The new-look Orlando Magic made their debut the same way most NBA teams do... with a sloppy, poorly played exhibition. The Mavericks and Magic certainly showed some positive signs Monday night at American Airlines Center, but it might be hard to spot them with the usual choppy play that came with the first preseason game.
But in the end, despite holding the lead for most of the game, Orlando erased a nine-point fourth quarter deficit behind a big and-one conversion from newly acquired Brandon Bass to complete the turnaround and a three-pointer by newly acquired Matt Barnes to seal a 110-105 preseason win.
Both teams were definitely fighting the early October yips that come with the first preseason game. The teams were whistled for a combined 64 fouls -- 35 from Dallas -- and committed a combined 25 turnovers. The turnovers were surprisingly low, but the sloppy defense left Stan Van Gundy more amused than upset it seemed. So goes the first preseason game.
But outside of the settling down, there certainly were some encouraging signs throughout tonight's contest.
Jameer Nelson looked pretty comfortable running the point, despite picking up two quick fouls. He hit on three of his six three-point attempts and finished with 10 points. Dwight Howard too looked pretty comfortable dealing with the Mavericks' double teams. Howard finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out in the third quarter.
Their developments will surely continue throughout the preseason.
What was most interesting was the performance of Rashard Lewis. Lewis looked to be in good form as he scored 18 on 7-of-15 shooting. He was agressive when he needed to be and he hit his 3-point looks. Not only that, he was pretty solid defensively in harassing Dirk Nowitzki for most of the night.
The disappointment might have come from Vince Carter. Carter relegated himself to shooting 3-pointers for most of the night until taking over to a certain extent in the third with the team fighting for the lead and Howard out of the game after fouling out.
Carter finished with a team-high 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting and three of 12 beyond the arc. I would like to see Vince attack the basket more rather than settling for threes, but it looks like he is settling into the offense -- as is everybody else.
I will say that the few pick and rolls they ran with Carter, it did look quite deadly. Vince will do more than fill in for Hedo Turkoglu.
Everything tonight was running well in spurts. There were times in the game where the offense and defense looked pretty solid and there were times when teh offense was stagnant and the defense was over pursuing or not in the right position. First preseason game, so plenty to correct.
I will close in saying that Brandon Bass is going to be a very nice addition for the Magic. Whether he can play with Howard is another question, but he will do a lot of things very well for Orlando. The dude is, as advertised, a tough defender and a mean rebounder on both sides. He can also score and showed some range tonight. Bass' final stat line: 13 points, six rebounds.
Like with all things after the first preseason game, there is plenty of area for improvement. The defense needs to be sharpened and the offense is still getting used to having a second guy in the post. But that's what these games are for.
Stan Van Gundy was definitely pushing for the win tonight, and his team (read: bench players) showed some resiliency and fought hard for the W. I will take that as a very good sign.
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