The Orlando Magic defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in overtime 113-103 Wednesday night.
Nikola Vucevic was happy to finally win a close game, but says the Magic have never lost confidence:
“Even though we’ve lost a lot of close games the whole year, this was great for us and our team still has confidence,’’ said Vucevic, who now has a 30/20 game to go with his three 20/20 games this season. “We just kept fighting.’’
The Magic’s clutch play late also ruined the return of Redick, a fan favorite in Orlando for 6 ½ seasons before he was shipped to Milwaukee. Redick finished with 16 points in 42 minutes for the Bucks (37-41). Redick struggled shooting the ball most of the night making just six of 16 shots and only one of seven 3-pointers.
Tobias Harris told Josh Robbins it was “about time” the Magic closed out a game:
Tobias Harris, Doron Lamb and Beno Udrih tormented their old team by leading the Magic to a 113-103 overtime win over the Bucks in J.J. Redick’s first game in Orlando since the teams’ Feb. 21 blockbuster trade.
“It’s about time that we closed out a game,” Harris said. “We’ve been so close. When we got down, I was just thinking, ‘Man, this is déjà vu again.’ But we just fought hard as a team.”
At the end of Wednesday’s game, Tobias Harris threw down a huge jam rather than simply running out the clock. After the game, Harris apologized. Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel said there was no need for Harris to apologize:
The Magic need some fire and toughness. They need to play with an edge. They’ve been too soft for too long, even in the Dwight days.
They’ve lost 59 games and some have been humiliating this season.
If Harris wanted to show fans that he, too, was a key piece in the trade package that sent J.J. Redick – the night’s guest of honor – to Orlando, he wasn’t admitting it. Nor that he was trying to prove a point to the Bucks, who buried him on the bench in his second season.
Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic teamed up on a historic night.
I bet Magic fans never thought they could be so excited to obtain their 20th victory just one week away from the season concluding. That’s what happens when you have sophomores Tobias Harris and Nikola Vucevic going berserk on a pointless game in April. ‘T12’ tallied a career-high tying 30 points and new best 19 rebounds. ‘Vooch’ set a career-best 30 points and snagged 20 rebounds to go with 5 assists. No Magic player in history (including Shaq and Dwight) has ever done that. Crazier fact? The last time two teammates each contributed 30 points and 19 rebounds in a single game was on March 15, 1967 when Walt Bellamy and Willis Reed did it for the Knicks at the Baltimore Bullets. Amazing. This happened when Milwaukee’s John Henson posted 17 points, 25 rebounds, and 7 blocks which is a stat line not seen since Shaq did it in 2004.
Oh yeah, and the Magic won 113-103 in overtime on an evening that included Doron Lamb drilling 4-of-6 from downtown and doubling his previous career-high which now sits at 16 points. Lamb finally showed some of that Kentucky sharpshooter form. We can’t neglect Beno Udrih’s 13 points and 11 assists either as the three former Bucks players really earned any ‘revenge’ they may have been seeking. The controversial Tobias Harris basket at the end with the result already decided was the cherry on top for Magic fans, and a cause for anger from the Bucks roster and Mike Dunleavy’s swinging elbow. All appears to be well after ‘T12’ apologized. Orlando is now 1-3 this time in overtime guys. It was a contest that had a total of 210 field goal attempts and one that saw Orlando put up a season-high of 68 points in the paint.
Coach Vaughn on Tobias’ game-tying 3-pointer in regulation: “We had a middle pick-and-roll with 2 options off of it and he ended up getting the ball. They had fouled before and they were trying to foul again it seems like it. Marquis reached in and Tobias followed through on his shot…”
After another close loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Orlando Magic will return to the court Wednesday night when they welcome J.J. Redick and the Milwaukee Bucks to Orlando. The Bucks played in Miami Tuesday night, falling to the Heat 94-83.
Orlando enters with a record of 19-59 while Milwaukee is 37-40, eighth in the Eastern Conference.
These teams met back on February 3 in Milwaukee. Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings combined for 41 points to hold off a late Magic rally en route to a 107-98 victory. Nikola Vucevic had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic. Then Magic and now Bucks guard J.J. Redick had 15 points and eight assists. On March 17, Monta Ellis scored 25 fourth quarter points to help the Bucks rally to a 115-109 victory.
The Magic rank 27th in offensive rating (99.1), 25th in defensive rating (106.5) and play at the league’s 14th-fastest pace (94.44). The Bucks are 20th in offensive rating (101.1), 12th in defensive rating (102.3) and play at the league’s third-fastest pace (97.23).
Tip-off from the Amway Center is scheduled for 7:00 pm EST and will be shown locally on FS Florida.
As always, if you can’t watch the game, you can listen on the radio – in English on AM 580 WDBO and FM 96.5 and in Spanish on AM 1270 WRLZ.
