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From Orlando Sentinel

NBA Orlando Magic

Orlando Magic defense, Rashard Lewis step up to beat Bulls

Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer
January 16, 2008

As it turned out, another guy is finished trying to fit in with his relatively new teammates, too.

Just don't expect Rashard Lewis to go the way of wild child Joakim Noah. But maybe a little nonconformity from Lewis will do the Orlando Magic good with their season approaching the midway point tonight.

The laid-back Lewis conceded he has been trying to blend in too much while deferring to Dwight Howard, his constant presence on the 3-point line symbolic of the distance he has put between his current output and his past production.

In fact, the Magic brass hasn't always seen this side of Lewis, who led Orlando to a 102-88 thrashing of the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night in front of a sell-out crowd at Amway Arena.

"They told me there ain't no fitting in. They paid me to come here and be the player I was in Seattle," Lewis said.

He certainly can't be a 3-point shooting wallflower for what the Magic are paying him -- $118 million over six seasons.

Lewis has yet to post one of those jaw-dropping games that he recorded in his nine seasons as a SuperSonic, such as his career-high 50-point outburst in 2003 or even his 36-point night last season. He is averaging 18.8 points after averaging more than 20 per game the past three seasons.

Lewis scored a game-high 26 points on 8 of 12 shooting against the Bulls -- one off his Magic high of 27 -- and nailed 4 of 5 3-point attempts. But it was the forceful manner in which he went about his business that gives the club hope Lewis will become more aggressive.

It was his fifth consecutive game scoring 20 or more points.

He scored 10 points in Orlando's torrid 32-10 third-quarter torching of the Bulls that turned this one into a rare home laugher. Lewis hit two 3-pointers, but also added a reverse lay-up and got to the line to hit a pair of free throws as the Magic made 10 of 19 shots while the Bulls missed 11 of 14 in the period.

Howard scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Keith Bogans (15 points) and Brian Cook (14) had big games off the bench to spark runs.

Noah, who played on UF's back-to-back title teams, returned after serving a club-imposed two-game suspension for behavioral issues. He scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulls.

The Magic (24-16) reach the halfway mark of their season tonight against the Bobcats in Charlotte, N.C., where they try to improve on their league-leading 16 road wins. They have struggled at home at 8-8, but their victory against the Bulls (14-22) was the most impressive at Amway since beating the Boston Celtics in November.

The Magic handed the NBA-leading Celtics their first loss of the season on Nov. 18, 104-102, but had fallen to several pedestrian teams since then.

"It has been a long time since we played a game with that type of cushion," Coach Stan Van Gundy said.

They shot the ball well (45.7 percent) against the Bulls, particularly from 3-point range (39.3) in building a lead that reached 28 points. They also finally played decent defense.

Offense is still Orlando's strength. Lewis leads the NBA in 3-pointers taken and made, but Van Gundy says, "Rashard's got a lot in his game."

"I just feel like being more aggressive," Lewis said. "It felt like I was stuck out there on the 3-point line early this season. But at the time we were winning games so I didn't want to change anything. But I feel like it's time to step up and mix up my game."


Brian Schmitz can be reached bschmitz@orlandosentinel.com.

Copyright © 2008, Orlando Sentinel

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