In one fell swoop, Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis proved their worth and paid for their contracts... maybe not completely. Carter hit a go-ahead bucket with nearly a minute and a half remaining to complete an Orlando comeback and scored 25 points. It was Rashard Lewis though who followed with a driving layup after Carter missed with the game tied as the Magic won 100-98 in Milwaukee.
It was another uneven effort for the Magic and probably the third straight game where they played for only one half and nearly got away with it.
Orlando trailed by 18 points at one point at the raucos and college atmosphere that is (apparently) the Bradley Center. The Bucks were up 56-47 at the half. But much like Thursday's game at Atlanta, Orlando locked everything down in the second half to help earn the win.
It was not a 25-point half, but it was a solid half as the offense woke up from sleepwalking through the first 24 minutes to bring Orlando back by the beginning of the fourth quarter.
As with everything with this team, it all started with Dwight Howard.
Howard was very active offensively in the second half, finishing with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting. He did a good job reading the double teams (that actually rarely came) and passing out and re-posting. This is becoming Howard's favorite tactic as he often has deeper post position and can just turn and fire on the re-post.
Outside of that, he looked very comfortable in the post and making strong moves to get in scoring position. Again, it did not seem like Milwaukee was willing to double him afraid of Orlando's shooting -- which for the first half did not come through.
Howard was more than active defensively with 20 rebounds and four blocks -- many more changed. It was not surprising to see Milwaukee struggling to get inside the paint and rely on its 3-point shooting.
Brandon Jennings did not disappoint with his speed and playmaking ability. Jennings finished with 18 points and four assists. He got to the basket and made superstar shots. He has a very bright future and showed plenty of flashes tonight. But he is not quite ready to take over games in the way a Vince Carter or Allen Iverson can. He certainly pestered the Magic like Iverson used to do.
The concerning part is still Orlando's general lack of energy early in the games. It was evident even well into the third quarter that the Magic believed they could show up and win. That is how an 18-point deficit is created.
Look at Ersan Ilyasova's stat line.
Ilyasova had 20 points and 16 rebounds and outworked Orlando for much of the night until Howard woke up and re-established dominance in the second half. Even then, Ilyasova was all over the glass. Ilyasova is a good young player. But not a near 20-20 guy against Howard and the Magic.
That is a big sign that Orlando might lose a game here or there to teams simply willing to outwork them. Tonight was apparently not one of them as the Magic woke up in time to erase the deficit and win the game.
Stan Van Gundy was desperate for energy in the game and he even went to Brandon Bass for the first time since the November 18 game against Oklahoma City. Bass had eight points and four rebounds in 8:41. He provided some nice energy and the muscle Orlando needed to re-establish its dominance down low and its superiority on offense and defense.
As I told my cousin who was reminding me that the score was dangerously close to the score of the Miami game (99-98), single games do not mean much. Strings of games do. And this is three in a row where Orlando did not put in a full effort.
The season is 82 games long and is a marathon. Orlando is running that marathon and doing fine. It is not very concerning at this point in the season to see the uneven effort. I am sure it drives Stan Van Gundy crazy, but it would be nice to see the Magic come in and blow some of these lesser teams out and get Howard and the starters some rest (especially with a back-to-back tonight and a West Coast trip upcoming).
The team is still learning how to dominate. For now, we are happy to just scratch out and gut out wins.
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