ORLANDO, Fla. - Orlando Magic coach Brian Hill thought his team had no
chance against the Bulls Wednesday night after watching Chicago rout the
defending champion Miami Heat to open the season.
"They just drove the ball everywhere they wanted to go," Hill said.
Hill was happy to be wrong.
Dwight Howard had 27 points and 11 rebounds and Jameer Nelson scored 21
points as the Magic surprised the Chicago Bulls 109-94 Wednesday night in
Orlando's season opener.
The Bulls beat the Heat by 42 points the night before, but couldn't find
their stroke Wednesday. Howard took control, grabbing lobs in the low post
on fronting defenders and running the baseline for backdoor dunks.
"Dwight's going to be one of those guys in this league that are going to
make it hard, make it tough for anyone who comes into this building to get
a
win," Bulls center Ben Wallace said of the third-year player.
Ben Gordon flashed a dazzling array of reverse layups, drives and fadeaway
jumpers on his way to 24 points that kept Chicago in the game - barely.
Kirk
Hinrich had 14 points and four assists and Luol Deng scored 12 for the
Bulls.
Grant Hill had 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting and Hedo Turkoglu had 11
points,
seven rebounds and six assists.
"This is obviously a real good way for us to start the season against what
I
think is an excellent basketball team," Brian Hill said.
Orlando trailed only once - by a point - in the game's opening minute.
They
won despite committing 23 turnovers to Chicago's 15, outshooting the Bulls
59 percent to 45 percent from the field.
Nelson keyed a 13-2 Magic run in the third quarter with a jumper, layup
and
3-pointer, scoring seven points on consecutive trips in 1:17. The spurt
gave
Orlando an 80-55 lead before Malik Allen turned in a three-point play with
4:31 left in the quarter.
The Magic used a 17-6 second-quarter run over four minutes to take a 63-45
lead at halftime. Six different players scored in the span, including an
alley-oop dunk and three-point play from Howard.
"Their length bothered us," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "They got in
some
passing lanes early. We weren't able to complete passes, so we just sort
of
dribbled around and shot the ball."
Hinrich drew a technical with 1:50 left in third quarter reacting to his
fifth foul. He picked it up defending Keyon Dooling's baseline drive less
than a minute after being whistled for his fourth. He played limited
minutes
in the final quarter but never fouled out.
Notes:@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Grant Hill opened the game with a short speech at center court.
"This season we expect to be exciting, we expect to be healthy, we expect
to
make the playoffs," he told the crowd. ... Bulls Rookie Tyrus Thomas was
not
with the team after breaking his nose going for a rebound in Tuesday's
opener against Miami. ... Before Wednesday the Magic had lost five
straight
to the Bulls at home, last winning in 2003. ... Orlando sold out its first
two home games for the first time in nine years. ... Magic rookie J.J.
Redick was inactive.
--
My only concern is should I hide my true identity? A costume maybe?
http://www.myspace.com/84384847
|
