Orlando Magic Blog

Group Blog talking about the NBA 2009 Eastern Conference Champions. Due to the amazing success of the 2009 playoff run comments are now frequently deleted to kill offensive comments, incoherence, or asininity. Comments can no longer be anonymous and require either a Blogger or OpenID account.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Magic hang on in Game 2... Magic 104, Raptors 103

The Magic got off to another blazing start in Game 2, leading 26-8 in the first quarter and settling for a 35-18 lead after one quarter on 13 of 24 FG shooting. The Raptors caught fire in the second quarter, outscoring the Magic 39-24 to pull within 59-57 at the half. Toronto's Chris Bosh scored 16 points in the second quarter. The Raptors pulled out to their first lead early in the third quarter at 64-59, but the Magic came back to lead 83-78 after three. Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard each scored 11 points for the Magic in the third. In an exciting final period, Toronto took the lead 101-100 with just over a minute left, but Hedo Turkoglu's layup put the Magic ahead to stay, as Bosh's 19 foot jumper fell short at the buzzer as the Magic held on for a 104-103 win to take a 2-0 series lead.

Scoring summary...

Magic leading scorers... Dwight Howard 29 pts (12 of 17 FGs), 20 rebs, 3 blocks; Jameer Nelson 18 pts (6 of 10 FGs), 6 rebs, 3 asts; Rashard Lewis 18 pts (7 of 21 FGs), 6 rebs, 5 asts; Hedo Turkoglu 12 pts (4 of 15 FGs), 9 rebs, 5 asts. Bench... Keith Bogans 9 pts (3 of 8 FGs)

Toronto leading scorers... Chris Bosh 29 pts (9 of 19 FGs), 10 rebs, 6 asts. Bench... Jason Kapono 20 pts (8 of 12 FGs), 5 rebs; Jose Calderon 18 pts (7 of 11 FGs), 5 asts; Carlos Delfino 16 pts (6 of 10 FGs), 6 rebs

The statistical breakdown:

FGs... ORL 38 of 89 (42.7%) TOR 37 of 81 (45.7%) ORL 85 TOR 85
3 PT FGs... TOR 11 of 29 (37.9%) ORL 9 of 31 (29%)
FTs... ORL 19 of 23 (82.6%) TOR 18 of 20 (90%)
REBs... ORL 48 (16 offensive) TOR 40 (7 offensive)
AST/TO... TOR 21/13 ORL 19/13
BENCH... TOR 57 ORL 18

Other stats...

-The Magic starters outscored the Toronto starters 86-46.
-Other than Bosh, the four other Raptors' starters combined to score 17 points on 6 of 22 FGs.
-Kapono, Calderon, and Delfino, all coming off the Raptors' bench, combined to score 54 points on 21 of 33 FGs.
-Turkoglu and Lewis combined to score 30 pts on 11 of 36 FGs for the Magic, including 0 for 13 on threes. However, they did combine for 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
-Anthony Parker, who scored 24 points in Game 1 for Toronto, was held scoreless in Game 2 on 0 for 4 FGs in 38 minutes.
-Rasho Nesterovic, who scored 16 points in Game 1, was held to 2 points in Game 2 in just 5 minutes.
- In the final three quarters, Toronto outscored the Magic 85-69, as the Magic made just 25 of 65 FGs during that time, while the Raptors made 30 of 60 FGs.

Game 3 coming up Thursday night in Toronto.

posted by Mike from Illinois @ 1:37 AM  

11 Comments:

  • At 3:44 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    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.

     

  • At 10:39 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    The offensive call against Dooling was incredibly, incredibly awful.

    Inexcusable really.

     

  • At 2:23 PM, Blogger Lord Horatio said…

    i could only listen to the game online, and I was freaking out when they called that offensive foul. interesting to hear that you guys thought it was a bad call...
    i'm worried about game 3 too, but i also feel that we're due for a big second half from hedo.

     

  • At 3:01 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    OVERWADED, I understand your frustration with the refs regarding the non-call against Nelson and call that was made against Dooling in the final seconds. I give credit though, to Calderon, as once Dooling made just that little bit of contact, he flopped as if he had been run over by a truck, and the ref somehow bought it and called the foul.

    With Nelson, they were trying to foul him and no call, so yes, very inconsistent on the referees' part.

    For the game, though, the Magic had three more FT attempts and the Raptors were called for three more fouls, so I won't say the referees were TOTALLY against the Magic.

