Posts Tagged → Jameer Nelson
Recap: Boston Celtics 91, Orlando Magic 80
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The Boston Celtics were able to defeat the Orlando Magic by the score of 91-80, further proving the notion that there’s a team from the state of Florida that doesn’t deserve to be considered an elite team and championship contender. And it’s not the Miami Heat. Buoyed by Rajon Rondo’s excellent play and a stifling defense that didn’t allow many open shots on the perimeter, the Celtics smothered the Magic in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicates. Rondo led the way for Boston with 26 points and seven assists, aggressively attacking Orlando’s defense and dismembering a unit led by Dwight Howard. Paul Pierce contributed with 18 points, five assists, and four rebounds. Kevin Garnett chipped in with 16 points and nine rebounds. For the Magic, it was a lot of Howard and little else. Howard was dominant, putting up 28 points, 13 rebounds, and three steals. There was little that Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis could do to contain Howard, even though they did an admirable job of making him work offensively. Unfortunately for Howard, a scrap with Perkins in the second quarter that saw him throw an elbow after he was fouled on a play earned him his 14th technical of the season. The elbow wasn’t needed and it didn’t help that Howard threw it in front of an official, but it’s easy to sympathize with the big fella’s frustration when he’s getting fouled continuously on plays and sometimes not getting calls go his way.
Recap: Miami Heat 104, Orlando Magic 100
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In a battle between two titans from the state of Florida, the Miami Heat were able to defeat the Orlando Magic by the score of 104-100. This was a game in which the Heat led from start to finish, but not without some theatrics in between. Miami led by as many as 23 points, in the fourth quarter no less, yet Orlando was able to go on a furious run thanks in large part to their three-point shooting. As a result, the Magic — improbably — had a chance to tie the game at 103 apiece with a three-pointer but Ryan Anderson was unable to capitalize on Mike Miller’s turnover and the Heat were able to dodge a bullet, holding on for the victory. For Miami, it was the LeBron James show as he erupted for 51 points (on 17-of-25 shooting from the field), 11 rebounds, and eight assists. For James, it was his first 50-point game of the season and he was five points short of his career-high. It’s worth mentioning, as well, that James started the game off by making his first 11 shots. Crazy. James said before stepping on the court that he never forgot the criticisms that were directed towards him by general manager Otis Smith during the offseason and needless to say, he made Orlando pay with a performance that could effectively be described in a few words — ruthless, methodical, dominant. James wasn’t alone, though. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh chipped in with 14 and 13 points, respectively. The Magic were led by a balanced attack as five players scored in double-figures. Jameer Nelson finished with 22 points, six rebounds, and six assists, paving the way for the comeback charge that surprised the Heat it seemed like. Dwight Howard had 17 points, 16 rebounds, but missed free-throws (10 of them, to be exact) doomed the Magic in the grand scheme of things. Jason Richardson had 18 points, while Hedo Turkoglu contributed with 13 points. Gilbert Arenas finished with 10 points. So what did Orlando learn from this loss?
Interview with Surya Fernandez of NBA FanHouse
Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Later tonight, the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat will square off in a game that has a chance to be special. Or not. Right now, the Magic are a team struggling to right the ship.
Brandon Bass, the starting power forward for Orlando, is sidelined for the foreseeable future and the defense — predictably so — has fallen off a cliff quite a bit, even though head coach Stan Van Gundy and Dwight Howard oversee a unit that ranks fourth in defensive efficiency.
The Magic’s perimeter defense has been dreadful, at times, and when Howard is sitting on the bench, opponents have been more than happy to attack the basket because they know the big fella isn’t there to stop them. Ryan Anderson and, before his injury, Bass aren’t intimidating presences in the paint. This is an issue that needs to be resolved.
Not only that but after a hot start, Hedo Turkoglu has begun to slow down and he’s one of the reasons that Orlando has lost their way in recent weeks. During the Magic’s nine-game winning streak, Turkoglu was playing good-to-great basketball but recently, he’s been little better than average. If Jameer Nelson is seen as the heart of Orlando, then Turkoglu is the soul.
And right now, the Magic have been soulless lately.
The bright side is that Orlando still has time to fix their problems. A win against the Heat would be a good start, even if the Magic will have some troubles since they’ll be without the services of Bass.
