Jameer Nelson paces Orlando to an easy 113-81 win Monday
ORLANDO, Fla.
Jameer Nelson has elevated his play during the Orlando Magic’s five-game winning streak.
Nelson scored 22 points and had seven assists to help the Orlando Magic rout the Golden State Warriors 113-81 on Monday night.
Nelson, named NBA Player of the Week for the first time in his career earlier on Monday, was 9-for-9 from the field – including hitting four 3-pointers.
“I’m not stat-chasing, Player of the Week chasing or All-Star chasing, I’m just trying to help us win games,” Nelson said. “Honors like that, they’ll come to somebody on a team that’s winning, but we’ve got to keep winning.”
He had 13 points and four assists in the third period when the Magic blew open a close game with a 22-9 run on their way to their ninth win in 10 games.
“Jameer is carrying us right now,” said teammate Mickael Pietrus, who scored 14 points. “I’ve been telling him that he’s playing at an all-star level and if he keeps playing like this, he<
Rashard Lewis scored 21 points and Dwight Howard added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic, who held Golden State to just 31.9 percent shooting for the game.
Jamal Crawford led the Warriors with 18 points, but was 7-for-21 from the field. Anthony Morrow had 13 points and Marco Belinelli 12 for the Warriors, who lost for the sixth time in the last seven games.
“We got shots we’re used to making, but we pretty much struggled from the field the whole night,” Crawford said. “They are such a good 3-point shooting team and then you have Dwight (Howard) inside so you have to pick your poison.”
Orlando led by as many as 17 points in the first half, but saw that advantage dwindle to just 58-54 when Crawford hit a 3-pointer with 9:49 left in the third. The Magic lead was only seven when Lewis hit his third 3-pointer with 6:13 left in the quarter to start the 22-9 run to close out the period.
The Magic lead grew to as many as 35 points as the reserves took over in the fourth quarter.
Orlando got off to a hot start in winning their seventh straight game at home. Nelson’s driving layup gave Orlando a 25-10 lead with 3:11 left in the first period, but the Warriors scored the last six points of the period to cut the deficit to nine.
The Magic pushed the advantage back to 17 points when Lewis’ 3-pointer made it 48-31 with 3:38 left in the second, but Golden State responded again. Crawford started a 14-5 run with a 3-pointer and the Warriors had the deficit down to 53-45 by halftime.
Notes:
Nelson broke the Amway Arena record for most field goals in a game without a miss. … The Magic made a season-high 16 3-pointers in the game. … The Magic are 15-1 this season when scoring 100 points or more. … The 81 points ties the second-lowest output this season by Golden State. The lowest was 79 at Memphis in the fourth game of the season.
