It was “ridiculous professional basketball”.
Those three nasty little words came from none other than Stan Van Gundy himself. After a tough first quarter and a lead of 18-points in the third, the Orlando Magic lost to the Utah Jazz, 104-94, Wednesday night at the Amway Center.
It seemed like Déjà vu. This time on the other hand, the Déjà vu turned into a nightmare for the Magic. For the second straight Wednesday, Orlando played a team that played the Heat in South Florida the night before. For the second time in a week, the Magic lost an 18-point lead. For the second time in a row, Utah came back from a big deficit to win a game.
It was a slow start and Superman Dwight Howard looked like he had found his kryptonite. He scored only 14 points and no surprise; he was 4-11 from the free throw line. Vince Carter led the Magic in scoring with 20 points but it took him 17 shots to get there. He had zero free throw attempts with those 17 shots. Jameer Nelson came back after sitting out two games due to a sprained ankle and scored 19 points.
It all started…
First Quarter was so sloppy it was hard to tell if Utah was displaying great offense or the Magic bad defense. The Jazz took the lead at tip-off and scored the first two points with free throws by Andrei Kirilenko. Right at 7 minutes, Nelson loses the ball after a bad dribble and both teams struggle to find their footing, literally.
As the passes got worse and the crowd got more nervous by the minute, Carter provided a light at the end of the tunnel. With 10 seconds left, a nice defense in the paint lands Orlando the ball. Open, line, shoot! A 3-pointer at 29-feet away at the first quarter buzzer.
Second quarter starts with the Magic ahead 23-22. It wasn’t smooth sailing, both teams continued to struggle with turnovers. After Marcin Gortat makes a tip shot at the 6-minute marker to take the lead back 30-28, time seemed to stop, and so did the scoreboard until Rashard Lewis drew the first technical foul at 4:39. The Magic then seemed to find their balance and closed the second quarter 10 points ahead 45-35.
Illusion or solution?
Third quarter had the ball rolling. After a pep talk at the Magic locker room, Van Gundy’s team was ready to get back on the court. Utah was slow getting back defensively and poor passing led to a bundle of turnovers. Howard with 3:50 left on the buzzer, blocked All Start Deron Williams’ layup attempt into the stands for the second time. The Magic closed the quarter ahead, 74-56.
It was an illusion after all…
Fourth quarter, same team new play. Utah was playing a zone defense now, making it difficult to pass Howard the ball. It wasn’t the play that got the win against the Heat the night before at overtime, but it worked on Wednesday night.
The laid back attitude displayed by the Magic helped the Jazz tie the game 85-85. One by one the points accumulated and suddenly Orlando realized the big lead they had worked hard to build was gone. Utah’s Deron Williams who scored only 8 points in the first half shined on the Amway Center court. He finished the game with a whopping 30 points and 14 assists. It was done. The buzzer sounded and the arena was stunned.
“It’s tough to do,” Utah’s Deron Williams said. “It just happened for us two nights in a row. So consider us lucky.”
Luck it may be, but the Magic’s poor attempt at defense and the 21 turnovers helped too.
“If we’re serious about doing the things we’re talking about doing here like winning a championship, we can’t play like this,” Orlando’s Jameer Nelson said. “We have to learn from this.”
The Magic play Toronto this Friday at home.
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GAME NOTES: Let’s take a moment to celebrate an important person…Stuff, the Magic mascot. An attempt at delivering a happy birthday to Jason William’s mother at the end of the third quarter leaves a Utah fan very disappointed. After he interrupted the celebration by hogging the Magic TV, Magic fans cheered as Stuff tied the fan’s purple hat to blue balloons and let it fly to reach the roof of the grand Amway Center. A fine moment to be remembered.
By Fernanda Barros
Special For West Orlando News Online
