Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Read more…

Photo by Handout/Getty Images

It’s May and the Orlando Magic aren’t playing basketball right now.

Weird.

The last time the Magic weren’t playing basketball in May was in 2007 when they were swept by the Detroit Pistons in the first round, which was Brian Hill’s final year as the head coach. Once head coach Stan Van Gundy arrived, Orlando became accustomed to continuing their season beyond April to the months of May and June but not this time around.

Instead, the Magic are spectators and sitting at home after losing to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

As such, it seems appropriate to look back at what happened in the postseason for Orlando and chime in on Dwight Howard‘s future with the franchise. So without further ado, welcome to Magic Basketball’s first in-house roundtable discussion.

Credit goes to Matt Scribbins for the questions.

_______

If ifs and buts were candy and Zaza head-butts, the Magic would still be in the playoffs. What is your #1 if?

Nate Drexler: It would have been nice to see a healthy Magic team in the playoffs. If Gilbert Arenas was at 100 percent for the second half of the season, for instance, things would have played out differently. I only say it because Hibachi is a tremendous player, and the reason so many people are frustrated with his huge contract and poor play is they know what a huge impact he can have on a team.  As for this season, he was dead wood. That is why my biggest “if” is having Gilbert mentally and physically peaked for the playoffs.

Danny Nowell: The biggest if, for me, is what if Hedo Turkoglu had been the same Hedo Turkoglu that propelled the 2009 run. I know, I know, it’s easy to make him a scapegoat—and it’s not like he’s getting younger, so maybe his decline is strictly about aging—but what else would the Magic have realistically been able to get that they needed? Jameer [Nelson] showed up in spurts, Dwight had an historically good series; I think the key could have been a big ball handler that was aggressive when he needed to be and a creator when he didn’t. Hedo’s play was almost the direct inverse of that.

Matt Scribbins: The Magic would still be in the playoffs if they had a legitimate option on offense besides Dwight Howard. With help from the Basketball Reference database, I learned only seven players since 1947 have made 20 or fewer shots while attempting 68+ in the playoffs. Hedo Turkoglu did just that this post-season and bricked his way into the record books.  Hedo, one of the worst shooters in NBA playoff history, actually out did himself and provided his worst playoff shooting performance ever.

Read more…

Game 6

PPP = Points Per Possession

Orlando offense
The spot-up game continued to be a key for Orlando. The Magic made 5-10 attempts on Thursday, but missed all four beyond the arc. In the regular season, Orlando averaged 1.05 PPP, which was the 5th best mark in the league. However, the Magic were held under 1.0 PPP in five of six playoff games and held under 0.5 PPP in three games.

Orlando’s ball handlers used a series low 16 possessions and provided a relatively modest performance in Game 6. They scored 0.81 PPP, which fell slightly below their elite 0.86 PPP rate in the regular season. Hedo Turkoglu didn’t do the Magic any favors in this area as he missed all five of his shot attempts. Jameer Nelson was superb and made 3-4 shots, including two driving layups and one long jumper.

I may have already mentioned this, but Orlando is dominant when they utilize roll men off the pick-and-roll. The Magic posted an absurd 1.6 PPP on Thursday. Stan Van Gundy called for the play four times in the 4th quarter and Dwight provided two dunks in his three attempts. Ryan Anderson’s three ball cut Atlanta’s lead to two with 4:40 left in the game.

The Magic isolated 13.48% of the time in Game 6, a hefty increase from their next highest percentage, 6.67%, in Game 1. Hedo made two of his three isolation three-point attempts, and his first make cut Atlanta’s lead to one in the 2nd half.

The post-up game recorded the lowest PPP of the series in Game 6. Dwight made three of eight shots and Brandon Bass missed his only attempt to leave Orlando with 0.5 PPP.

Jason Richardson propelled the offense to 1.17 PPP running off screens. He scored Orlando’s first bucket of the game after running off a screen set by Dwight Howard. Obviously, J.J. Redick missed a crucial three-point attempt after using a Howard screen at the end of the game.

