Gilbert Arenas and new-look Magic snap Spurs’ streak at 10
Gilbert Arenas (photo. Mannion)
So that’s what it looks like when you make shots? After struggling to find an offensive rhythm in the first two games since acquiring Gilbert Arenas and the rest of the new guys, Orlando shot 66 percent in the first half last night and looked every bit the championship team their talent indicates while running away from the Spurs in the second half. It was an epiphany night all around in Disney World … As the season moves on, the real question with the Magic will be how can they possibly please everyone? Hedo needs then ball. Arenas needs the ball. Jameer Nelson needs the ball. There are so many players on the roster who must be integral parts of the offense in order to be effective that it will be interesting to see how it all turns out. TNT’s David Aldridge even called the Magic an “AAU team.” But last night against the best team in the NBA, the Magic had it all working. The bench – mainly Arenas (14 points, 9 assists) and J.J. Redick - were knocking down shots and Dwight Howard (29 points, 14 rebounds) was abusing the Spurs inside … In fact, Orlando could’ve been going to Dwight more. It was unbelievable to watch, but Tim Duncan just really couldn’t handle him at all. The defense for Howard was still there; there was one stretch in the third quarter where he seemed to get to every shot, spiking down an offering from Gary Neal and catching a Chris Quinn floater on another possession. But it’s his offense that has him looking (finally) like an MVP. Howard was hitting hook shots over Duncan and sweeping shots in the lane over Tiago Splitter. It seemed like whenever Dwight wasn’t on the court, Orlando completely unraveled. No inside presence on either end led to a clinic by the Spurs and a bunch of long twos for the Magic. Duncan did his damage early, but it wasn’t enough as Orlando’s firepower just overwhelmed them … Despite all of that, San Antonio stayed close by taking quality shots every time down and getting a nice mix of Duncan inside and Manu Ginobili everywhere else. Howard had Duncan off balance for much of the first half, but because of foul trouble, Stan Van Gundy had to stick Brandon Bass on TD, then it was a time to kill … The Heat bounced back from its loss to Dallas, beating Phoenix last night by 12 while LeBron James (36 points) played one of his best games of the year and Dwyane Wade (knee) sat out … The Suns hung around for a while, but at some point in the second quarter, LeBron started taking the ball to the rim right down the lane and basically said “No one is touching us.” New Suns acquisition Mickael Pietrus had nothing to offer in terms of resistance, and guys like Grant Hill and Jared Dudley just physically can’t contain LeBron at this point … Chris Bosh dominated inside with 23 points and 11 boards. The Suns might be a little stronger in the paint with Marcin Gortat, but the bottom line is they’re still a team starting Channing Frye, a 6-11 guard, at power forward … In Thursday’s only other NBA game, Milwaukee beat Sacramento pretty easily, 84-79. Tyreke Evans continued to struggle, finishing with just 4 points and missing his first eight shots. On the other end, Earl Boykins scored nine of his 19 in the fourth quarter to seal the win for the Bucks … There were rumors surfacing yesterday that Kings coach Paul Westphal is losing his young team, and may be the next coaching domino to fall now that Larry Brown has officially kicked off the hot-seat season. Who do you think will be the next coach to get fired? … Maybe the best part of the TNT studio show was when Kenny Smith shouted out Dr. Dre and Interscope Records … We’re out like D-Wade …
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December 24th, 2010 at 5:53 am
knoc99 says:
great christmas present from my magic. lets hope they keep it going. Merry Christmas dime from New Zealand & Australia.
December 24th, 2010 at 7:05 am
K Dizzle says:
Maaaaaaaaaaan, D-Wade needs to get healthy by Christmas. If he can’t go, and the Lakers take the Heat to the woodshed(which they will anyways), there’s gonna be that built in excuse that they weren’t fully healthy. Haslem ain’t back yet anyways and Bynum just gettin in so this Christmas day game won’t be a real good measure of both teams at full strength….oh well, I’ll still take it lol
Nice win by the Magic. Basically, when any of the Lakers, Celts, Magic, Bulls, Spurs, Mavs, Heat, Thunder are clickin, opponents gonna catch a whoopin. Unfortunately for the pretenders, it’s still all about matchups…
December 24th, 2010 at 8:19 am
Josh Tha roc says:
Apprciate the okc love dizzle. But they there tho. Hope dwade about on boxing day for the Aussies.
