The Magic haven’t played well at all in the past four games. But, lucky for them they got a plate of home cooking against the worst team in the league the Washington Wizards, Wednesday night.
Ryan Anderson and Dwight Howard led the Magic (13-9) with 23 points. Howard also snagged 18 rebounds, collecting his 17th double double on the season.
“I think we need to look to the next game and bring the same effort and energy,” Anderson said. “We didn’t want to focus too much on that streak because that’s a week we’d all like to forget. Those games we’d all like to forget about and we can move forward and get a win next game and just start a little run.”
J.J Redick added 21 points for the Magic off the bench.
Orlando is struggling to get into their offensive sets and head coach Stan Van Gundy isn’t sure how to fix it.
“It’s frustrating to me as a coach because I can’t figure out what we’re doing wrong,” he said. “That’s a hard thing. Tonight was we couldn’t run anything. We couldn’t get into our offense with their pressure.”
Washington was led by Nick Young’s 24 points; forward Rashad Lewis chipped in 20.
The Wizards shot the ball extremely well from beyond the arc connecting on 12 3’s, shooting 52%.
Orlando’s turnovers kept the Wizards close for most of the game, but a huge 40 point Magic effort in the fourth was too much for Washington to over come.
Orlando needs to use the next few games to build up confidence but it can’t just be on the offensive end, giving up 35 points to the Wizards in the fourth quarter should be alarming.
The Magic have what it takes to contend in the east but, they must improve on both ends of the floor.
The Magic will get a night off before hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday night. Tip off is set for 7pm.