Orlando defense
Atlanta used nearly 1/5 of their possessions in isolation and didn’t have much to show for it. They scored 0.47 PPP, by far their lowest rate of the series. The Hawks only made 22.2% of their isolation shots (4-18). Naturally, Joe Johnson was the main offender and made three of his 12 attempts.

The Hawks are not a running team and didn’t turn into one on Thursday. Nonetheless, they were effective when they did. On seven possessions, Atlanta posted 1.14 PPP and it was the only time in the series they exceeded 1.00 PPP.

Orlando put the clamps on Atlana’s post-up game in Game 6, and the Hawks scored a paltry 0.57 PPP. Al Horford and Josh Smith combined to shoot 1-7 in these situations.

The spot-up shooting for Atlanta maintained a scintillating rate. The Hawks 11th ranked unit made mincemeat of Orlando’s 5th ranked spot-up defense throughout the entire series, and the final game was no different. The Hawks shot 10-22 overall and made seven of their 14 attempts from downtown. Orlando held opponents to 0.94 PPP in spot-up situations during the regular season, but the Hawks scored 1.04+ in five of six playoff contests.

AP Photo/John Amis

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic face a long, uncertain offseason. Those months off will be filled with questions about how a season that started with such promise ended with such overwhelming disappointment. A team that advanced to the NBA Finals in 2009 and reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2010 didn’t go beyond the first round this year. This postseason ended Thursday night after the Magic fell 84-81 in Game 6 of their opening-round series to the Atlanta Hawks. [...] The series concluded, appropriately enough, on a pair of misfired 3-pointers. J.J. Redick missed a wide-open shot that would’ve tied the game with 3.9 seconds remaining — a shot he’d likely sink eight out of 10 times inside Amway Center’s gym. [...] The Magic had another chance to tie the score after Atlanta’s Al Horford collected the loose ball and stepped on the baseline with 1.8 seconds left. But Jason Richardson, playing on an injured left heel, put up a desperation heave that Hawks forward Josh Smith blocked easily. The final play set off a wild celebration inside Philips Arena, the same place where the Magic completed a second-round sweep of the Hawks last year.”
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “The road of regression is complete. The Magic have come to a devastatingly depressing dead end. From NBA Finals two years ago to first-round losers Thursday night. They used to run with Lakers and Celtics; now they can’t even hang with the Hawks. So where do they go now after this devastating 84-81 season-ending loss to Atlanta? Where do they go now that they have become lost on this highway to nothingness? Team CEO Bob Vander Weide has already said nobody is getting fired and that he is happy with general manager Otis Smith and coach Stan Van Gundy. But as Van Gundy said before tipoff Thursday night, ‘Those votes of confidence are usually the kiss of death in this game.’ Of course, Van Gundy was joking even though this is not a joking matter. We are, after all, only talking about the future of the franchise here. And since it appears nobody else will take the fall, I guess I will. If Vander Weide needs a scapegoat, I’ll take the blame. I’ll volunteer to be fired – as long as I get Van Gundy’s $8 million buyout. It was me, after all, who provided the Hawks their fuel and fire heading into Game 6.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “In a cruel, twisted sort of way, it was only fitting Thursday night that the biggest play of a game that ultimately ended the Orlando Magic’s season came down to an offensive rebound. As had been the case all night long, Atlanta got the rebound and the Magic didn’t. And because the Magic struggled on the boards early in the game and again at the end, their season abruptly ended in the first round – well short of the stated goal of winning a championship. When the Magic couldn’t corral an offensive rebound with 10 seconds to play in a one-point game, they were forced to foul Jamal Crawford, who buried two free throws. Orlando was left with a clear 3-point look by J.J. Redick to tie, but when the shot hit off the back iron, the stunned Magic were left to contemplate an 84-81 Game 6 defeat and a 4-2 loss in the series to the rival Hawks.”
• Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post: “The Atlanta Hawks ended the Orlando Magic’s season Thursday night with an 84-81 victory in Game Six of their playoff series, and for the first time in four seasons, the Magic failed to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Joe Johnson scored 23 for Atlanta, while Jamal Crawford added 19, but their combined 16-of-41 shooting attests to the fact that the Hawks took this game for reasons apart from their offense. Indeed, the Hawks–the league’s second-worst offensive rebounding team in the regular season–snared 36.8 percent of their own misses Thursday night against a Magic team which led the league in defensive rebounding. As a result of the offensive boards and frequent misses, the Hawks finished the game with 12 more field-goal attempts than the Magic, which may have been the difference in a three-point game.”
• Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “They’d been the better team through four games, and then they lost Game 5 and folks started talking about how lousy they were. An Orlando Sentinel columnist called them the Birdbrains, which sounded a bit strange: If the Hawks were such plods, why were they still leading? The same scribe predicted the Magic, having won one game in a row, would outsmart the Hawks and win the series. And maybe if this were “Jeopardy” they would have. But this is basketball, and at last check MIT hasn’t been to the Final Four lately. And Orlando won’t be going to Round 2 of these NBA playoffs. The Atlanta Birdbrains will.”
• Bret LaGree of Hoopinion: “The Atlanta Hawks took control of this game in the first quarter on the strength of the defense played by Jason Collins and Kirk Hinrich. Without the play of those two without the ball in their hands, Jamal Crawford and Marvin Williams don’t get a chance to make the jump shots that clinched the game for the Hawks (to the extent that Orlando missing open jump shots didn’t clinch the game for the Hawks). Hinrich didn’t just stifle Jameer Nelson when given the chance to play. He, in the first quarter, dug down very effectively on Howard (as Collins used his bulk to hold him up) and salvaged points from more than one sluggard and potentially empty Atlanta possession. {…] To Larry Drew’s credit, he came up with an effective game plan to defend the Magic over 10 matchups this season. That’s a huge step forward from the 2010 playoffs even if he didn’t always stick with said plan. It turns out that a fixation on Dwight Howard had real, tangible value for the 2010-11 Atlanta Hawks.”

