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Turkoglu hot from deep as Magic rout Grizzlies

Jan 24, 2008 - 5:26 AM By Shawn Pachucki PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Normally, a run-in with Dwight Howard means a long and grueling night in the paint for the Memphis Grizzlies. But in this one, Hedo Turkoglu and the Orlando Magic caught fire from the perimeter.

Turkoglu scored 26 points, including six 3-pointers, as the Magic instead used the long ball to bury the Grizzlies, 112-85, on Wednesday night.

"It's kind of taking a risk for (the Magic) just relying on my jumper," Turkoglu said. "It was good for us that I knocked them down. It was good that we all made our shots and won the game."

Rashard Lewis added 16 points for the Magic, who dodged their fourth straight loss away from home by nailing a franchise-record 18 shots from the arc.

Howard had been averaging nearly 29.0 points and 18.0 rebounds in his last three games against Memphis. He finished with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 10 rebounds in this one.

But Orlando shrugged off the less-than-stellar night from the All-Star, using a solid 54.5 percent (41-of-75) shooting clip from the field to distance itself.

"Our defense was really tough tonight and that helped get our offense going well right from the start," Turkoglu said. "It's a good win and it was good to see our guys come out shooting like that tonight. We have to keep it going like that."

With a chance to tie a season high with three straight home wins, the Grizzlies struggled to find consistency on the offensive end. They missed 12-of-18 attempts from 3-point range and committed 15 turnovers, leading to 23 points.

Averaging 101.5 points this season, the Grizzlies fast-break offense was also held below the century mark for the second time in three games.

"I don't think they stopped us (from running). I think it was more of us stopping ourselves tonight," said Memphis forward Rudy Gay, who led the team with 20 points. "I don't think they tried to stop us. I just think we didn't do as much as we should have."

Orlando ran out to a 14-4 spurt to open the second quarter, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Lewis and Keyon Dooling and another by Turkoglu a few minutes later - three of 10 3-pointers to fall for the Magic in the first 24 minutes.

Trailing by nine at that point, Mike Conley Jr. scored six straight points during an 8-0 stretch that cut the deficit to one. But Turkoglu scored seven points over the final five minutes to send Orlando to a 58-48 lead heading to the locker room.

Orlando built a 19-point lead midway through the third and never experienced another serious threat the rest of the way.

"It was tough, and it was just bad luck," Grizzlies guard Mike Miller said. "We just played them on the wrong day,"

The Magic turned the ball just six times, including just twice in the first half, while earning their first victory in their last seven trips to Memphis.

"We shot the ball great, but you know my happiness tonight is that we played very good defense," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "To hold that team to (43.5) percent and to 85 points and we held them to 37 points in the second half that is what impressed me. And when you shoot the ball like we did tonight, then you win big."

Pau Gasol added 17 and 11 rebounds and Conley netted 13 for the Grizzlies, who finished the night 30-69 from the field.