Or maybe you did because you’ve been closely following the slumping Orlando Magic, or perhaps you’ve thought the return of Gilbert Arenas this season hasn’t delivered on its promises anyway.
Either way, here’s what I’ve got after the 104-97 win earlier tonight (plenty of news in the game story):
Brendan Haywood’s defense on Dwight Howard was good, not great. After all, Howard did finish with 23 points and 11 rebounds. What was more remarkable than how effective Haywood was, was simply that he did it all by himself — and the Wizards stuck to the game plan and let him do it. That allowed them to focus on contesting three-pointers, and the Magic struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just 7 of 27 attempts. Wait a second, did I just describe the Wizards contesting shots and following a game plan? Must be the toxins released while my basement was floor had to be ripped up tonight following a sewer rehab project gone horribly wrong on my street. But I digress…
Here’s Flip Saunders on B-Wood: “Haywood had a great game. I was on him to wrap him (Dwight Howard) up and he gave him a couple three-point plays. I was screaming at him and he was screaming at me, but it’s good to keep a little fire going. We didn’t give him a lot of help down there in the post. We said they were going to shoot 28 threes, and they shot 27. They went 7 for 27 which was a big key. To play Dwight down there in the post and play him head up for most of the game, Haywood’s defense gave us the ability to take away their perimeter shooting.
It seemed like Haywood had more than four offensive rebounds (out of 15 total), probably because two of them ended up as second-chance points during the game-deciding run in the fourth quarter. In fact, the second was a putback of a Caron Butler miss that gave the Wizards the lead for good, 86-85. On the ensuing possession, Butler blocked Howard from behind, and the game might as well have been over.
Butler needed a strong fourth quarter – in which he had 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 blocked shot and 1 steal, because he was a contributor to the sloppy third that nearly cost Washington the game. Butler had two of the Wizards seven turnovers in that quarter, the same period in which Howard scored seven straight points to give the Magic their biggest lead of the game. (What Haywood defense?)
Mike Miller must’ve hit the floor at least a half-dozen times, mostly due to rust. But he still did what he does, making the effort plays and extra passes that get the Wizards going, and they responded.
“As I’ve said, I’ll be more effective on this team just being out there moving the ball,” said Miller. “There’s going to be nights like I’ve done this year where I have to score, and believe me, I hear the fans telling me to shoot more, whatever. But you know what, passing the ball, getting the ball poppin’ is something that gets the team going. It’s like a domino effect. Once it gets poppin’, you saw we got it going early, and now everyone wants to do it. That’s fun. That’s fun basketball. That’s how you’re supposed to play, and it’s fun to win.”
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