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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Rookie point guard Chucky Atkins bailed out one of his mentors and made the other one proud.
With starting point guard Darrell Armstrong, the Magic's leading scorer, struggling all game, Atkins came off the bench to score a
career-high 18 points as the Magic beat the Minnesota Timberwolves
103-93 Thursday night.
Atkins, who signed as a free agent with his hometown Magic in
September, has learned under the tutelage of Armstrong and
first-year coach Doc Rivers, himself a former point guard. On
Thursday, the lessons paid dividends.
"I couldn't be in a better situation," Atkins said. "Darrell
has been through everything I'm going through, and he and Doc have
talked to me a lot about just playing my game and pushing the ball
up the court."
The Magic forced the Timberwolves into an up-tempo game and were
able to capitalize on Minnesota's season-high 22 turnovers, scoring
27 points off them. And the tempo played to Orlando's superior
depth, as the Magic's bench scored 63 points to the Wolves' 34.
"Chucky was awesome," Orlando coach Doc Rivers said. "He changed the pace of the game, and he pulled everyone else along with him. Our guys realized if they were going to score, they were going to have to run with him."
That negated Armstrong's worst performance of the season.
Armstrong, averaging nearly 20 points a game, went 0-for-11 from
the field and had just two free throws in 25 minutes.
Chris Gatling led Orlando with 22 points off the bench.
The Wolves shot just 38 percent from the field against the
sixth-worst defensive team in the NBA and were uncharacteristically
careless with the ball. Coming into the game, Minnesota was
committing just 14 turnovers a game, second-best in the league.
"With 22 turnovers for 27 points, you're not going to beat too
many teams," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "We didn't play
good team basketball, and they had a lot to do with that."
Joe Smith led Minnesota with 18 points, but 11 came in the first
quarter. Minnesota was without starting forward Wally Szczerbiak, who reinjured his right knee in practice. He is expected to play
Saturday against Dallas.
Orlando led 55-50 at halftime, keyed by 33 points from its bench.
The Magic had a 23-16 run to end the half, then opened the third
quarter with a 10-1 run for a 65-51 lead.
The Wolves made just 6-of-21 shots in the third quarter, but
managed to whittle the lead down to 77-70 by the end of the period.
They got within 95-89 in the fourth quarter, but Gatling converted
consecutive baskets to push the lead back to double figures.
"They have a bunch of guys that just go out and compete,"
Smith said. "They just go out and compete. People didn't expect
them to be 8-8 right now."
Game notes
The Timberwolves lost for just the third time in nine
games at home. ... Armstrong has made 32 consecutive free throws,
the third-longest streak in the history of the franchise. ... Kevin
Garnett had his ninth double-double in 13 games. ... Orlando's
leading scorer has come from its bench in 11 of the first 16 games.
... The Magic has won six of their last seven games against the
Timberwolves.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Orlando Clubhouse
Minnesota Clubhouse
RECAPS
Atlanta 110
Sacramento 100
San Antonio 96
New Jersey 94
New York 84
Milwaukee 80
Orlando 103
Minnesota 93
Dallas 101
Chicago 95
Seattle 117
Golden State 108
Houston 109
LA Clippers 96
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