Orlando ended their season on a high note as they beat the playoff-bound Indiana Pacers 92 – 74, with a combined 26 points from center Dwight Howard and forward Hedo Turkoglu. The Magic scored 28 first quarter points as they shot a healthy 45% from behind the arc on their way to an easy victory.
Magic forward Ryan Anderson got the Magic started as he scored 11 of his 14 points in the first quarter and drained three 3 balls from deep in three point land to aid in the Magic’s attempt to bury the Pacers early.
Fast forward to the 2nd quarter and the Magic seemed to be in playoff form as they went on a 10 – 0 run to end the first half, as Orlando was able to absorb the Pacers best attempt to get back in the game. Magic led 53 – 29 at the halfway point.
Yet while Orlando feared the beard campaign may have frightened the Pacers, probably because of Orlando GM’s Otis Smith hustle-man look-of-a beard, the Magic still turned the ball over 28 times.
“We weren’t sure what the single game turnover record was in franchise history, so we just went all out to try to beat it,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. He went on to state that the team played a number of reserve players an extended period of minutes, which aided in the increased amount of turnovers.
The Magic know that in order to make it back to the Finals they have to learn how to hold on to the ball and not give away four touchdowns worth of turnovers to the opposing team.
Orlando went cold from three point land in the second half. The Magic drained eight balls from behind the arc in the first half and didn’t bank a single three pointer for the rest of the game. Overall Orlando shot 30% from downtown, which is a percentage the team may be able to live with against the Hawks.
Another contributing factor to Orlando’s 18 point victory was their domination in the paint, which I’m sure, was due to their new found love of facial hair. The Magic out rebounded Indiana by 20 for the entire game with big man Dwight Howard leading the way.
Looking forward to Saturday’s playoff game against the Hawks, Howard talked about how Atlanta has defended him differently this season.
“They try to frustrate me, plain and simple, that’s their game plan to try and get me off my game,” said Howard when asked about the Hawks defensive game plan against him.
The Magic ended their regular season with a record of 52 – 30 in front of a sellout crowd of 19,169.
Orlando will need every single seat occupied this Saturday as they host the Atlanta Hawks at Amway Center at 7:00 pm, ET, as the Magic and their scraggly beards attempt to make it back to the NBA Finals.
-JH
