The Magic fall to the Los Angeles Lakers in a very close game, 109-106. Grant Hill had a big game with 20 points, but the Magic couldn't ride the hot hand in the fourth. What also surprised me about the fourth quarter was the decision to keep Tony Battie off the floor. I thought Battie played very well in the third and was fighting for every loose ball. Dwight Howard had an average game with 25 points and 10 rebounds (well, that's average for Dwight).
Not having Trevor Ariza hurt the Magic in the fourth. Kobe Bryant was quiet most of the game, at least until late in the fourth. I'm not saying that Ariza would have done any better job than Hill or Keyon Dooling, but he would have made things a little more difficult.
By the way, where the hell is J.J. Redick? Pat Garrity is getting 4-5 minutes a game and we can't find a way to get Redick in the game. Man, talk about the stars not being perfectly aligned. What is it going to take to get the rookie some playing time?
The rotations have to get better and we have to get Redick some minutes. Other than that, I though the team played very well tonight. To lose by only 3 to the Lakers during a time where the they are probably playing as good as they can is impressive