To preview tonight’s proceedings, Surya Fernandez (writer at Hot Hot Hoops and contributor at NBA FanHouse) was kind enough to give his perspective on the latest happenings in Miami.
Fernandez provided his opinion where Udonis Haslem fits in with the Heat in crunch-time when he returns from injury, head coach Erik Spoelstra’s ability to get the most out of his players, and more.
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It’s a trick question, of sorts, but who’s more valuable to the Miami Heat — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, or Chris Bosh?
With the way the roster has been constructed, the Heat need steady contributions from all three to win. Yes, they’ve shown they can sometimes win when one or even two are out but if the Heat want to make a deep run in the playoffs all three must be healthy and at the top of their games, period. So it’s almost impossible to identify which of the three is the most valuable. Admittedly the Heat looked positively lost on offense when Bosh was recently out. Wade and LeBron can somewhat duplicate what each other can bring to the offense but their defensive contributions in tandem are also critical to team success. Wade is the sentimental favorite but if push comes to shove and I have to pick one of them, I’d go with LeBron by a hair because of his versatility.
Wednesday’s Magic Word
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “NBA disciplinary officials have reviewed the technical foul Dwight Howard received Monday night against the Memphis Grizzlies and have determined that the technical will stand as called, a league spokesman told the Orlando Sentinel. Howard’s latest technical leaves him with 13 this season, three shy of a one-game league suspension. Howard received the tech in the closing seconds of the loss to the Grizzlies, and the infraction proved costly. Memphis was leading Orlando 98-97 with 5.5 seconds remaining in regulation, and Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley was standing at the free-throw line to shoot the first of two foul shots. Howard was speaking with referee Tony Brothers, and while it is not clear exactly what was said, Brothers whistled Howard for the technical just after the ball was bounced to Conley. The call caught many players by surprise. In the Sun Sports television broadcast, Memphis’ Rudy Gay could be seen over Conley’s left shoulder with a quizzical look on his face in the seconds after Brothers called the technical. Gay apparently didn’t know who had committed the infraction. Howard didn’t think the call should have been made.”
- Brandon Bass might miss more than five games with a sprained right ankle.
- Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com answers questions for Magic fans.
- John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “Jameer Nelson had just gotten to the rim for a nifty layup in traffic and before he turned to run back up the court he shot a glance and a wave over at Tamari Walker, who was sitting courtside. And for the first time all night, Walker took his hands off the autographed basketball given to him and waved back. For one night at least, the 16-year-old Daytona Beach native was literally living out his dreams. Tamari, who has battled cancerous tumors in his body for the better part of the past four years, had dreamed forever about getting the chance to meet his hero, Dwight Howard, and also several members of the [Orlando] Magic team that he watched so closely on television. So when the cheerful teenager actually got to do just that, Tamari was nearly speechless that those he looked up to took time out before a recent game to wish him well.”
- Who should be in the Three-Point Shootout for Orlando?
- Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider: “As a member of the Magic, [Gilbert] Arenas hasn’t found his former self. Almost impossibly, his shooting has gotten worse. He was at a below-average 50.5 true shooting percentage in Washington and has dipped to a subterranean 46 percent in Orlando. And despite shooting just 30 percent on 3-pointers in a Magic uniform, he’s still chucking up six longballs every 36 minutes. There have been only four instances in NBA history in which a regular has shot that poorly and that often over a full season.”
Tuesday’s Magic Word
- Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “Back in September, before the Orlando Magic had even began training camp, I wrote a blog post wondering what the Magic would do if the Miami Heat rolled out a backcourt featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mike Miller. Defensively, Wade is smart and agile enough to defend opposing point guards. And that trio could, with its mix of size, athleticism and offensive skill, provide a slew of matchup problems for opposing defenses. That mismatch may be even bigger when the Heat are playing the Magic because of Jameer Nelson’s diminutive size, as it’s difficult to fathom Nelson guarding anyone in that Heat lineup. He’s not guarding James, obviously. Mike Miller is a 6-foot-8 shooter, and a the 6-foot Nelson wouldn’t provide much resistance closing out on Miller’s outside jumper. And Wade is too big and too skilled for Nelson to contend with in an isolation set.”
- More Dwight Howard free agency speculation.
- Head coach Stan Van Gundy — “We’re not ready to contend.”
- A key possession that doomed the Orlando Magic in last night’s game.
- The Magic are a tough team to play against.
