Magical payback
Ten days ago, the Thunder thrashed the Magic 102-74, at the Ford. Tonight in Orlando came retribution, swift, solid and sure: the Magic held a thirty-point lead after three quarters, but with lots of garbage time available, the Thunder reserves bedeviled the backup Magicians enough to make things look a lot closer than they were: 108-94 at the horn.
The absence of Jameer Nelson didn’t slow down the Magic any: both Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis posted double-doubles, and Howard did it in less than 18 minutes. Vince Carter led Orlando with 18 points. And they kept calling long-distance: the Magic put up 31 three-balls, connecting on 13 of them.
The Oklahoma City starters didn’t shoot particularly well; it took the reserves to bring the team up to 41 percent. The Big Three — Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook — managed only 12, 11 and 10 points respectively. The one hot hand from OKC was backup guard James Harden, who in 31 minutes scored 24 points, including six out of seven treys. Mostly-unseen Kyle Weaver and D. J. White got playing time; Weaver dropped in 11 points, White 8. The Thunder were outrebounded, but not by much: 47-42.
So the Thunder are back to .500. On second nights of back-to-backs, they’re 1-3. Fatigue factor? Maybe. There won’t be another until December 13/14 — but three more follow before the end of the month. The Wizards are next.
