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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | F | |
| MAGIC | 42 | 30 | 25 | 29 | - | 126 |
| WARRIORS | 33 | 31 | 36 | 18 | - | 118 |
Recap:
OAKLAND, Calif. (NBA.com exclusive) -- The Orlando Magic have Vince Carter.
The Golden State Warriors have Stephen Curry.
Guess which one wins out in a tight fourth quarter?
Yes, the veteran experience of Carter easily outclassed the youth of Curry, allowing the Magic to walk out of Oracle Arena with a hard-fought 126-118 victory on Saturday night.
When this game began, it appeared as if the Magic, tied with Boston for the best record in the Eastern Conference (16-4) , were going to rout the undersized and undermanned Warriors.
Dwight Howard overpowered everybody in the post. Rashard Lewis drained 3-pointers. Mickael Pietrus exacted some revenge against his former team, which didn't appreciate his contributions when he played for them, and the Magic built an early 15-point lead.
To their credit, the Warriors came roaring back, getting Howard in foul trouble and getting a career-high 28 points from Anthony Randolph.
Not only did they walk down the Magic, but they took a five-point lead midway through the fourth period.
That's when the difference between Carter and Curry became rather obvious.
Curry missed four consecutive shots, including two wide-open 3-pointers. He turned over the ball twice, once on a pass right to Carter, whom he clearly did not see, and the other when he got called for traveling after getting caught in midair.
Carter, meanwhile, scored 19 points in the second half, bulling his way to the free-throw line eight times in that stretch. He hit a clutch 3-pointer that started Orlando's comeback. He did everything he was supposed to do to get this four-game road trip started in the right fashion.
"We relax," Carter said. "We don't get rattled. We are able to go out and still play our game more than anything else. That is what we were able to do. OK, they made their run, the crowd was in it, but let's continue to play our game and not jack up shots. We were able to do that late."
Thursday night, the Golden State Warriors blew a 10-point lead in the final six minutes of the game and dropped a decision to the Houston Rockets.
This one may have hurt worse because they played so hard to get back in the game, only to once again come up short.
Now, they must head out on their second five-game road trip of the season with a double dose of bitter losses about which to ponder.
"It's tough," Curry said. "We would have liked to get this one to get our confidence going. We just have to play like we did up until the last four minutes of the game -- and then if the game goes down the stretch we can draw back on this experience and hopefully figure out how to finish games."
They will do so without coach Don Nelson, who still is recovering from pneumonia that he contracted on the team's last long road trip. Nelson coached both of the Warriors' last two losses, both home games, but will attempt to recover while the team travels in the East.
Keith Smart will take over for Nelson, as he did when Nelson missed five games previously with the illness. It is difficult to quantify the effect the coaching back-and-forth is having on the players, though few around the team say it is a positive because of the lack of continuity.
Given Golden State's lack of size and Nelson's penchant for playing small ball, this should have been a mammoth day for Howard, who had 12 points in the first quarter, in part because the Warriors went even smaller than usual to start the game.
Anthony Morrow went home to Charlotte to attend the funeral of a family member, and will rejoin the team in Oklahoma City Sunday for the beginning of its road trip.
Without Morrow, who had been starting at small forward, Nelson was forced to use a three-guard lineup of Monta Ellis, Curry and C.J. Watson., which allowed Howard to dominate early.
But Howard began drawing fouls, including several on the offensive end, when he ran over Randolph in the post, sending Howard to the bench in frustration. He ended with 17 points.
Randolph, meanwhile, had the best game of his career, the beneficiary of both hustle and chance. He had missed the previous two games with a sprained ankle and has been in Nelson's doghouse all season.
But Randolph totaled 28 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and a block -- and left one wondering if this will be the impetus for Nelson to give him more playing time.
"This was kind of what I envisioned from him when we drafted him," Nelson said.
Along with Ellis's 33 points, Randolph was a large reason the Warriors were able to make such a prominent push.
But they are young. They have not figured out how to win yet, while Carter, with 11 years in the league, has.
