Orlando had a lot of reason to fold and head home after a long West Coast road trip when the team trucked in to Golden State. But the Magic did not give up the opportunity to take out one of the Western Conference's weaker teams -- even without superstar Dwight Howard.
Jameer Nelson tied a career high with 32 points, sparking a third quarter run that put the game out of reach as Orlando finished its road trip 4-1 with a 109-98 win at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on Monday.
The Magic survived a sloppy first half -- dominated by turnovers, missed jumpers and thunderous Marcin Gortat plays -- but pulled through in the second half with some hot shooting and stifling defense. They never let the Warriors get comfortable in the game or set the pace throughout.
Golden State shot just 41.8 percent from the floor. Orlando, on the other hand, hit 48 percent of its shots including 10 of 20 3-point attempts.
It was a dominating performance from the Magic all around. Rashard Lewis scored 21 points, Hedo Turkoglu added 12 and Courtney Lee added 16 off the bench. Gortat also had 16 and added 13 rebounds and three blocks. It was his second double double in 16 career games.
The Magic should hold their heads high heading into a difficult week at home. Four wins on this five-game road trip -- two without Howard -- shows this team has a lot of the character traits that winners have and some of the traits they had last year.
Orlando simply did what it had to do to get the win against a far inferior opponent. Now the real test comes with San Antonio on Thursday.
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