To a vocal and thick crowd (19,107), the moments before tip were filled with music, dance, and stars. Once the dance stopped, Dwight tossed the ball to Nelson for an initial possession. Hedo missed an uncontested three pointer while the Rockets hit their first three-point attempt. One minute later, the Rockets led 5 to 2.
Howard received his first foul (an offensive offense without the ball violation) after 3 minutes of play. After 4 minutes of play the Magic found themselves down 13 to 6. Sensing a sluggish start, Orlando called their first timeout at the 7:38 spot. Looked like Stan Van Gundy either noticed a lack of energy on the court and wanted to scorn his players for their lack of interest or he wanted to get the cheerleaders on the court… I’m going with the cheerleaders.
After an energetic and bouncing performance by the ladies, Hedo drove in for an easy layup. Maybe the timeout was not just an excuse to check out the entertainment. Within two minutes, the Magic cut the lead to 4.
Howard received his second foul at the 4:25 mark and sat comfortably on the sideline. The remainder of the first displayed a lethargic exhibition on both sides of the court from the Magic. If not for Richardson hitting shots like Babe Ruth hitting homers, the Magic would be in more than a pickle.
End of the first, Houston led 28 to 27
Second quarter found Howard back on the floor to throw down his first second quarter attempt. Over the next few minutes both teams made shots at will (or could it be that neither team played defense?). Howard secured his third foul after 2 minutes of play. Bass subbed for the big guy and two minutes later hit two out of two. The Magic took the lead 37 to 36. The remainder of the half was, to put it bluntly, rather boring. There seemed to be an obvious lack of effort and NO sense of urgency. From the looks of it, both teams were playing for the final quarter.
24 and 24 to go:
? Magic took the first half, 53 to 50
? Howard was off the court longer than on the court (playing 10:02 minutes total)
? Kevin Martin led all scorers with 19
Third quarter found Howard back in the game and two teams eager to get to the final 12 minutes. Come to think of it, so was I. Truth be told, the Rockets started the third fatigued; perhaps the Magic should thank Miami? No matter the cause, running out of gas is never fun. After 4-1/2 minutes into the third, Houston called a timeout for a tank of oxygen, finding themselves down 66 to 55 and out of breath.
Strategic Inhale: Not effective as the Magic increased their lead to 16 after 60 seconds of play. Another Rocket timeout at 5:31, trailing 74 to 55.
36 and 12 to go:
? Magic 92, Rockets 71
? Magic shot 58% from inside the arc and 100% at the line
Fourth quarter for all practical purposes was a technicality. All in the house knew who was going to win, we just wondered by how many points. I’ll keep the suspense short… Magic finished the game with a non-impressive victory, 110 to 95.
Overall, another non-inspired performance. Don’t let the score fool you, the Magic performed poorly yet the Rockets performed marginally worse.
dhuffman
