The Phoenix Suns came to Orlando Wednesday 1 1/2 games out of a playoff spot and having won 9 of 11 before coming to Florida. The Magic were coming off a disheartening loss to the Bulls on Monday night and looking to give a better performance.
Both teams got off to a sloppy start but overcame it with good shooting as Jared Dudley made six of seven field goals and Ryan Anderson made three 3-pointers. The Suns had little offensive flow and were unable to to attack the paint due to the presence of Dwight Howard. The Magic opened up an eight point lead after one quarter and never looked back.
With only one turnover in the period, Orlando grew their lead to 13 in the second quarter. It was more of the same from Anderson and Howard too, the Suns had no answer for the All-Pro center, deciding to try Marcin Gortat solo against him.
Dwight answered with 4 for 5 shooting in the period. The pace of the game slipped into disarray and the defense just disappeared, which greatly benefitted the Magic as they scored 57 first half points, just two points shy of their total output on Monday night. Steve Nash scored a couple of runners to keep his team in striking distance, but their inability to get stops spelled the end of their night.
The Suns were not running down shooters in this game and it resulted in 10 Magic 3-pointers. A frustrated Alvin Gentry said, “We have to be able to close out to him, we went through this a couple weeks ago with Kevin Love, we gotta make him put it down.”
The Magic lead ballooned to 20 before Phoenix started chipping away with Magic coach Stan Van Gundy giving Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson an extended rest. Their services weren’t really needed with Ryan Anderson knocking down 7 3-pointers. The Suns defense seemed to be going through the motions like it was a practice; they decided not to take away the two biggest cogs in Orlando’s offense in Anderson from range and Howard inside.
Dwight finished the game with 28 points and 16 rebounds in only 35 minutes of action. Ryan Anderson contributed 29 points and added that he got the good shooting night he’d be missing in the past week.
The Magic host the Cavaliers on Friday. They are now firmly in 3rd place in the Eastern conference, and after last week’s trade deadline panic they are looking like they can make a run.
Gentry offered some perspective on the basketball situation here in Orlando, “I don’t know what everyone is whining and complaining about down here, they have a great basketball team and they play as well as anyone in the east.”
Captain ruin everything…not so bad.