Thought I would try something new. For tonight's game, I will do a quarter by quarter analysis. End of first quarter, Magic down by 1, 36-35. No interior defense so far. The Sixers are getting to the basket at will off of dribble penetration. Doug Christie is playing well. Christie knocked down his first shot attempt, then settled in running the offense. His passes have been chrisp and right on target. The Magic seem to move the ball better and move without the ball with Christie running the offense. Dwight Howard has been pretty aggressive tonight and Hedo Turkoglu has a couple 3 pointers already. Half court offense has looked good - but our defense needs to step up. We gave up another 30+ first quarter.
To start the second, we have Jameer Nelson, Stacey Augmon, Christie, Pat Garrity and Tony Battie. Magic go on a big run to really turn this game around. Nelson provides a huge spark off the bench by distributing the ball very well. Garrity finally starts knocking down shots, contributing 13 points off the bench already. Magic switched to a zone defense and slowed down the dribble penetration and the Sixers only scored 5 points in the first 7 minutes of the quarter. Magic finish the quarter with a sweet outside shot by Nelson. Magic by 11, 65-54 at the half.
Magic lay an egg in the third and allow the Sixers to get back into the game. Nelson is playing well tonight and Turk hit a couple big shots. Interior defense has disappeared. Magic are making Sixer, Samuel Dalembert, look like an all-star - even as he plays with 5 fouls. Howard is playing aggressively but is off on the defense tonight - especially on help defense. Magic still up by 1, 84-83.
Magic try to give the game away early, but tough play down the stretch give the Magic the win, 115-111. Allen Iverson makes a couple poor decisions in the final minute and the Magic play good defense to prevent the Sixers from scoring. Howard comes up with a couple big rebounds and free throws at the end of the game to seal the deal.
Steve Francis did not play a great game tonight - but he played hard and ultimately got an offensive put back to put the Magic ahead for good. Magic bench score 47 points. Nelson finishes with 12 points and 7 steals. Howard puts up 21 points and pulls down 9 rebounds. Magic went to Howard in the fourth, taking advantage of Philly's small lineup and Dalembert having 5 fouls. It worked out well for them, they should try this Howard thing a little more often.