The officials for tonight’s game are Marc Davis, Kevin Fehr and Mark Lindsay.
The Line: Milwaukee – 4.5 (200u)
Starters:
Milwaukee Bucks
Larry Sanders
Luc Mbah a Moute
Marquis Daniels
Monta Ellis
Brandon Jennings
Orlando Magic
Nikola Vucevic
Tobias Harris
Maurice Harkless
E’Twaun Moore
Beno Udrih
- Jameer Nelson (ankle) is unlikely to play.
Jameer Nelson didn’t participate in #Magic shootaround this morning and almost certainly won’t play tonight.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) April 10, 2013
Bucks Resources:
Behind The Buck Pass
Brew Hoop
Bucksketball
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
You can follow Andrew on twitter here.
ESPN’s Chad Ford released his first mock draft. Ford has the Magic selecting Oklahoma State guard Marcus Smart with the second overall pick:
The Orlando Magic have promising young players at the 3, 4 and 5. While they could certainly upgrade there (and might if Noel is available), I expect them to take a backcourt player at No. 2. Jameer Nelson is 31 and starting to slow down. Adding a dominant player like Smart would upgrade the position immensely. While Smart has his weaknesses (his jump shot is shaky and he needs to tighten up his handle), he’s strong, has a great motor and toughness, is a beast defensively and brings the leadership a young rudderless team like the Magic desperately needs.
Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post touched on Smart here.
Fellow analyst Amin Elhassan say Michigan point guard Trey Burke is a fit for the Magic:
As we near completion of Year 1 of Orlando’s rebuild, the Magic have done a good job of collecting young talent of varying levels of potential. Nikola Vucevic was an absolute steal as an elite rebounder in the Dwight Howard-Andrew Bynum deal; Maurice Harkless has come on strong over the past 10 games, showing a tantalizing mix of athleticism and versatility; and Tobias Harris has taken full advantage of the playing time afforded to him since being acquired from Milwaukee. The Magic have established a culture of character, hard work and effort (necessary in a rebuild), but lack a motor for their offense, which struggles to shoot efficiently (49 percent team eFG%) and doesn’t get easy scoring opportunities (23rd in corner 3-point attempts and 29th in FTA rate).
J.J. Redick isn’t the only one facing his old team Wednesday night. Watch former Bucks forward Tobias Harris talk about facing his old team here.
Spencer Lund discusses why the Magic have to let Hedo Turkoglu go:
The problem with Hedo staying is the osmosis of apathy. This occurs when younger players are surrounded by less-than stellar examples for the way to behave in the NBA. Think of the anti-Kevin Garnett or simply an older Michael Beasley. The Magic are the sixth-youngest team in the league this year, and they’re likely to get even younger when they trim the fat on the roster and acquire talent the Sam Presti way: in the draft.
Jameer Nelson has missed Orlando’s last five games after he sprained his right ankle on March 29.
Vaughn was asked Sunday if Nelson will play again this season.
“I don’t have a timetable,” Vaughn said. “I really go to [Magic athletic trainer] Keon [Weise] every day and see what the prognosis is. … Jameer still is day-to-day for us.
Tobias Harris is learning through his shooting slump:
“It was definitely tough,” Harris recalled. “Those four games, especially against Chicago, I thought I had a lot of shots that I normally make. Nine times out of 10, those are shots that usually go in. [Saturday] was tough on me just because I wanted to play so bad just to get out there and get better and redeem myself.”
Harris eventually ended his slump — just not on the day he wanted. On Sunday, he made 11 of 19 shots, scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Magic lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 91-85.
Following another close loss, this time to the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday, Orlando Magic head coach Jacque Vaughn made some interesting comments to OrlandoMagic.com’s John Denton:
“You just have to be more selfish and want more than a four- or six-point lead going into that fourth quarter,’’ Magic coach Jacque Vaughn lamented. “We had good defensive possessions throughout the night and then we were good to the end (of the shot clock) and we would bail them out with a bad foul or something of that nature. But we have to continue to get better and want more.’’
Maurice Harkless returned to the starting lineup after injuring his knee:
Coach Jacque Vaughn has been pleased with how his players have responded mentally to fatigue.
“It’s been a great challenge for these guys, and I’ve been impressed with how they’ve answered,” Vaughn said.
Forbes listed Arron Afflalo as one of the league’s most overpaid players:
Shoots 30% on three-pointers and 44% overall, not enough for a scorer who averages three assists a game.
E’Twaun Moore had a REALLY bad road trip.
