Orlando overcomes poor officiating to go up 2-0
Officials should never determine the outcome of a game. That almost happened Tuesday night as the Magic barely escaped the Toronto Raptors at the score of 104-103 to take a 2-0 series lead. With just over 9 seconds left, Orlando was taking in the ball under its own basket after Carlos Delfino made a layup to put the game with in one, and guard Jameer Nelson stutter stepped to get free.
As Nelson made his way to the ball, his body jerked back after he was held by Jose Calderon and to Orlando’s dismay, no foul was called. That would have put Orlando on the line for one free throw, and then the Magic would have gotten the ball back. Instead, the Magic had to call a timeout and took the ball out at half court. With Orlando looking to inbound the ball at half court, Keyon Dooling ran towards Calderon, who caught an incidental hand to the mouth and flew onto the floor…I didn’t know the tip of a hand could send someone flailing to the ground, but I guess the 6’3, 195 lbs, Dooling is too strong for his own good. An offensive foul was called on Dooling and Toronto was given the ball.
So, Orlando doesn’t get a foul called in their favor, and then a b.s call is made a second later? It is officiating like this that scares me because Orlando will not be able to overcome bad officiating against better teams later on. Fortunately for Orlando, Chris Bosh missed a deep jumper as time expired and the Magic won, but the atrocious officiating towards the end of the game almost blew a game for the Magic.
Stan Van Gundy was livid after the no call/call, but showed off another example of his brilliant coaching, pleading his case with the officials even after the game was over, making sure they knew they messed up, in hopes of it not happening again.
It was a big loss for Toronto, who had a chance to take home court advantage away from Orlando. Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis shot a combined 0/13 from behind the arc, and the Raptors shot nearly 40% as a team from three-point land, so you can bet that this combination doesn’t occur for the rest of the series. Toronto still has a shot to make the series interesting, but this was a deflating loss.
Dwight Howard continues to show why he is a flat out stud, finishing with 29 points, 20 boards and 3 blocks. Howard was so physically dominating that Toronto at times had all 5 players sag in just to slow Dwight down, but his ability to get off the floor quickly and violently can not be matched.
With Lewis and Turkoglu shooting poor, other players stepped up. Jameer Nelson had another stunning first quarter and finished with 18 points, including 4-of-6 three-point shooting. Keith Bogans also made some clutch three’s towards the end of the game, and Maurice Evans, who was just 3-of-8, made his mark on defense, constantly disrupting plays and forcing turnovers.
Chris Bosh finally looked like his old self, logging 29 points, 10 boards and 6 assists. Jason Kapono also continued his spectacular season, 4-6 three’s, and Carlos Delfino and Jose Calderon also chipped in with 34 combined points.
Although Lewis and Turkoglu shot poorly, they shipped in other ways. Turk grabbed 9 boards and Lewis scored 18 points and dished out 5 assists.
Orlando was nowhere as effective defensively as it was on Sunday (aside from the first quarter) but they held in there and adjusted to the predicted small lineup that Toronto threw their way (Nesterovich played just over 5 minutes.) Bad officiating aside, and it wasn’t too bad until the end, the Magic looked tough and won a close game, which is great because they will be in many more of those as the playoffs progress. The Magic’s ability to digs their heels in the ground and play tough when necessary is an admirable trait, but seeing as they’ve blown double-digit leads in both games now, I’d like to see a big blow out.
Look for the Raptors to get at least one game in Toronto, but if Orlando can get their key players shooting well again and can avoid porous officiating, there is a chance for a sweep. We’ll out on Thursday.
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One Response to “Orlando overcomes poor officiating to go up 2-0”
April 23rd, 2008 at 2:17 am
The officiating was poor, but those two calls (one missed, and one called) was total crap. There is no excuse for that. With Nelson, as his jersey was being pulled, the baseline official was right there, yet no call? Then we go the other way, and they make a call against us that shouldn’t have? I mean really, what the hell? There were other calls that I didn’t like throughout the game, but none near as bad or inexcusable as those.
Turk had an off night. Funny though, during the timeout I told the two people that I was watching the game with that I expected Hedo to have the ball in his hands. In this way, the game reminded me of the one we played in Chicago on New Years. It was one of Turk’s worst games, but in the end, he delivered when it mattered.
As for Shard, he had all the shots he normally does; he was just missing them, especially from downtown. I don’t recall him having back to back off shooting nights all season, so I’m expecting a solid game from him Thursday.
The Magic need to get Howard the ball more! Toronto has no answer for him what so ever.
I’m expecting a loss in game 3; however, I hope the Magic come to play with their typical “chip on the shoulder” road game mentality. They need to realize if they win Thursday, this series is over.
Still, I’m expecting a Toronto win. I think the Magic will have a better chance of winning game 4. But if Turk and Lewis come back to life in either game, which I expect they will, it’s going to be tough for the Raptors.
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