The Magic started the game off with a bang as Dwight Howard got a dunk on Orlando’s opening possession. After a Howard hit another basket, Matt Barnes scored Orlando’s next 10 points. He and Howard combined to score Orlando’s first 22 points before a Jameer Nelson 3-pointer gave Orlando a 9-point lead. Nelson was very active in the quarter and had 6 assists to go with his 3 points highlighted by a lob that Howard caught off balance and still managed to throw down. The Magic ended the quarter on a 10-2 run and took a 32-18 lead into the second quarter. Orlando shot 12-of-21 from the field and had an effective field goal percentage of 66.7%. New Jersey was just 7-of-22 from the field. Matt Barnes led all scorers with 14 points while Howard added 8 points and 6 rebounds. Brook Lopez had 6 points and 5 rebounds to lead the Nets.
After taking a 14-point lead in the first quarter, it looked like the Magic could run away with the game but that was not the case. Brandon Bass scored the first 5 Magic points of the quarter but the Nets battled back and cut Orlando’s lead to 37-30 when former Magic Guard Keyon Dooling hit a 3-pointer. The two teams played even after that and Orlando took a 7-point lead into the half. Orlando shot just 7-of-21 in the second period and was just 2-of-9 from beyond the arc. The Nets shot 9-of-21 in the quarter. Jason Williams scored 8 points off of the bench in the period and New Jersey’s bench accounted for 19 of their 25 points in the quarter. Orlando scored just 18 points in quarter.
After a fairly poor second quarter, the Magic turned up the defensive intensity in the third. They held the Nets to just 14 points on just 3-of-15 shooting. The Nets were able to get the free throw line and knock down 9. The Magic scored the first 7 points of the quarter after 3-pointers from Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter and a free throw by Matt Barnes. Carter knocked down two more 3-pointers, including one that was listed as a “31-foot” 3-point shot, but had one disallowed after review because the shot clock expired. The Nets cut the lead back to 8 at 61-53 but Jameer Nelson scored 5 points to push the lead back to 13. Orlando ended the quarter with a 72-57 advantage. The Magic shot just 7-of-17 in the quarter but went for 4-of-7 from downtown.
The Magic got 2 early fourth quarter jumpers from Rashard Lewis but the Nets were able to cut the lead back to 10. Orlando answered with a beautiful drive and vintage jam from Vince Carter followed by a Jason William 3-pointer that put the Magic back up 81-66. Orlando led 88-71 but the Nets came back with a 10-0 run. Mickael Pietrus countered with a 3-pointer to put the Magic back up 12. The Nets made the score look more respectable by making 8 consecutive shots before Devin Harris missed a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left. Orlando won 97-87.
The Magic had 6 players in double figures. Matt Barnes led the way with 16, Dwight Howard has 11 points and 16 rebounds and Jameer Nelson added 15 points and 8 assists. Brook Lopez had 18 points and 8 rebounds while Devin Harris had 17 points and 10 assists to lead the Nets.
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Twitter to follow him daily and you can get the HTD app here).
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