Chopping Down the Beanstalk

Both the Orlando Magic and the Washington Wizards played the upset role this week beating two high caliber teams

By Kyle Basedow

Fee fi fo fum where is Andrew Bynum?

On Sunday night, all Lakers fans were begging that question. The Orlando Magic beat the Los Angeles Lakers 113-103 after an impressive performance from the Magic’s starting five.

The Lakers, on the other hand, were less than spectacular, especially on defense and at the free throw line. Dwight Howard shot 9-21 from the line while scoring 21 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.

Howard was acquired in the blockbuster trade this summer that involved four teams and sent former Lakers center Andrew Bynum to the Philadelphia 76ers where he has yet to play due to injury.

AP Photo/ Mark J. Terrill

The Magic, meanwhile, shined on offense with all five starters scoring in double digits. Arron Afflalo had 30 points with 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Jameer Nelson had 19 points and 13 assists, Glen “Big Baby” Davis scored 23 points with 12 rebounds, and Nikola Vucevic had 17 points with 4 blocks and 12 rebounds. The only Magic starter who had an average night was J.J. Reddick, who scored 14 points with 7 assists.

With both teams scoring close the same amount of points in the paint and on fast breaks, the game ultimately came down to who could shoot free throws better. The Magic shot an impressive 19-20 from the line as a team and the Lakers shot 25-39 with Dwight Howard accounting for all of the misses except for two.

It’s ironic that Howard’s former team beat his new team in their first matchup against each other since the trade. Adding to the irony is that Dwight Howard, who was trying to get out of Orlando as fast as possible, is quite possibly the main reason for the loss, due to his poor shooting and his less than stellar defensive play.

The Washington Wizards also knocked off a giant of their own on Tuesday night, beating the Miami Heat, one of the top ranked teams in the NBA, 105-101.

The Wizards triumphed despite having only one player score above 20 points. The Heat, on the other hand, had every member of the “Big Three” score more than 20 with LeBron James drop a triple-double with 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists.

The Heat dominated points in the paint 56-34 but fell short due to poor shooting. As a team, Miami shot 28.6% from three-point range and 68.8% from the free throw line.

The Wizards, on the other hand, shot 36.8% from three-point range and 75.9% from the free throw line.

The difference in shooting wasn’t much, but it was just enough to make a big difference. The Wizards led at the end of every quarter, despite only out scoring the Heat in the opening quarter.

The game was still close in the end, with the Heat within a basket from tying the game up, but poor shooting by Mike Miller and Ray Allen led to the game slipping away from them.

Still, with 0:06 left on the clock, the ball was in LeBron’s hands and he was able to get off an awful shot from the corner that never really had a chance at going in.

Two things that are interesting to note here: this was only the Wizards second win of the season and their second in three games after starting 0-12. The other is that when the game came down to it, LeBron James had the game in his hands as opposed to Dwyane Wade or even Ray Allen. Granted, Wade isn’t a great outside shooter, but Ray Allen is the one of the best in NBA history so it’s an interesting play call by Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.