Magic Doomed By More Than Clock Malfunction
Posted by Dustin Hockensmith on May 6, 2008
The Orlando Magic had plenty to be upset about on Monday night. They had just crawled back into the game - a 100-93 loss in Detroit - and were about to take a lead into the fourth quarter when a clock malfunction allowed the Detroit Pistons to sink a dagger 3. And to make matters worse, Orlando’s flight out of Detroit on Monday night was forced to land in Cincinnati because of mechanical issues.
But, while the stars are apparently aligning in Detroit’s favor, the Magic could also place some blame on themselves for two bad road losses. A red-hot third quarter on Monday aside, Orlando trudged through two full games on the Pistons’ homecourt and dug themselves a 14-point hole in the first half of Game 2.
The disputed play brought a momentus charge to a halt, and they went into the fourth down 78-76. With 4.8 seconds left in the third, the game clock stalled and Rodney Stuckey found Chauncey Billups, who knocked down a 3 to take the lead.
Having lost the reassurance that comes with a fourth-quarter lead, the Magic still battled back and even took an 86-82 lead with six minutes and 28 seconds left in the game. As the veteran Pistons refused to go away, Orlando was shaken by doubt and self-pity and was eventually put away by Detroit’s free throw shooting down the stretch.
While superstar center Dwight Howard did his usual work, 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and 18 rebounds, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis got thorougly outplayed by Detroit’s frontcout of Tayshaun Prince and Jason Maxiell. Turnovers were a big story - Howard, Turkoglu and Lewis combined for 17 of the Magic’s 19 - but so were the disappearances of Lewis and Turkoglu during crunch time. The two combined to go 0-for-8 from the floor and committed four turnovers in the game’s final six minutes.
Turkoglu, a 40 percent 3-point shooter in the regular season, has knocked down just 5-of-25 attempts (.200) in the playoffs, while Lewis, a 41 percent 3-point shooter, has knocked down 12-of-52 attempts (.231) from beyond the arc. With the keys to Orlando’s long-range attack struggling when it matters most, expect Detroit to need no more than five games to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
More opinions …
In its Magic-Pistons preview, Empty the Bench made note of Lewis and Turkoglu’s potential struggles.
Need 4 Sheed points out that, no matter the circumstances, the Pistons still take a 2-0 series lead into Orlando.
Sports and Stuff says this series isn’t about just one shot.
Dustin Hockensmith is editor of ImaginaryDiamond.com. He can be contacted at dhockensmith[at]fantasysports101.net.
