic do on offense to see Howard get looks inside. By working the ball inside to Howard, the perimeter shooters will have room to work with and new weapon Carter will have space to drive the lane. Near the end of the first quarter, trailing 19-24, Howard grabbed an offensive board before passing out to Williams for a three. Howard was able to three times from right next to the basket in the first half opening up looks like Williams was given.
In the first half, Nelson did a good job of spreading the ball around with he, Howard, Carter, and Pietrus all getting at least six shots. The large second quarter lead also gave the reserves a chance to see some action and Marcin Gortat, Williams, and Matt Barnes all looked good coming off the bench. The magic may truly be one of deepest teams in the league. Gortat, Barnes, Anderson, and maybe even Bass as well could be starters on other teams in the league.
The second half opened with a re-energized 76ers team, or perhaps a bored Magic team, as Philadelphia held their ground at the start third, although the deficit was widened to 31 by the end of the period, 100-69.
The game finished with the Magic on top 120 – 106 as the bench players played most of the fourth quarter. Although it is tough to learn a lot in a blow out, by the numbers Orlando looked very strong. The Magic held Andre Iguodala to 3 of 11 from the field and kept Samuel Dalembert in foul trouble limiting him to just 16 minutes. D12 led the Magic with 15 rebounds and 21 points shooting 9-11 from the field, Nelson added six assists, and Williams added 15 points and 5 assists in 23 minutes off the bench. The Magic made 16 threes shooting over 55% from behind the arch.
Although it was great to win on opening night, the Magic know that they have a long way to go to add the most prized banner to their rafters, the NBA Championship banner.