- Charley Rosen of NBA FanHouse: “Too many defensive weak spots for Dwight Howard to single-handedly erase. The miserable play of Gilbert Arenas translates into a subpar bench that has difficulty creating shots off the dribble. Orlando remains a few players short of being an odds-on choice to win a title.”
- Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk: “Sentences I never thought I’d type include: Mike Conley outplayed Jameer Nelson badly in this one. Conley has really had a good season, I’ll eat some crow on that one. Anyway, that was one of the keys. That and just a good shooting night by Memphis, including 63.2 percent in the first half, against what is supposed to be a powerful Magic defense.”
- Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated asks some questions about Orlando: “After a nine-game winning streak following the blockbuster trades in mid-December, the Magic have split 12 games and need to figure out a few things if they hope to hang with the Celtics, Bulls and Heat at the top of the East. Is yielding partial control of the offense to Hedo Turkoglu messing up Jameer Nelson’s game? How does Orlando get more open and frequent looks for Jason Richardson, who is shooting 37.1 percent over the last 10 games? As handy and heady as Brandon Bass and Ryan Anderson have been beside Dwight Howard in the frontcourt, when will the Magic go out and get another big man, preferably a mobile defender? And is the impish and explosive Gilbert Arenas we remember and love gone forever?”
- Another take on the Magic’s loss in yesterday’s game.
- Dwight Howard is overrated according to one NBA writer.
Recap: Memphis Grizzlies 100, Orlando Magic 97
AP Photo/ Mark Weber
If the game against the Chicago Bulls may have put the nail in the coffin for a team considered by many as part of the elite in the NBA, consider the case closed now as the Memphis Grizzlies were able to defeat the Orlando Magic by the score of 100-97. To be rather blunt, stupidity almost cost the Magic a chance to tie the game at the end of regulation. With 5.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Mike Conley headed to the foul throw line after Jason Richardson fouled him following a missed three-pointer by Hedo Turkoglu that could have given Orlando the lead. But before Conley went to shoot his free-throws, Dwight Howard – inexplicably — mouthed off at one of the officials and earned a technical foul at the most inopportune time. This is the franchise player for the Magic, and he was unable to keep his mouth shut at a crucial moment in time. Fortunately for Howard, after Zach Randolph made the technical free-throw to give the Grizzlies a two-point lead, Conley missed one of two free-throws. That gave Orlando one last chance at tying things up, but Richardson missed a 30-foot three-point heave with time expiring. Another loss for the Magic and it’s becoming clear that this is a flawed team that has little chance of competing for the Eastern Conference title in their current form. Memphis was led by a balanced attack, six players scored in double-figures. However, the player of the game for the Grizzlies was Conley, who finished with 26 points and 11 assists — first time in his career that he’s been able to amass more than 20 points and 10 assists in the same game. Orlando was led by a balanced attack as well, with six players scoring in double-figures. Howard finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks but also had seven turnovers. Also, Brandon Bass left in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle.
Recap: Chicago Bulls 99, Orlando Magic 90
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
In a revealing game that may have put the nail on the coffin for a team considered by many as part of the elite in the NBA, the Chicago Bulls were able to defeat the Orlando Magic by the score of 99-90. The Bulls were led by a three-pronged attack, as Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, and Carlos Boozer took turns dominating the game and befuddling the Magic defense in the process. Rose was spectacular, finishing with 22 points, 12 assists, and six rebounds. It wasn’t the most efficient outing for Rose but he proved that he’s deserving of being the All-Star starting point guard for the Eastern Conference. Deng was a force, putting up 26 points, eight rebounds, and two steals — he gave Hedo Turkoglu fits defensively, too. Boozer contributed with 16 points, 16 rebounds, and four assists. As for Orlando, it was the Dwight Howard show. Howard played one of the best games in his illustrious career in the league, dominating to the tune of 40 points, 15 rebounds, four steals, and three blocks. Only in Game 6 of the 2009 NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers was Howard better. Howard was transcendent at the United Center, yet it didn’t matter because a lack of support from his teammates wasted his herculean performance. Cavaliers fans can relate to that last sentence, which is scary in the grand scheme of things when talks of Howard possibly leaving the Magic in 2012 grow louder by the day. Unfortunately for Orlando, their loss proved something that will — undoubtedly — discourage Magic fans.
