Nelson playing like an all-star again

Nelson playing like an all-star again

6:11 PM EST, March 2, 2010

J.J. Redick was asked what a healthy Jameer Nelson means to the Orlando Magic.

"He takes us to another level," Redick said, matter-of-factly.

It seems as if the court of public opinion sometimes wavers regarding Nelson, the club's starting point guard.

But in the locker room, there is no debate.

When Nelson is at the top of his game — and lately he has scaled to the apex — the Magic are confident they are as good as anybody in the NBA.

Memo from the court of public opinion: The Magic reached the Finals last June essentially without Nelson, who was injured the last half of the season and through the Eastern Conference Finals. Didn't Rafer Alston get them there as a temp?

True enough.

But as Rashard Lewis and other teammates remind us, the outcome of the Magic's title series against the Los Angeles Lakers might have been different (Lakers in five) if Nelson had been sound physically.

Nelson had averaged 27.5 points and 6.5 assists per game against the Lakers and keyed the Magic's first-ever sweep of L.A. during the regular season. But he was a shell of himself as a back-up in the Finals (3.8 points, 2.8 assists per game), when he returned after sitting out about four months to recuperate from shoulder surgery.

Alston's numbers against the Lakers as the starter: 10.6 points, 3.0 assists per game.

Some fans will always wonder how valuable Nelson is to the cause, especially when he's prone to injury, inconsistency and fits of turnovers. But his worth to the team likely has never been greater in this, his sixth NBA season.

Why?

Turkoglu, at 6-feet-10, could set up teammates, play the drive-and-kick game and handle the ball late.

His exit to Toronto last summer left Nelson as essentially the prime playmaker, with Jason Williams providing support. Vince Carter and Redick also have their moments.

What's the current reading on Nelson?

He's playing about as well as he did when Eastern Conference coaches selected him to his first-ever all-star appointment last season (the shoulder injury prevented him from playing).

Before the injury sidelined him for the season in Game 42, Nelson was averaging 17.0 points, 5.4 assists and 2.0 turnovers per game.

Over the past eight games, Nelson is averaging 16.2 points, 7.6 assists and 2.5 turnovers per outing — comparable to his numbers during his all-star season.

"Everything's so wide open when he gets it going," Carter said. "He can finish or feed the open guys. It can make for easy games."

Nelson has 30 assists over the last three games. And this stretch comes, of course, after he missed 16 games from late November-to-late December because of knee surgery (it wouldn't be a Nelson story if surgeons weren't involved).

Nelson had surgery after Game 11. After missing the club's final 35 games last season, it was as if — save for the Finals cameo — he never quite got in a lengthy run before another body part broke down.

"I think I'm back right now," Nelson said after scoring 22 points and dishing 10 assists in a rout of Philadelphia on Monday night. "I think I can play better.… attacking, driving, creating problems for other teams looking for my shot or somebody else's shot, just trying to get everybody involved.

"I'd knew it take longer because I'm playing on it [his knee]."

This is the place in the story where Dwight Howard reaches for some wood to perform his good-luck knock. He just hopes that Nelson can avoid injuries because "when he's aggressive, when he's attacking … we're a much better team."

Coach Stan Van Gundy said that Nelson is finally healthy — and in condition after missing time to rehab.

"He's playing very well right now," Van Gundy said. "He always tried to attack. I think now he's able to do it more effectively. Everything's coming together for him."

And maybe for his team, not so coincidentally.

New York Yankees' pitcher Mariano Rivera certainly has it in baseball. Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning certainly possesses that killer instinct with the game on the line, the latest Super Bowl notwithstanding.

And with the Orlando Magic, standout forward Rashard Lewis is becoming that cold-blooded killer of foes in the fourth quarter and the team's big-shot-maker with games on the line.

Three weeks ago, Lewis calmly drained a clutch, go-ahead 3-pointer against the Washington Wizards. And this past Sunday, in an absolutely, positively got-to-have-it game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lewis delivered the knockout punch with a corner 3-pointer with 20 seconds to play.

In so many ways – spot on the floor, time in the game and opponent – the shot was reminiscent of the huge 3-pointer Lewis made in the Eastern Conference Finals last spring to beat the Cavs.

A Magic team that has superstar center Dwight Howard down low and historically prolific closer Vince Carter on the wing still depends on the mild-mannered Lewis often in the tense moments of games. And that's just the way Lewis likes it.

``You have to have that confidence to take those shots and I feel like I'm a guy who can make that shot that will get us back in the game or help us win,'' Lewis said. ``I've always been like that my whole career. For some reason, I step up to challenges. I love games against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics – games where you have to step your game up to win those games.''

Lewis, who returns home tonight to Houston when the Magic (38-19) face the Rockets (28-27), has certainly stepped his game up of late. He has a run of 18 straight games of scoring in double figures and he's made at least two 3-pointers in 16 of the last 17 games – the only exception being the blowout in Chicago two weeks ago where he played limited minutes.

``He has shot the ball well and he's tried to be more aggressive,'' Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said of Lewis, who averages 14.9 points and 4.7 rebounds a game. ``The days when he isn't aggressive, that's when he doesn't get the ball early or get involved in the offense. That's something I need to watch. Because when he gets into the game, he can score without having to run a lot of plays for him.''

It's been anything but an easy, breezy season for Lewis. He was suspended the first 10 games because of a NBA-mandated suspension and getting back into rhythm hurt his shot. And he's had to get used to playing with Vince Carter instead of Hedo Turkoglu after forming such a close bond with the latter for two seasons in Orlando.

With Turkoglu, Van Gundy always kept Lewis on the play-making forward's right hand so that it was easier for him to drive the ball and kick to the corner for the open 3-pointer. Carter is more of a scorer than passer, so there was a trickle-down effect to the change for Lewis.

``It's most definitely been an adjustment playing with Vince,'' he admitted candidly. ``Vince is a guy who dominates the ball and shoots 20-plus shots and has the ball in his hands all the time. He's used to being the first option. It was an adjustment, but we're getting better and getting the chemistry down better.''

Teams have also worked to take away Lewis' 3-point shots from the top of the key, but Van Gundy said that has left more driving lanes open for Carter and point guard Jameer Nelson. As a result of getting more defensive attention Lewis now ranks fifth in the NBA in 3-point makes (115) and seventh in attempts (288) after leading the league in both categories last season.

But he's still there at the end of games for the big back-breaking 3-pointers that seal games or put the Magic ahead. Lewis actively looks for the big shots at the end of games, and his coach usually acts accordingly.

``Rashard has great confidence and absolutely no fear,'' Van Gundy said. ``He's made a lot of big shots in his career, certainly a lot of them for us. He likes having the ball in that situation and we try to get it to him.''