Orlando may have a flair for the dramatic but this is just getting crazy. However you may not want to tell Jameer Nelson that as the Magic point guard drained a three pointer to beat the Denver Nuggets as time expired to improve the Magic’s record to 44-26 on the season.
This is the fourth time this season that Nelson has hit a game winning shot and that’s just the way he likes it.
“It felt good when it left my hand. I knew I had a great chance… Ya’ll know I don’t shy away from the last shot at all and I’m definitely willing to take the last shot and live with the results,” said Nelson in the locker room after the game.
Tonight the Magic faced off against the streaking Denver Nuggets in a battle of two teams still trying to find their way as they forge toward the playoffs. Orlando is pretty much locked into the fourth slot and Denver in the fifth slot out west.
The Magic returned home after a 5 game West Coast road swing that included games where they were pasted by the Suns and had two overtime contests against inferior teams like Golden State and Milwaukee. Well, supposedly inferior.
But this evening Dwight Howard and company had an opportunity to make a statement against one of the best teams from out west that no longer features one of the league’s best scorers in Carmelo Anthony.
Since the Nuggets traded Anthony to the Knicks they have a record of 9-2 as their offense seems to be much more fluid.
Orlando started the contest in a lackadaisical type of mode as they were 1 for 5 from behind the arc and committed seven turnovers in the first quarter. Denver was able to take advantage of Orlando’s giving nature as they scored 3 points of the Magic’s turnovers and shot a healthy 50 percent from the field. The Nuggets were able to keep Howard quiet to start the game as they held the 6-11 center to only two points.
That didn’t last long as Howard ended the game with 18 rebounds and 16 points, which led the team.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter and the Magic are up by a few points with only a few seconds left to play. But a few foul calls and Magic mistakes later allowed the Nuggets to get back in the game as they tied it with 5.7 seconds left on the clock.
Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy said that the last play was for Jameer to get the ball and get a clean look at the basket, but he had no clue what he would do with it in the end. “I didn’t know what he was going to do with the ball, but the play was for Jameer to get or create the last shot.”
I’m sure Stan can live with those results.
The Magic improved to 37-13 this season when holding its opponents to less than 100 points and 11-8 in games where the point differential is by five points or less. This is the team’s worst overall shooting performance since December when they shot a paltry 35 percent against the Atlanta Hawks
Orlando lives by the three ball and dies by it as evidenced by their shooting percentage from downtown, which was 36.
If anything the Magic at least have a little momentum as they head to Quicken Loans Arena to face off against the Lebron-less Cleveland Cavaliers.