Recap: Orlando Magic 111, Indiana Pacers 96
AP Photo/Michael Conroy
The Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Indiana Pacers by the score of 111-96, getting back in the win column after losing to the Detroit Pistons on Monday. The Magic were led by a balanced attack, as six players scored in double-figures. Dwight Howard led the way for Orlando with 19 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. Howard befuddled Roy Hibbert defensively, holding him to four points and two rebounds in roughly 15 minutes of action. With Howard able to shut down the Pacers’ lone threat in the low post, they had to rely on a perimeter attack that couldn’t muster enough offense to overcome Hibbert’s lack of production. Yes, Indiana was able to make a game of it at times throughout the evening, but the Magic’s firepower offensively was too overwhelming. In total, Orlando was able to make 16 three-pointers, two short of their season-high. Jason Richardson finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu had an efficient outing, putting up 18 points (on 7-of-10 shooting), seven rebounds, and four assists. Ryan Anderson contributed with 14 points. Jameer Nelson had 12 points, while J.J. Redick chipped in with 10 points. Lights out three-point shooting by Orlando was the difference in the game, when it all comes down to it.
Newfound efficiency for the Orlando Magic
Photo by Fernando Medina
Despite head coach Stan Van Gundy‘s justifiable grumbling about the Orlando Magic‘s defense, or lack thereof, there are many things that are impressive about the team since general manager Otis Smith made two blockbuster trades that — momentarily — shook the landscape of the NBA.
Like Hedo Turkgolu‘s rebirth with the Magic.
After languishing with the Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns as nothing more than a spot-up shooter, Turkoglu has been a player reborn with Orlando. No, Turkoglu’s numbers don’t look drastically different between his stops with the Raptors, Suns, and Magic but rest assured, he has been a different person since rejoining the franchise that made him a household name. Turkoglu has been able to recapture the chemistry he and Dwight Howard have in the pick and roll, while at the same time regaining Van Gundy’s trust in him during crunch-time. And even though Orlando ultimately lost the game, Turkoglu’s game-tying three-point shot against the New Orleans Hornets on January 12 proved that he’s still capable of coming through in the clutch when need be.
It’s like Turkoglu never left the Magic.
And how about Jason Richardson?
The two-time Slam Dunk champion has been a godsend for Orlando, as well.
Richardson has been noted as a player that performs when the lights are at their brightest — examples include his performance in the 2007 NBA Playoffs in the first round upset of the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks as a member of the Golden State Warriors and his tour de force in the postseason last year, aiding the Suns to a trip to the 2010 NBA Western Conference Finals.
There’s no question that Richardson has been unafraid, unlike his predecessor before him at the shooting guard position, to step up and hit big shots for the Magic. Whether it’s been against the Mavericks, Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, or Philadelphia 76ers, Richardson revealed he has ice in his veins when it comes to his three-point shooting prowess in crunch-time.
So far, Turkoglu and Richardson have provided some of the skills the Magic have been lacking when the season began. Gilbert Arenas is a work in progress, but there’s still time for him to get acclimated with Orlando and produce when the time comes.
However, there’s one reason that Smith dealt for Arenas, Richardson, and Turkoglu — to improve the Magic’s offense.
Recap: Detroit Pistons 103, Orlando Magic 96
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The Detroit Pistons were able to defeat the Orlando Magic by the score of 103-96 in a game that featured a somewhat-vintage performance from a former superstar that resided in the City Beautiful for four seasons. The Pistons were led by a balanced attack, as five players scored in double-figures. Tracy McGrady played surprisingly well, finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals — it’s been a while since Magic fans have seen a good performance from him. Tayshaun Price had 20 points and six assists. Rodney Stuckey and Ben Gordon each had 16 points, while Austin Daye was a bright spot off the bench for the Pistons, finishing with 20 points (5-of-9 shooting from the field), seven rebounds, and two blocks. It was a very efficient outing for Daye and he was one of the main reasons that Detroit was able to steal a win against Orlando on the road. Dwight Howard led the way for the Magic with 20 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocks. Ryan Anderson has been playing like a man possessed lately, putting up 21 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the perimeter along with five rebounds and three blocks. Jameer Nelson had 14 points, while Brandon Bass chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds. Unfortunately for Orlando, perimeter defense and turnovers were a big reason for the loss. Wasted possessions doomed the Magic’s comeback attempt.
