Pistons edge Magic to take control of series... Game 4: Pistons 90, Magic 89
With the Magic trailing by one point in the final seconds, Hedo Turkoglu's driving layup attempt fell short, Dwight Howard's tip attempt also failed, and Detroit came out with a huge win 90-89 and are now in the driver's seat with a 3-1 series lead.
With Chauncey Billups sitting out with a hamstring strain, the Magic started out well, as they jumped out to a 25-15 lead in the first quarter and led after one 27-21. The Magic solidified their lead in the second, as they scored 20 of the final 29 points to take a 55-44 lead at halftime. The Magic shot 11 of 15 (73.3%) in the second and 22 of 39 (56.4%) for the first half, including 5 of 7 on three point attempts.
The Pistons came alive in the third quarter after the Magic took their largest lead of the game at 63-48. The Pistons then proceeded to outscore the Magic 15-0, as the Magic went 6 minutes, 40 seconds without a point. The score was tied at 70 at the end of three.
Detroit took their largest lead of 82-75 in the fourth quarter with just over five minutes remaining, but the Magic came back on a 11-2 run, thanks to two big three pointers from Turkoglu to take an 86-84 lead. The Magic had their last lead at 89-88 before Tayshaun Prince hit the game-winning runner in the lane with just under nine seconds remaining.
Magic leading scorers:
Hedo Turkoglu... 20 points (7 of 14 FGs), 4 assists, 5 turnovers
Jameer Nelson... 15 points (6 of 14 FGs), 6 assists, 5 rebounds
Maurice Evans... 15 points (6 of 11 FGs, 3 of 6 3 PT FGs)
Rashard Lewis... 15 points (6 of 13 FGs), 5 rebounds
Dwight Howard... 8 points (3 of 12 FGs), 12 rebounds, 1 block
Detroit leading scorers:
Richard "Rip" Hamilton... 32 points, 6 rebounds
Tayshaun Prince... 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Rasheed Wallace... 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals
The statistical breakdown:
FGs... DET 36 of 79 (45.6%) ORL 34 of 73 (46.6%) ORL 78 DET 76
3 PT FGs... ORL 10 of 18 (55.6%) DET 4 of 13 (30.8%)
FTs... DET 14 of 15 (93.3%) ORL 11 of 17 (64.7%)
REBs... DET 39 (12 offensive) ORL 35 (10 offensive)
AST/TO... DET 18/9 ORL 13/12
BENCH... ORL 16 DET 11
Other game notes and stats:
-Even though the Magic outshot the Pistons from the field and three point range, the Pistons made more field goals, more free throws and had the better free throw percentage; outrebounded the Magic, and had the better assist/turnover ratio.
-The Magic starting frontcourt outscored the Pistons' starting frontcourt just 43-41 after outscoring them 71-33 in Game 3.
-Howard scored just 2 points in the final three quarters on 0 of 6 shooting.
-Turkoglu scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter on 5 of 8 shooting; the other Magic players in that final quarter combined to score 6 points on 2 of 10 shooting.
-Turkoglu and Lewis combined for 35 points on 13 of 27 shooting, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 8 turnovers after combining for 51 points and just two turnovers in Game 3.
-In the second half, the Magic shot just 12 of 34 (35.3%) from the field (7 of 25 excluding Turkoglu).
-Rodney Stuckey, starting in place of Billups, scored 6 points with 3 assists and 0 turnovers in 22 minutes.
-Jameer Nelson shot 2 of 6 from the free throw line.
The Magic now face the next-to-impossible task of winning the next three games in a row, including two in Detroit, starting Tuesday night in Game 5.
With Chauncey Billups sitting out with a hamstring strain, the Magic started out well, as they jumped out to a 25-15 lead in the first quarter and led after one 27-21. The Magic solidified their lead in the second, as they scored 20 of the final 29 points to take a 55-44 lead at halftime. The Magic shot 11 of 15 (73.3%) in the second and 22 of 39 (56.4%) for the first half, including 5 of 7 on three point attempts.
The Pistons came alive in the third quarter after the Magic took their largest lead of the game at 63-48. The Pistons then proceeded to outscore the Magic 15-0, as the Magic went 6 minutes, 40 seconds without a point. The score was tied at 70 at the end of three.
Detroit took their largest lead of 82-75 in the fourth quarter with just over five minutes remaining, but the Magic came back on a 11-2 run, thanks to two big three pointers from Turkoglu to take an 86-84 lead. The Magic had their last lead at 89-88 before Tayshaun Prince hit the game-winning runner in the lane with just under nine seconds remaining.