AP Photo/John Amis

BOX SCORE

The Atlanta Hawks were able to defeat the Orlando Magic by the score of 84-81, winning the series 4-2 and exacting revenge from last year’s sweep in the 2010 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals. For the Magic, this is the first time they’ve lost in the first round of the playoffs during head coach Stan Van Gundy‘s tenure with the franchise. The last time Orlando got bounced this early was in 2007. After trailing by as many as 11 points in the game, the Magic made a furious charge in the fourth quarter and were able to cut the deficit to 82-81 with 34.3 seconds left in regulation after a layup by Jameer Nelson. However, being out-rebounded was the prime culprit for the loss and it was exemplified on the ensuing possession. Marvin Williams missed a three-pointer that would have iced the game for the Hawks but he missed the shot, and Joe Johnson was able to get the offensive rebound. Thus forcing Orlando to foul. Jamal Crawford made the two free-throws, which meant the Magic need a game-tying three-pointer to extend their season. J.J. Redick got a clean look thanks in large part to Van Gundy’s play design coming out of the timeout. But Redick missed. However, Al Horford stepped out of bounds after he rebounded the basketball, which meant Orlando had one more chance to tie. Yet Josh Smith was able to block Jason Richardson‘s three-point attempt and just like that, the Magic’s season was over. Atlanta was led by a balanced attack, as five players scored in double-figures. Johnson finished with 23 points (on 10-of-25 shooting from the field), 10 rebounds, and four assists. Crawford contributed with 19 points and two steals. Horford chipped in with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists, while Kirk Hinrich had 11 points and Williams had 10 points. Dwight Howard finished an exemplary series by tallying 25 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks but it wasn’t enough to save Orlando from elimination. The lack of consistent production from the Magic’s supporting cast was largely to blame for the series loss, undermining Howard’s brilliance.

