Sunday’s matchup brought more to the table than any other game. The fear of losing for the Orlando team wasn’t so much because of Stan Van Gundy’s wrath, but because no one wants to be the team to break another team’s losing streak…especially Cleveland’s 19th game one.
That became an afterthought right in the first quarter and the Orlando Magic added another loss to the Cavaliers resume at the Amway Center with the 100th consecutive home sellout, including playoffs.
“We had a great first quarter and then it was dead even after that. I thought we came out with really good energy,” Van Gundy said.
Dwight Howard shined on the court and it seemed ironic and brutal that at the end his 20 points and 20 rebounds, his fourth of the season and 30th in his career, helped hand Cleveland its 20th straight loss, single handedly the worst season in franchise history for the team. J.J. Redick added 17 points and Brandon Bass and Jason Richardson had 12 a piece.
Magic led the game from start to finish and by the end of the half, Cleveland trailed by as much as 13 points. Cleveland shot only 40 percent and had nine turnovers just in the first half. After the second half started, it wasn’t much different and they closed the game shooting a record 43 percent from the line.
Not all beautiful plays came from superman. More good news for Orlando–Ryan Anderson added 23 points and 16 rebounds for a carrier high. After Howard said his goodbyes and sat out in the fourth, Anderson took control and didn’t disappoint.
In the first 20 seconds of the fourth, he sunk a 25-foot three pointer to warm the court just in time to set it on fire 40 seconds later with another three points…and another and then another. All with 7 whole minutes left to the end of the game.
“I had a great opportunity tonight. Obviously we played really well and had a big lead so in the fourth we could just kind of play,” Anderson said. “We need to get a streak going again. We need to get some more confidence and kind of just build from a win like this. I think it was key to have a big win, especially on a back-to-back night.”
They have an opportunity to do it tonight against the Memphis Grizzlies who are 14-7 at home and have won two straight and seven of eight at home against the Magic.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well other than Dwight, JJ and Ryan, we didn’t shoot the ball well at all. I’m hoping we saved all of those for tomorrow night because we’ll need them,” Van Gundy said after last night’s matchup.
Here is the breakdown….
| Cleveland | Orlando | |
| Points | 87 | 103 |
| FG Made-Attempted | 33-76 (.434) | 38-92 (.413) |
| 3P Made-Attempted | 5-16 (.313) | 9-31 (.290) |
| FT Made-Attempted | 16-22 (.727) | 18-28 (.643) |
| Rebounds (Offensive-Total) | 6-35 | 24-61 |
| Assists | 9 | 24 |
MEMO: Dwight Howard was announced as the leading vote-getter in the Eastern Conference by the NBA, meaning he will start at center in the NBA All-Star Game for a fourth consecutive year. Howard will be joined by Miami’s Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, Chicago’s Derrick Rose and New York’s Amare Stoudemire in the starting lineup for the Eastern Conference. The 2011 NBA All-Star Game will be played at Los Angeles’ Staples Center on February 20th.
By Fernanda Barros
West Orlando News Online