The Magic entered Cleveland on a 10-game road losing streak, for anyone who cared to know that tidbit. Make it eleven now. Orlando was outplaying and out-hustling Cleveland in every facet of the matchup…except for 3-pointers. 1-for-13 from deep for Orlando, and 7-of-17 for Cleveland. Magic lose 91-85 as a result of open Cleveland jumpers. Nik Vucevic’s third career 20-point and 20-rebound contest, just like his other two against the Miami Heat, was wasted Sunday evening. 21 points, 21 rebounds, and a career-tying 6 assists for ‘Vucci Mane’. Also wasted in yet another disappointing defeat, a stellar 26-point and 12-rebound performance from Tobias Harris.
Jacque Vaughn’s men appeared fantastic to open the contest before Cleveland started drilling open 3-pointers. A common theme. Tobias Harris, who was shooting 29.6 FG% in the previous 4 games, was determined to get out of his mini-slump. Mission accomplished Eight points out of the gate helps. So does Vucevic posting 8 points and 8 rebounds as Orlando held a 24-22 advantage after the initial twelve minutes.
Nikola Vucevic’s 42nd double-double of the season was already obtained at the midway mark of the second quarter. Orlando led 48-44 at the break mostly by holding the Cavs to just 36.2 FG%. The Magic did a wonderful job of attacking the paint and connecting with cutting teammates slipping behind Cleveland’s defense. Orlando entered the final period up 4 in what was a very competitive contest.
Kyle O’Quinn had to wait a half hour to receive 6 stitches to his lip because CJ Miles was receiving stitches across his head from a Vucevic elbow. That seems surreal to me. Once Kyle came in early in the fourth though, his 2 blocks in two seconds proved he was feeling okay. It’s too bad Cleveland went on a 10-0 run with Kyrie Irving on the bench to take a 74-70 advantage at the 7-minute mark of the fourth. You can imagine that there was no way Orlando would pull out with a victory once Irving checked back in. E’Twaun Moore was beyond abhorrent on this trip. A horrendous 0-for-7 against Cleveland and 4-of-34 (11.8 FG%) on this winless 5-game road trek. No coherent reason (other than to tank) to have Moore out on the court late. Orlando heads home as Magic fans can prepare for the JJ Redick reunion on Wednesday.
Adam Papageorgiou runs Orlando Magic Greek and is a proud MBO contributor.
After a heartbreaking one-point loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Orlando Magic will be back in action when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers Sunday evening.
The Magic are now 19-58, second worst in the NBA. The Cavaliers snapped a 10-game losing streak by defeating the Boston Celtics Friday. Their record is now 23-52.
These two teams have met three times this season. The Magic took the first meeting in Orlando back in November 108-104 behind 22 points from Jameer Nelson. The Cavs got some revenge with a 119-108 victory in Cleveland on February 8. Kyrie Irving had 24 points to lead the Cavs. In the third matchup, on February 23 in Orlando, the Cavaliers blew out the Magic 118-94. The Cavaliers had seven players in double figures.
The Magic rank 27th in offensive rating (99.2), 25th in defensive rating (106.6) and play at the league’s 14th-fastest-pace (94.43). The Cavs are 21st in offensive rating (100.9), 27th in defensive rating (106.0) and play at the 11th-fastest pace (95.12).
Tip-off from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio is scheduled for 6:00 pm EST and will be shown locally on FS Florida.
As always, if you can’t watch the game, you can listen on the radio – in English on AM 580 WDBO and FM 96.5 and in Spanish on AM 1270 WRLZ.
The officials for tonight’s game are Joe Crawford, Sean Corbin and Leroy Richardson.
The Line: Cleveland – 6.0 (204u)
Starters:
Cleveland Cavaliers
Tyler Zeller
Tristan Thompson
Alonzo Gee
Wayne Ellington
Kyrie Irving
Orlando Magic
Nikola Vucevic
Andrew Nicholson
Tobias Harris
Maurice Harkless
Beno Udrih
- Jacque Vaughn decided to go big the other day, starting Nicholson and sliding Harris from power forward to small forward and Harkless from small forward to shooting guard. It will be interesting to see if Vaughn tries it again.
- Jameer Nelson will miss his fifth straight game (ankle).
- Harkless is a game-time decision (knee).
- Dion Waiters, the fourth overall pick of the draft, is averaging 14.7 points per game. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, he is still out with a left knee injury.
- Luke Walton left Friday’s game with an ankle injury while Anderson Varejao is out for the season.
Cavaliers Resources:
Cavs: The Blog
Cavaliers Blog
Cleveland Plain-Dealer
Fear the Sword
Right Down Euclid
Stepien Rules
Follow Andrew on twitter here.
Although the Orlando Magic fell to the Chicago Bulls Friday night, they are taking away some positives, writes John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com:
“We played really with a good pace, we had good spacing and the bigs were setting good screens,’’ Udrih said. “I was coming out of the pick-and-roll and I was wide open and able to knock down some shots. Nik made a couple of good passes out of the post and I was just trying to be aggressive and make the right plays.
