MVN - Most Valuable Network

Lewis, Turkoglu Clutch in Orlando 106-94 Game 4 Victory

Dwight Howard was beastly in the opening quarter for the Magic, scoring 12 of their first 22 points, helping to key an 9-2 run that turned a tie game into a 22-15 Orlando lead with 3:44 remaining in the first half.   Howard also had 3 blocks in the first 3:19 of the contest while asserting his presence down low in Toronto’s offensive end.

But the Raptors answered defensively to stay in the game, getting turnovers on two straight Orlando possessions to get easy transition baskets to bring the lead back down to 29-26 with 49 seconds left in the period.  The score ended 31-26, marking the first time in this series that a double-digit lead was not established by either team at some point in the first quarter.

Jason Kapono and Carlos Delfino combined to score all the points on a 9-2 Toronto run that helped bring the Raptors back to even at 35 with 7:27 left in the second half, as they both did a good job attacking the basket with Howard on the bench.

Even when Howard re-entered the game, Orlando didn’t make him the focal point of the offense, while Toronto ramped up the defensive pressure.  Chris Bosh and the Raptors really picked it up offensively as well, as Bosh picked up where Kapono and Delfino left off, scoring 11 of Toronto’s final 16 points while helping them to grab a 53-48 lead heading into halftime.

Bosh really carried the Raptors offensively in the first half, as his 21 points, were 13 more than any other Toronto player scored in the first half, with Kapono’s 9 first half points being the next best total.

Meanwhile, Dwight Howard was contained after the opening minutes, as he went scoreless over the final 15:43 of the first half, sitting out the first half of the second quarter as Orlando’s lead slipped.  But even when he checked into the game he was not the focal point of the Magic offense, something I have to question because he was dominant offensively and defensively over the first 8:17 of the first half.

When Howard went out the Raptors started to drive inside, giving them as confidence to drive to the basket something that continued even when Howard was still in the game.

Also, the Raptors really ramped up the defense, as they forced 9 first half turnovers while only turning the ball over twice in the first half.   They also did a good job limiting the Magic’s big three, as beyond Howard’s 12 points, Rashard Lewis had 11 first half points, while Hedo Turkoglu was only 2-for-7 from the floor in the first half, scoring only 6 first half points.

Howard and the Raptors came out on fire in the second half, as they scored the first 6 points of the quarter to take a 54-53 lead just 1:55 into the third quarter.  Toronto answered though, as they ramped up the defensive pressure to force three Hedo Turkoglu turnovers on Orlando’s next four possessions.  Overall, they went on a 10-2 run, taking a 63-56 with 6:59 left in the third quarter, forcing a Magic timeout after another emphatic Bosh slam.

The Raptors would hold an ever decreasing lead for the rest of the third quarter, with the Magic tying the game at 73 with 52 seconds remaining, as Howard would again come up big, drawing the focus of Toronto’s defense while reasserting his presence on the defensive end of the court.  But Toronto would take an ever so slim 74-73 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Jameer Nelson would lead the Magic back in front though, as he scored 10 straight points midway through the fourth quarter, including a pull-up jumper off a pick-and-roll to give Orlando an 85-83 lead with 5:40 left in the fourth quarter.  It gave the Magic their first lead since midway through the second quarter.  He the regained the lead after Chris Bosh hit a fade-away jumper over Howard, hitting a three-pointer to give Orlando an 88-85 lead with 4:57 left in the fourth quarter.

Orlando would only continue to pull away as the Raptors struggled offensively, pushing their lead to five points at 92-87 with 3:13 remaining in regulation.  Toronto just couldn’t stop Orlando in the final minutes though, as Lewis and Turkoglu were huge, as they combined to score the Magic’s next 10 points where Jameer Nelson left off, pushing Orlando to a 100-92 lead with 1:31 remaining.

It would only get uglier from here though, as the Raptors went to the free throw shooting contest early, but failed to make points themselves, as a Chris Bosh dunk with 35.4 seconds left would be Toronto’s next points, too little too late, as the Magic now were up 105-94.  The final was 106-94.

Bosh had a playoff career high with 39 points and 15 rebounds.  Beyond Bosh though, there wasn’t much support offensively though, as a trio of T.J. Ford, Anthony Parker, and Jason Kapono would each score 12 points, with Ford adding 13 assists and 5 rebounds, while Parker added 7 rebounds on his own.

Bosh was spectacular, as was Toronto’s defense for much of the contest, but in the final minutes it was absolute junk.  First Nelson, and then Lewis and Turkoglu couldn’t be stopped.  Sure, they had to hit the shots, but they were wide open shots.  Earlier, the Raptors played a swarming defense with hands in the lanes at all times.  But the Magic went into one-one-one situations, taking this away and they capitalized.

Also, the Toronto offense couldn’t answer, especially after going down 8 points with under 2 minutes to go.  Overall, the Raptors were outscored 12 -2 over the game’s final 2:29.

This puts Toronto in a very bad position now, down 3-1 in the series and headed back to Orlando facing elimination.  They absolutely must not come out of the gates slow like they have in Games 1 and 2 because it will put them behind the 8-ball and give a crowd that is looking at a series win even more reason to get louder while putting huge pressure on the team to score offensively and ramp it up defensively.  That will be the key for Game 5, if Toronto is to stave off elimination.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Toronto Raptors. 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.