MVN - Most Valuable Network

Orlando squanders perfect opportunity

No Chauncey Billups, home court advantage and a 15 point lead with nine minutes left in the third quarter…the Magic had Detroit right where they wanted them. However, the Pistons had too much experience and in the end, just wanted it more than Orlando. It was a battle down to the end, but Hedo Turkoglu, who elevated the Magic in the fourth quarter, couldn’t convert on what would have been a game winning layup as time expired and Orlando fell to Detroit, 90-89, and with that Orlando’s post-season run might have expired as well.

In the first quarter, Orlando led by a healthy six points as Howard had six points, but he would only score two more points the rest of the evening. Rashard Lewis, Mo Evans and Jameer Nelson carried the Magic through the first half and Orlando then had an 11 point lead.

As the third quarter started, the Magic built on their lead after two three’s early on to take the lead up to 15 and then Detroit caught fire. The Pistons took a lot of jump shots…and made them, scoring on five possessions in a row, taking Orlando’s lead down to five. At the same time, Orlando went cold and couldn’t convert on some open treys that could have blown the game open. With nine minutes left in the quarter, Orlando held a 15 point lead and in seven minutes, Detroit had dropped 16 unanswered points and held a one point lead.

In the fourth, Detroit held a five point lead for most of the quarter, and then Turkoglu went off. He got an “and 1”, and two treys in a row to tie the game as well as take momentum away from what was a very confident Pistons team. Turk then made a layup to give Orlando an 88-86 lead, but then Rip Hamilton went to the line, went two of two and took the lead back. With 44 seconds left, Nelson took the ball to the rack and got fouled, allowing him to go to the line. However, Nelson went 1-of-2 and he gave Orlando only a one point lead. This was perhaps the story of the game…Detroit made their free-throws, Orlando didn’t.

The Pistons then had a chance to regain the lead with 44 ticks left, but good Orlando defense forced a miss shot. However, Detroit got to the ball quicker than the Magic could and got another shot at it, and they wouldn’t miss this time. Tayshaun Prince took the ball through the paint and with the monstrous Howard in front of him, he faded away from the rim floated a shot over Howard and nailed the basket with eight seconds left to give Detroit a 90-89 lead and perhaps the series…the rest is history.

This is certainly a sour pill for Orlando to swallow. They outplayed the Pistons for most of the game, but Detroit played well when the needed to. The Pistons hustled to most loose balls and seemingly wanted it more than Orlando did, case closed.

Here are some telling facts that should indicate why Orlando lost. One is, Detroit shot 14-15 from the free throw line, while Orlando shot a dismal 64% on 11-17.

32, which is what Rip Hamilton finished with. Orlando didn’t have an answer for him, as he made shot after shot with a hand in his face. God bless him, he was just better than any Magic player was tonight. I do find it interesting that he went to the line seven more times than Howard, although he did shoot twice as many shots, so that isn’t bad, but only one shooting foul was called when Howard went up, which just shows that the NBA needs to reconsider the way they gave preferential treatment to guards over big men. However, this was far from a deciding factor in the game, as Howard spent more time complaining (perhaps rightfully so) than he did doing something about. Bottom line…Dwight needs to get over it, you won’t get love when you are backing away on shots and not going forward. Magic radio announcer and former Pistons head coach, Richie Adubato, even said Dwight got fouled his last three attempts, but like I said, that might be true, but he faded away from the basket and didn’t go up strong.

Howard was in fact very disappointing tonight. He couldn’t hang on to the ball, shied away from contact and when he had a chance to tip the ball in for a game winning shot, he again couldn’t get a handle on it. Howard finished with just eight points, 12 boards and one block. Maybe he could have gone to the line more, but he played soft ball tonight, and refs won’t give you the benefit when you are timid, they just won’t. He needs to grow up, that’s basically it.

In the end, Detroit just proved to be too cunning, too slick and too experienced. Turkoglu finally stepped up but his effort fell short, as the Pistons converted when they needed to, time and time again. More so, they did without their leader in Billups, which I commend them for. The series now heads back to Detroit with the Pistons up 3-1, and I’d hate to say it, but it’s over. Orlando now has to win three games in a row, two of them being in Detroit. Orlando is certainly an improved team from last year and this experience should be vital for the Magic in the future, but Detroit is just too good and too experienced right now. Who knows what could have been if Game 2 went differently, but it is what it is and with Orlando up against it now, I see this over in five games.

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 10th, 2008 at 7:53 pm and is filed under Orlando Magic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.