Magic 106, Pacers 98

Sorry Jim O’Brien, but lets try a different gameplan than fouling Dwight Howard every time he touched the ball. This game was ugly, as both sides nearly came to blows on a hard foul by Troy Murphy in the fourth quarter.

However, Dwight stepped up. He grabbed 23 rebounds and still managed to score 21 points in the win for the Magic. Due to the concentration on Howard down low, it left lots of open looks for Vince Carter (28 points) and J.J. Redick (13 points, three 3PM), especially down the stretch. Howard did struggle from the foul line, only converting 13/22 free throws.

Pacer centers Roy Hibbert and Jeff Foster were in foul trouble all night, and both finished with 5 fouls a piece in 15 minutes of action. Even Solomon Jones saw 8 minutes of action tonight and picked up 2 fouls himself. The Pacers totaled 12 fouls by their three centers for the game, which in my opinion was far too many. Mike Dunleavy led the Pacers with 26 points.

Regardless, I hope people aren’t running with Jim O’Brien’s idea to just foul Howard hard in the paint. It exposed the perimeter for the Magic, which they took full advantage of. Coaches need to realize the Magic have a multi-faceted approach to scoring. Feel the warmth, Jim. The seat is getting hot.

Nuggets 102, Thunder 93

This game was Melo & Co. versus Durant Incorporated.

Anthony and Durant scored 31 and 32 points respectively, but it was the Nuggets who managed to hold off the 4th quarter comeback attempt.  This was due to the Nuggets being very solid from the charity stripe.

Carmelo Anthony continues to dominate this season – yet another 30 point performance for the small forward. Durant, however, had the better individual performance, scoring 32 points and 10 rebounds in 39 minutes of action. But, what people are starting to realize is that Oklahoma’s supporting cast around Durant has to show up every night. While Durant is a very, very talented individual, he needs the play of Jeff Green (8 pts) and Russell Westbrook (14 points, 5-15 shooting) to at least complement him. James Harden also had some bright moments off the bench, and Nick Collision performed well in the loss (14 points in 27 minutes).

For the Nuggets, it was  a nice home victory despite only playing 8 on the roster. Chris Andersen got some big-time minutes to assist Nene, who got into foul trouble early and eventually fouled out. Andersen scored 15 points and shot 9-10 from the foul line. Billups (1-6), Affalo (1-7) and Kenyon Martin (3-12) had off nights tonight, but Carmelo was able to carry the team to victory.

-Duts