Despite leading all Eastern Conference rookies in scoring during the month of March, Maurice Harkless lost out to Toronto’s Jonas Valanciunas for the Rookie of the Month award. Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post broke it down:
In March, Harkless led all Eastern rookies in per-game scoring (13.1) and in steals (2.2) while ranking fourth in rebounding (5.6) and third in shot-blocking (0.9). He scored 18-plus points four times in 16 March games after reaching that mark just thrice in his first 52 games.
But Valanciunas was impressive in his own right; the fifth overall pick in the 2011 draft led all East rookies in per-game rebounding (7.3), in shot-blocking (1.1), and in field-goal shooting (62 percent) while ranking fourth in scoring (11.4).
Trailing by just one point with under a minute to play, the youthful Orlando Magic replayed a familiar script that has been seen throughout the season. With the score 87-86 Chicago, the Magic had multiple chances to take a late lead, including the final possession of the game. Chance #1: Nik Vucevic turnover with 46 seconds remaining. Chance #2: Beno Udrih turnover with 10 seconds left. Final Result: another close loss without the execution of a final play.
It was an injury ravaged game from the get-go. Chicago has still yet to see Derrick Rose return, but were also without Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Rip Hamilton. Orlando was once again without Jameer Nelson (ankle) and just eight minutes into the game, lost stud rookie Maurice Harkless for the remainder of the night due to a sore left ankle. Harkless’ injury is not thought to be serious and was held out in the second half as a precaution.
The remaining eight for the Magic played with their typical up and down focus. One second filling you with promises of hope and the next reminding you that they are just a half game from the worst record in the league for a reason.
The ups were fun though. Beno Udrih went into full on ‘Melo mode in the 3rd quarter scoring 17 points before finishing with 27 points. Unfortunately that would be the end of his scoring onslaught. Nate Robinson took over the Beno fire in the 4th quarter for Chicago, scoring 12 in the final period and finish with 19. Luol Deng also had 19 for the Bulls. read more…
It was a different game but the same story for the Orlando Magic Wednesday night. The Magic fell behind early, rallied, but came up short, falling to the San Antonio Spurs 98-84. The Magic will get back to work Friday night when they take on the Chicago Bulls.
The Magic are 19-57 and trail the Charlotte Bobcats by just a half-game for the worst record in the league. After a victory over the Brooklyn Nets Thursday night, the Bulls are now 41-33, sixth in the Eastern Conference.
These two teams have met twice this year and played two very close, competitive games. On November 6 in Chicago, the Bulls rallied to defeat the Magic 99-93. Luol Deng led the Bulls with 23 points. On January 2, Carlos Boozer scored a season-high 31 points to hold off a later Magic rally, giving the Bulls a 96-94 victory. Jameer Nelson, who missed the first matchup, led all scorers with 32 points.
The Magic rank 27th in offensive rating (99.3), 26th in defensive rating (106.8) and play at the league’s 14th-fastest pace (94.48). The Bulls are 25th in offensive rating (100.1), fifth in defensive rating (100.0) and play at the league’s fourth-slowest pace (91.99).
Tip-off from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois is scheduled for 8:00 pm EST and will be shown locally on FS Florida.
As always, if you can’t watch the game, you can listen on the radio – in English on AM 580 WDBO and FM 96.5 and in Spanish on AM 1270 WRLZ.
The officials for tonight’s game are Tom Washington, Jason Phillips and Eli Roe.
The Line: Chicago – 8.5 (190.5u)
Starters:
Chicago Bulls
Nazr Mohammed
Carlos Boozer
Luol Deng
Jimmy Butler
Kirk Hinrich
Orlando Magic
Nikola Vucevic
Andrew Nicholson
Tobias Harris
Maurice Harkless
Beno Udrih
- Joakim Noah remains out with a foot injury.
- Jameer Nelson is out again with an ankle injury.
Bulls Resources:
Blog-A-Bull
Bulls By The Horns
Bulls.com Blog
Chicago Bulls Confidential
Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Tribune
Da Bulls Eye
ESPN Chicago
Pippen Ain’t Easy
Follow Andrew on twitter here.
Tobias Harris is trying to prove he can consistently defend NBA big men, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel:
Harris knows that opposing teams will continue to challenge him defensively whenever he matches up against bigger players.
“You’ve got to definitely use your quickness,” Harris said. “You’ve just got to find ways to push them out of their position.”
According to John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com, Andrew Nicholson envisions a lot of future success with the Magic:
The 6-foot-9, 250-pound power forward sees all of this and knows that brighter days are ahead for the currently-under-construction Magic.
“If we stay together and continue to work hard I think the sky is the limit for this group,’’ Nicholson said. “We have a lot of good pieces and we all seem to fit together well. So I think we have a bright future.’’