    Considering... the Raptors outshot the Magic (46% to 43%) from the field, from three point range (38% to 29%) and from the free throw line (90% to 83%) and also had the better AST/TO ratio (21/13 to 19/13), the Magic STILL found a way to win the game. They made one more FG and one more FT than Toronto, which wound up being the difference, and also outrebounded the Raptors by 48-40.

    If Turkoglu and Lewis can both shoot better on Thursday, I think the Magic have a good chance of pulling out Game 3.

     

  • At 5:30 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Fact,the magic were a better road team than they were a home team. I think the magic win game three if jameer continues to play the way he's been playing,while i was watching the game right before tip off of game one i told one of my buddies that when jameer scores were tough to beat. He had 24 and we won going away. Last night where would we have been without his back-to-back three pointers during that stretch where we were struggling. Jameer is now earning his pay,now he's got to do it in toronto,and if the regular season is any indication of the type of team we have,toronto's still gonna have a hard time beating the magic becuase i dont expect hedo and rashard to go 0-13 again (which is the reason last night's game was close).

     

  • At 8:07 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I completely agree with you BIG.

     

  • At 9:07 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    It was good to see the Magic keep their defensive focus and intensity in the final nine seconds despite the bad call.

    Even though Turkoglu didn't have his typical game, that was a heck of a shot he made to put the Magic ahead with under a minute left. How did that ever go in?

     

  • At 9:46 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    That's what great players do. They have an off night, and they still find a way to contribute, impact the game, and make something happen when it matters.

    I know it's easy for me to say that after the fact, but it's not the first time Turk has done so.

     

  • At 11:43 AM, Blogger WeRDevos said…

    After 11 years of Magic playoff misery I so-o-o expected the Bosh shot to fall. Since it didn't, I have every reason to be optimistic about tonights game.

    I agree the officiating was typically poor -- and horrendous at the end, but was also pleased that the Howard block on Bosh didn't get whistled against the Magic. Maybe Superman is finally getting his superstar calls. If so, it's about time and richly deserved. He is clearly head and shoulders with LeBron and CP3 as the stars of the playoffs so far.

    I loved the way SVG went after the ref at the end of the game. The man doesn't let winning get in the way of his misery. He will push this team hard to win game 3.

    The key to this game will be how Magic respond to Rap's small ball. Sam Mitchell is an idiot, but even he must have figured out by now what lineup gives the Magic the most trouble. Magic are only playing 7 or 8 guys -- all guards coming off the bench. Small ball could wear them out.

     

  • At 1:26 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    WeR,were actually playing 9 guys. The starters,plus keyon,keith,carlos and foyle. Now if you add in the fact that marcin got four minutes last game to give dwight a break,thats ten guys. Fatigue shouldnt be a factor. Its funny,you would think that playing small may give us more problems,but i actually think it makes them weaker. Both hedo and rashard are 6ft10,how are you gonna match up with them playing small when they are just as athletic as the toronto guards WITH a day in between to game-plan? Also,if kapono or delfino is put in the starting line-up doesnt that deplete your bench some? At this point i think the question really is,how are the raptors going to consistently score on our defense when they only have one player who can post(bosh)but rarely chooses to on the low block? Honestly when i look at the raptors the same thing comes to mind,they dont have any stars in the back court or on the perimeter,their like a baseball team that manufactures points. On the other hand you have the magic who have pretty much three all-stars in the line-up.

     

  • At 3:48 PM, Blogger Mike from Illinois said…

    The Raptors are 4 point favorites tonight.

    This will be a very difficult game for the Magic to win. Toronto knows that this basically is a must win game, that they can't go down 3-0, so they will be a desperate team tonight.

    If the Magic can stay intense and focused, led by Howard, and with improved shooting from Turkoglu and Lewis, they will have a chance to pull this one out.

    It will be interesting to see the starting lineup and rotation that Sam Mitchell uses. Their bench was great Tuesday night, but their starters, other than Bosh, were very mediocre.

    In the other NBA playoff series, I still expect Detroit to beat the 76ers, even though the Sixers won Game 1. Cleveland has played surprisingly well in beating the Wizards two games. Boston has been dominant over Atlanta.

    In the West, the Hornets are proving that you don't have to have playoff experience to have success. They have dominated a much more experienced Dallas team big-time and should win the series in no more than 5 games. What a player Chris Paul is! Jason who??? Before the playoffs started, I predicted New Orleans to win the West, and I am sticking with that, though you can make a good argument for the Jazz, Spurs, and Lakers winning the West also, based on their playoff performance so far.

     

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