Orlando dropped another game tonight, extending the losing streak to 13 games. Indiana out hustled the Magic to an 89-78 win. The Magic played a good first half. While most of the crowd cheered - there was a few points where you could almost hear the breaking point. The breaking point is where the fans are cheering because they know the players are doing their best and would cheer until the end. A certain energy comes from that. But the players could not keep that energy up long enough for the crowd to turn the corner. Everyone was still cheering, but it was more out of support than true belief.
I have spent many games in the O-rena and I can firsthand tell you the difference in feeling when the fans cheer for the sake of cheering and when they cheer for hustle. We wanted so badly to turn the corner and erupt - but something would happen and the energy would die down.
Postgame quotes are essentially the same thing we have been hearing all year. They gave everything they had - we're just lacking a little something. I really do not think the players are playing hard enough, at least not for 48 minutes. Donnell Harvey played a lot better tonight. Harvey played like he should have all year long. He was hustling, grabbing rebounds and loose balls. The only problem was that he was obviously winded during stretches.
