Orlando was on fire. Despite the foul-filled performance and their high number of turnovers, the great defense played in the third quarter by the Magic was enough of for them to outplay the New York Knicks 116-110 last night at the Amway Center, in Orlando Florida.
This was a thrilling come-from-behind win for the Orlando Magic against a team that had just previously defeated the Miami Heat on the road. Because let’s face it, there was plenty of hype around the New York Knicks recently. The Knicks have just undergone a mayor revamp after a 15-player trade off that landed Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups from the Denver Nuggets. And even though the squad suffered a hiccup against the Cleveland Cavaliers, their impressive win over LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade in South Beach was enough to offer the Magic-Knicks game an aura of excitement.
And it deserved this aura as this was one heck of a game. The Knicks led 84-79 entering the fourth quarter before an 8-2 Magic run that really changed the outcome of the game. The run was finished beautifully with a basket by Quentin Richardson, who came from the bench and contributed with 10 points, which brought the Magic to 88-87 with 9:27 to play.
Orlando took a 90-88 lead on its next possession after Ryan Anderson, who scored 16 points in the game, completed a 3-pointer.
Chauncey Billups was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 7:31 left. He was smooth from the line and hit all three free throws to, for a moment there, put the New York Knicks back up 93-92. But it was not going to be enough. The Orlando Magic quickly responded with five points, including a 3-pointer by Jason Richardson, to regain a 97-93 edge with 6:48 remaining.
It was a good game for the Knicks but it was just not enough. It seemed as if at the end Orlando was just stronger and more athletic. New York had just eight turnovers, but shot just 37 percent for the game and 23 percent (7 for 23) from three-point range. And that was just not going to make the cut against a very strong Dwight Howard, who had 30 points, recorded 16 rebounds 2 assists and 5 blocks for the Orlando Magic. The Knicks were also outrebounded 45-38.
Billups had a great game for the Knicks. He had 30 points and 6 boards with 6 assists for the night. And you have to consider that he had to cut the game short as he left the game with 2:13 remaining with a left thigh bruise after a violent collision with Dwight Howard. We are still waiting on more details on whether he suffered any significant damage that might affect his performance on the following weeks.
On the personal note, Dwight Howard became the youngest player in NBA history to amass 7,000 rebounds during his career. He passed Wilt Chamberlain, who was 26 years and 128 days old. By the time Howard hit his 9th rebound in the third quarter he was 25 years and 83 days old.
With this defeat the New York Knicks now hold a 2-2 record since their blockbuster trade off with the Denver Nuggets. It’s still a bit early to make more bold statements in regards to the Knicks full potential. We just hope they can step up and work their way into the Playoffs and have some success at it.