December 24th, 2010 at 8:23 am
Chaos says:
if the magic can continue to play they way they have then u can almost guarantee some real battles in the east this year.
December 24th, 2010 at 8:48 am
follow thru says:
chalmers and arroyo stepping up solidly lately – i’m sure that’s what you should get from taking open shots all game
lebron still has that funny looking J but it’s hitting all net when he pulls up from 18 feet – still think he’s most unstoppable when he posts up then faces up defender
nash is fun to watch…16 assists before scoring a point…now that is a PG
December 24th, 2010 at 8:54 am
Stunnaboy2K11 says:
I’m liking the new look Magic a lot especially last night. Dwight is playing like a force on the offensive end, the hooks and drop steps and jumpers. Arenas and Turkey were hitting up their teammates for dimes and Bass was sticking jumpers. This Orlando could be dangerous. (P.S If LeBron hit up Hakeem, the Heat win a 3peat.)
D-Wade needs to come back to make this Heat game interesting, I still say LA win 95-87, you just can’t cope with size.
Merry Christmas Eve ya’ll
December 24th, 2010 at 9:10 am
Knicksfan84 says:
D-Wade conveniently gets hurt b4 a big game… clown.
December 24th, 2010 at 9:46 am
alf (from melmak) says:
No basketball talk from me this time.
I just want to greet everyone here at Dime, whom I consider friends, a blessed Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
December 24th, 2010 at 9:51 am
rangerjohn says:
i am kinda glad the spurs got that loss out of the way to the magic, time to start a new streak, this one including the lakers and the mavs!
December 24th, 2010 at 11:00 am
That's What's Up says:
Damn the Magic laid it down on the Spurs last night.
60% shooting, over 50% from three – it was brutal to watch.
I did find it odd that SVG had his starters in the entire 4th quarter of a 20 point game, versus Spurs bench the entire 4th. I think he really needed that win and would not chance screwing it up, even at the expense of high player minutes.
I’m also very glad there are no back-to-back games in the playoffs as the Spurs seem to lose that second game consistently.
December 24th, 2010 at 11:17 am
rangerjohn says:
thats whats up,
yeah he needed the win for sure, but their players didnt log a lot of minutes, bass logged the most with 34, and only 2 other players played more then 30. so far the spurs are 3-2 in B2B i think it is. the other loss, to clippers, was TERRIBLE, worse then the orlando loss by far.
December 24th, 2010 at 11:47 am
Ian says:
nice win by the magic
and where the hell are manu and nash on that bs poll.
December 24th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Bernard says:
Which play was better? I was watching NBA Action and the Mike Dunelevy play was number 1 over JR Smith play. What a joke. Who ever is in charge of this countown should be fired.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdmsNA6yhXY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDMn3TaMfq4
December 24th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
K-Dawg says:
Hate to say it, but PHX really lacked offense and the bench let them down! Usually those are the only things going for the Suns. Just wait though… When this team gels, they can be dangerous!
December 24th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
KCL says:
C’Mon Dime no love for Jared Dudley’s 30 and 10 last nite?? Dude was money and basically the only one with a pulse besides Nash. I can’t believe how much he’s improved himself since college I was laughing out loud when the Suns drafted him in the mid first round, way to shut my mouth
December 24th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
MiamiMaven says:
Good win by The Heat over the Suns, in a battle of natures forces!
I hope Dwade comes back against LA. Cause I’m sure both teams will wanna win that game on National TV. And we have no Idea how all the perimeter/pseudo inside talent of Miami will play against the legitimate inside power/pseudo perimeter game of LA?
San Antonio got smacked around good. I know it was a back to back. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they lost a few games rather quickly, cause they were winning a lot of close games lately they could of/should of lost. And now they get to play the tougher part of the schedule. Their due!
Who cares about Milwaukee and Sacremento!
December 24th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
Phileus says:
Hahaha. Any team with Kobe Bryant does not have a “pseudo perimeter game” :p You could start a pile of hay next to Kobe Bryant, and they would still be a top-10 NBA backcourt.
December 25th, 2010 at 4:52 am
QQ says:
As I said before, the trade was an experiment. I’m not gonna say here ‘CHAMPS, BITCHES!, I’ll leave that to Sporty J, but I LOVE this trade. Couldn’t wait to see how this all work out.
January 4th, 2011 at 9:23 pm
Issac Maez says:
Death knights are fun and i love the new Unholy builds