"That team is very dangerous and they can score at will," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said, "but they made a few mistakes that we were able to capitalize on."
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POSTGAME VIDEO:
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Preview:
STATS -- Coach Stan Van Gundy wants to get Dwight Howard, already one of the most-feared big men in the league, more involved in the Orlando Magic's offense.
This doesn't bode well for a Golden State Warriors team not known for its defense and missing two of its top post players.
Howard looks to lead the Magic to their 10th win in 11 games Saturday night when they visit the struggling Warriors.
With his incredible athletic ability and intimidating presence in the paint, Howard has been one of the NBA's top centers over the past few seasons. He is among the league leaders in field-goal shooting (65.2 percent), double-doubles (14) and rebounds (12.3 per game), and has helped lead the Magic to the top of the Southeast Division.
Despite Howard's strong start, Van Gundy feels he should be getting the ball more.
The three-time All-Star finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 118-104 win over New York, but took only seven shots from the field. It was the sixth time in nine games with nine or fewer attempts for Howard, whose season average of 9.4 field-goal attempts is three fewer than 2008-09.
"I'm trying to make more of a conscious effort to get him the ball," Van Gundy said. "I still think we can get better, but he's been more aggressive."
A game against Golden State might be the perfect time to get Howard more involved.
The Warriors (6-12) have allowed a league-worst 113.6 points per game, and with big men Andris Biedrins (groin, abdomen) and Ronny Turiaf (knee) out, coach Don Nelson has been forced to shuffle his lineups.
Journeyman Mikki Moore has started the last 13 games at center, and even 6-foot-6 Corey Maggette spent some time at that position in Thursday's 111-109 loss to Houston.
The Warriors were in position to beat the Rockets, but squandered a 10-point lead with 6:21 left in the fourth to lose for the seventh time in 10 games.
"We had the game and we let it slip through our hands," said forward Anthony Morrow, averaging 20.3 points over the last four games. "So we have to stick together and tough the next one out."
Howard had 11 points and 11 rebounds in his only game against Golden State last season, a 113-81 win Dec. 22. He's had more than 20 rebounds twice against the Warriors but has scored more than 20 points just twice in nine games against them.
The Magic swept both games with the Warriors last season as Rashard Lewis scored 21 points in each. The veteran forward has found his groove in Orlando's offense after being suspended for the first 10 games for testing positive for an elevated testosterone level.
Lewis had 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting and a season-best 11 rebounds Wednesday after scoring a season-high 26 points in Sunday's 114-102 win at New York. Orlando has won four in a row and is 8-1 with Lewis in the lineup.
"It lets you know that we have a deep team," he said. "We have a lot of guys that can help us win games. We have a deep bench."
The Magic have won six straight away from home and now open a four-game road trip at Golden State, where they've won the last three meetings. Orlando hasn't won seven consecutive road games since Nov. 3-19, 2007.
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Game Notes:
Dec. 5 @ Golden State: Orlando is 24-17 all-time vs. Golden State (14-6 at home, 10-11 on the road) during the regular season…The Magic won both meetings between the two teams last season...Orlando has won 13 of the last 19 meetings in the series overall…The Magic have won 13 of the last 16 meetings in Orlando and six of the last nine at Golden State…Adonal Foyle spent the first 10 seasons of his NBA career (641 games) with the Warriors, leaving as their all-time leader in blocked shots (1,140)…Mickael Pietrus spent the first five seasons of his pro career with Golden State, playing in 310 regular season games from 2003-08…Matt Barnes played with the Warriors for two seasons (2006-08)…GM Otis Smith played in 137 games with the Warriors, then was a member of the Golden State front office for four seasons…Assistant GM Dave Twardzik was the Warriors’ GM from 1995-97.
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. WARRIORS: 49 pts., Terry Catledge (@ Golden State, 1-13-90)
BEST ALL-TIME SCORING PERFORMANCE VS. MAGIC: 40 pts., Latrell Sprewell (@ Golden State, 12-16-94)
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