Good news/bad news: Magic win, but so do CHI/PHI
The Magic continue their hot streak with a 103-96 victory over TOR, their 10th win in 11 games and sixth in a row. However, their playoff hopes took a severe blow as CHI and PHI won, reducing the Magic's "tragic number" to being eliminated to 2.
It was a balanced effort by the Magic, as all 5 starters scored in double figures. JNelson led the attack, scoring 27 pts. He was helped by HTurkoglu (18 pts), TBattie (16 pts), DHoward (14 pts), and DStevenson (10 pts). KDooling led the bench with 6 pts. Morris Peterson (23 pts), Mike James (21 pts), and Charlie Villanueva (19 pts) led TOR.
TOR outscored the Magic 82-81 from the field, thanks to 8 of 15 3 pt shooting. The Magic shot 47.5%, TOR 47.4%. ORL shot 22 of 33 from the FT line (66.7%), while TOR shot just 14 of 23 (60.9%) from the line. TOR outrebounded the Magic 41-37. The Magic had a very good assist-to-turnover ratio of 22-10, while TOR's ratio was just 18-18. The Magic bench was outscored by the TOR bench 19-18, as the Magic bench shot a collective 5 of 20. Darko did add 3 blocks in just 18 minutes.
Essentially, the Magic need to win their remaining 4 games, including Thursday night at SA, while hoping CHI and PHI win no more than 1 game each. It's not going to happen, but the Magic are convincing most people what a great future is in store!
It was a balanced effort by the Magic, as all 5 starters scored in double figures. JNelson led the attack, scoring 27 pts. He was helped by HTurkoglu (18 pts), TBattie (16 pts), DHoward (14 pts), and DStevenson (10 pts). KDooling led the bench with 6 pts. Morris Peterson (23 pts), Mike James (21 pts), and Charlie Villanueva (19 pts) led TOR.
TOR outscored the Magic 82-81 from the field, thanks to 8 of 15 3 pt shooting. The Magic shot 47.5%, TOR 47.4%. ORL shot 22 of 33 from the FT line (66.7%), while TOR shot just 14 of 23 (60.9%) from the line. TOR outrebounded the Magic 41-37. The Magic had a very good assist-to-turnover ratio of 22-10, while TOR's ratio was just 18-18. The Magic bench was outscored by the TOR bench 19-18, as the Magic bench shot a collective 5 of 20. Darko did add 3 blocks in just 18 minutes.
Essentially, the Magic need to win their remaining 4 games, including Thursday night at SA, while hoping CHI and PHI win no more than 1 game each. It's not going to happen, but the Magic are convincing most people what a great future is in store!
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 11:25 PM
4 Comments:
At 9:31 AM,
WeRDevos said…
Atlanta fought hard but missed out at the end. New Jersey is the big disappointment as they had been on a 15-1 tear.
Here's hoping the Magic keep their drive while the playoff hopes fade. They have a lot to look forward to next year if they can do well with the next four games.
At 10:55 AM,
Big Figure said…
Just win out baby! Who cares about the playoffs really? Who wants to be an 8th seed in the "detriot eastern invitational"? The san antone/philly & chi games should all have playoff feels to them,so our playoffs have already started,we cant lose anymore games,so its like one game series's from here on out with a one game elimination rule for us,four wins would be great going into the summer b/c of what we've already done (the streaks),we would be in the mindframe of "nobody being able to beat us" the whole summer,i'm too excited about next year to care about this years playoffs,if we make it great! But if we dont we dont,no biggie!
At 2:15 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
That's a good way to look at it, guys. These last 4 games ARE the playoffs for the Magic, as they look to close this great end-of-season run.
At 6:06 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Nothing prepares for future playoff success like the playoffs. (Unless of course you are the 02/03 version of the Magic...)
That said I'm liking this Magical finish a hell of a lot more than getting an Adam Morrison or Rudy Gay and wondering if they have what it takes to play in the NBA.
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