Rashard Lewis had five of those 15 threes and scored 21 points, Anderson had the aforementioned four, Jason Williams and Jameer Nelson made two each.
Wolves forward Kevin Love found himself spending much of the night running toward the three-point line in a futile attempt to distract Lewis and Anderson, a pair of 6-10 power forwards who prefer to play outside.
“All the time you have to help out on Dwight down low and pray that they miss,” Love said.
Though the Magic hurt the Wolves from long range, Rambis blamed his team’s 19 turnovers as the primary reason for the defeat. Five turnovers came in the fourth quarter, when the Wolves were close enough to change the outcome.
The Wolves trailed 91-88 with 5:12 remaining after Wayne Ellington’s layup off a pass from Jonny Flynn, who led the Wolves with 23 points. Love finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Ellington scored 13 points in 20 minutes, battling a familiar foe on the other side. The matchup might as well have taken place on Tobacco Road as Ellington and J.J. Redick rekindled the North Carolina-Duke rivalry.
“I’ve been very pleased. He [Ellington] got off to a rocky start, which is not uncommon with rookies, and he was making some mistakes early in the season that I wasn’t pleased with, but he collected himself and did a much better job at playing more poised, more control, and I’ve liked what he’s done since,” Rambis said.
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