Magic leading scorers:
Hedo Turkoglu... 20 points (7 of 14 FGs), 4 assists, 5 turnovers
Jameer Nelson... 15 points (6 of 14 FGs), 6 assists, 5 rebounds
Maurice Evans... 15 points (6 of 11 FGs, 3 of 6 3 PT FGs)
Rashard Lewis... 15 points (6 of 13 FGs), 5 rebounds
Dwight Howard... 8 points (3 of 12 FGs), 12 rebounds, 1 block
Detroit leading scorers:
Richard "Rip" Hamilton... 32 points, 6 rebounds
Tayshaun Prince... 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Rasheed Wallace... 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals
The statistical breakdown:
FGs... DET 36 of 79 (45.6%) ORL 34 of 73 (46.6%) ORL 78 DET 76
3 PT FGs... ORL 10 of 18 (55.6%) DET 4 of 13 (30.8%)
FTs... DET 14 of 15 (93.3%) ORL 11 of 17 (64.7%)
REBs... DET 39 (12 offensive) ORL 35 (10 offensive)
AST/TO... DET 18/9 ORL 13/12
BENCH... ORL 16 DET 11
Other game notes and stats:
-Even though the Magic outshot the Pistons from the field and three point range, the Pistons made more field goals, more free throws and had the better free throw percentage; outrebounded the Magic, and had the better assist/turnover ratio.
-The Magic starting frontcourt outscored the Pistons' starting frontcourt just 43-41 after outscoring them 71-33 in Game 3.
-Howard scored just 2 points in the final three quarters on 0 of 6 shooting.
-Turkoglu scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter on 5 of 8 shooting; the other Magic players in that final quarter combined to score 6 points on 2 of 10 shooting.
-Turkoglu and Lewis combined for 35 points on 13 of 27 shooting, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 8 turnovers after combining for 51 points and just two turnovers in Game 3.
-In the second half, the Magic shot just 12 of 34 (35.3%) from the field (7 of 25 excluding Turkoglu).
-Rodney Stuckey, starting in place of Billups, scored 6 points with 3 assists and 0 turnovers in 22 minutes.
-Jameer Nelson shot 2 of 6 from the free throw line.
The Magic now face the next-to-impossible task of winning the next three games in a row, including two in Detroit, starting Tuesday night in Game 5.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 9:38 PM
5 Comments:
At 9:57 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Man, what a heartbreaking game to lose, especially after having a 15 point lead in the third quarter. Except for Hedo, everyone went cold in the second half; Hedo kept us in it and gave us the chance to win.
Unfortunately, his last shot just would not go; I thought the Pistons played excellent defense on that play on Hedo. I thought Howard had a good chance on the tip, but it wasn't close.
SVG wondered why Turk took so long attempting the drive on that last shot, but SVG took the blame for not setting up a better shot on that last possession.
Free throws... 6 huge misses for the Magic with Jameer being the main culprit with 4 misses.
I give the Pistons credit for doing the fundamental things well... only one missed free throw, only 9 turnovers, and outrebounding the Magic. They did all that with their star point guard unable to play.
Obviously, they really frustrated Howard offensively also.
There are so many things you can look at when your team loses a game by just one point... it's a shame.
At 10:55 AM,
Big Figure said…
Yeah tough one to lose. I thought SVG struggled just as much as the players. (1)With rip absolutely killing keyon,why didnt SVG go with someone else? Rip was getting him into foul trouble already,then he gets keyon to come-undone and draws a tech at a critical point of the game,but i ask why was key even out there with five fouls???? (2) Free-throws. We only miss six,but lose by one which means you have to be better than them fundamentally on most nights,and we just arent that team yet,we turn it over to much and we miss free-throws two things we did regularly during the regular season and they are both showing up during the play-offs. Thats on the players. (3) Dwight was throwing up some straight junk on his shot attempts,whether they were playing physical or not,he was shooting the ball extra hard of the glass from two feet out and missing easy put-backs to boot. He wasnt catching good bounce passes either,twice during the game dwight had open lanes to the rim and was fed good bounce passes but both went off of his hands out of bounds,thats not the dwight we know and that was without a doubt the worst i've ever seen dwight play. Hedo waiting with the ball i had no problem with,we either win or lose with the ball in our best perimeter players hands,if he makes the shot everybody wouldve been praising hedo. Seems like the lack of experience is showing its ugly face,we play well one game then come back the next game and do some of the things that will help you lose a game. The pistons just go about their usual business and play the same way every night,they do the fundamental things that help you win a game.
At 7:09 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
On thirdquartercollapse.com, a frame-by-frame of Turkoglu's driving layup attempt is shown, which reveals that Jason Maxiell's left foot was in the restricted area, and that the one official raised his arm to call a foul but decided not to.
Tough break for the Magic, but the Magic need to look at several things regarding their play in Game 4 that had nothing to do with that non-call as to why they lost.
At 3:38 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Regarding Jameer Nelson's "guarantee" that the Magic will win Game 5... I'd feel better if Jameer could guarantee us that he'd make his free throws instead.
Maybe then the Magic would have a better chance of winning.
At 10:59 AM,
Matt said…
What is disturbing is the way Detroit fans undermine Magic even though it is not clear whether or not Billups is going to play. Magic could have won 2 out of the 3games that they have lost if they could have made the final shot. So it is not totally out of Magic's grasp to win the game in Detroit which would change the complexion of the series.
GO MAGIC!!!!!!!!!!
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