Read more…

• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “J-Rich scored just four and eight points in the first two games, and then was suspended for Game 4 and is averaging just 10.8 points per game in the playoffs. Most importantly, they need [Jason] Richardson to prevent Hawks all-star Joe Johnson from getting the shots he wants and dominating the perimeter. This is just as big a moment for Johnson. He took the money in a wild free-agent derby last summer — re-signing with Atlanta for $100 million — instead of perhaps finding a stronger contender. Now the eyes are on Johnson to justify his deal in either Game 6 or 7. Johnson fizzled in Game 5 in Orlando, held to five points after scoring 20 or more in three of the four previous games. The outcome tonight likely will rest on whomever dominates this match-up.”
• Head coach Stan Van Gundy jokes around about receiving the dreaded “vote of confidence.”
• Josh Smith reacts to an article in the Orlando Sentinel.
• Gilbert Arenas needs to continue his recent stretch of good play.
• Grant Hill talks about what went wrong with his ankle when he signed with the Orlando Magic as a free agent in 2000: “I don’t think anybody really knows I started to have ankle problems at the end of the 1999-2000 season, probably mid-March. I was still able to go out and play. I still played well, but I was getting a lot of treatment. It was certainly bothering me. As we got closer to the end of the season, my ankle was really getting worse. I was missing practice. To the point where we had a nationally televised game against Philadelphia and I just pulled myself. My ankle was just killing me. We get back, we get an MRI. They say it’s a bone bruise. It’s still bothering me. I pull myself in the third quarter. They put me on some heavy medication and we had a long break between Game 1 and Game 2. While I was on this medication I felt great. Obviously it was masking the pain. Went out and played in Game 2 and I felt a pop in the second quarter, continued on in the third quarter and couldn’t go on. When we got back, we found out it was broken.”
• Make sure to check out the remainder of Hill’s explanation. It’s revealing.
• Trey Kerby of The Basketball Jones chimes in on Hill’s story.
• Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don’t Lie: “Nearly every road game of Hill’s final season as a Detroit Piston saw countless writers ask Hill about his plans for the summer of 2000, when Hill himself didn’t know where he was eventually headed, and the whole experience took its toll on a middling Pistons team. So much so that Hill, ever the professional, likely ruined his career in order to avoid of-their-day charges that he was taking it easy in his potential final days as a Piston. Detroit was in the running for a playoff spot deep in the 1999-00 season when Hill came up lame with an ankle injury, and immediately the on-record catcalls wondered aloud as to the severity of the injury, and whether or not it was just the free agent to-be’s way of guarding himself as the big pay day approached in the summertime.”
• Matt Moore of CBSSports.com previews Game 6 between the Magic and Atlanta Hawks: “The Magic really showed they were a better team when the shots were falling in Game 5. That has to put the fear of God into Atlanta. If the Hawks don’t get a break and have the Magic miss a few early ones, Atlanta could come undone. This is a deciding game in this series, and not just because the Magic remain on the edge of elimination. A loss and the Hawks enter full-on meltdown mode. Just like that, a series that looked to be theirs can wind up firmly in Orlando’s grasp.”
• Had Hill been healthy with Orlando, history would have changed.
• What are the odds that Dwight Howard remains with the Magic beyond 2012? Moore thinks Howard should stay: “You want to be an all-time player? You want to win a championship? Be the building block of the franchise. Otis Smith has shown he’s willing to do what it takes to make it happen. Bail and you’re just another attention-seeking bandwagon jumper. It’s his right to leave. Doesn’t mean he should.”
• Do the Magic need to rebuild? Chris Broussard of ESPN Insider makes his case that they do.

Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Stan Van Gundy reached into his bag of rhetorical tricks Wednesday — all the way back to his seventh-grade phys-ed class. Van Gundy and his classmates were about to do a six-minute run as part of a physical-fitness test, and one of Van Gundy’s friends asked, ‘Coach, how do we pace ourselves in this?’ The P.E. teacher responded, ‘Gentlemen, go out as fast as you can and gradually increase your speed.’ Van Gundy recounted that anecdote as the Orlando Magic prepared to face the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 Thursday night at Philips Arena. The Magic trail the series three games to two and need to win to stave off elimination. [...] If there’s been any commonality to the Magic’s road losses in this series — aside, that is, from Orlando’s awful shooting and poor perimeter defense — it’s been slow starts by the Magic. In those defeats, the Magic didn’t meet the Hawks’ energy level early on. The result: Orlando never led in the first quarter and never led by more than two points in either of the games. Those poor beginnings spurred the Hawks’ notoriously late-arriving fans and made Philips Arena a tough venue for the Magic.”
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Whether the Orlando Magic win or lose their first-round series to the Atlanta Hawks, coach Stan Van Gundy and General Manager Otis Smith both will be coming back next season. Magic CEO Bob Vander Weide told the Sentinel on Wednesday that he and owner Rich DeVos‘ family feel comfortable and confident in Van Gundy and Smith. [...] Smith and Van Gundy received contract extensions last summer through the 2012-13 season. The Magic’s struggles against the Hawks, plus their slide to 52 wins this season after two questionable mid-season trades, drew speculation about job security for Van Gundy and Smith — Smith in particular.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “With his Orlando Magic seemingly down on their luck and desperate to somehow save their season, owner Rich DeVos made his way to the locker room to offer up what just might have been the biggest assist of the night. DeVos, one of the richest men in the world, told the Magic players down in the series against the Atlanta Hawks about a time when he could relate to their plight as frustrated and feeling hopeless. With his Amway empire still in its infancy, DeVos told the players of how he unsuccessfully traveled to China three different times in an attempt to grow his fledgling business. Just as he was about to give up, DeVos gave it a go for a fourth time – and this time the results were dramatically different. ‘The fourth time, we got it going and now we have a $5 billion business in China,’ DeVos told the team. The message applied to the Magic because they were down 3-1, but responded Tuesday night to stave off elimination by whipping the Atlanta Hawks 101-76 at the Amway Center. Clearly, the message about perseverance resonated with the Magic. Franchise center Dwight Howard’s eyebrows raised and Chris Duhon audibly muttered the word, ‘Wow!’ when DeVos talked about the powers of simply sticking with a pursuit.”
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “There’s the history of the NBA playoffs, and there’s the recent chronicles of the Hawks. The former gives the Magic just a 4 percent chance to win their best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series against the Hawks after trailing 3-1. The latter is a story of postseason basketball that includes blowout losses, letdowns and series with promising starts followed by excruciating finishes. One bad night in Orlando encapsulated all of that. It’s not just that the Hawks lost Game 5 on Tuesday, it’s that they folded once the Magic surged to a commanding early lead. The nature of the 101-76 defeat is why the Hawks were queried about their state of mind, despite still leading the series 3-2 entering Game 6 on Thursday at Philips Arena.”
• Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “This much is true: The Hawks did not lose game five to Orlando by 25 points solely because Johnson made only two of 12 shots, at least when we even noticed he was on the floor. They all stunk. But Johnson didn’t do nearly enough to prevent the loss – or even collective team humiliation – from happening. And yes, he does deserve a greater share of the blame than Josh Smith or Jamal Crawford or anybody else on the roster because more is expected from him. Such are the little inconveniences that come with a $123.7 million contract.”

Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images

Before the playoffs started, I previewed Orlando’s first round matchup using data from Synergy Sports Technology. Last week, we looked at the playoff games in Atlanta. Today, let’s examine the results from the contest in Orlando.

Game 5

PPP = Points Per Possession

Orlando offense
The Magic shot 11-26 beyond the arc and it seemed like a Big Foot sighting. However, it wasn’t too far off their typical production. In the 2010-2011 regular season, Orlando attempted 20+ three-pointers and made 40% or more on 29 different occasions. 29!

J.J. Redick supplied shooting sorcery as he went 6-8 to spark the Magic. He scored two buckets in transition and made the rest as the ball handler in pick-and-roll situations. His jumper over Kirk Hinrich at the end of the first quarter put Orlando up 14 and he went to the line to complete the old fashioned three-point play. The former Blue Devil provided a great boost off the bench without even attempting a shot beyond the arc.

Two days removed from posting 0.44 PPP in spot-up situations, a rejuvenated Magic squad delivered 0.95 PPP. Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson, and Ryan Anderson all made multiple spot-up attempts.

Orlando used possessions in transition more often in Game 5 than the any other playoff game. The team averaged 0.93 PPP and Anderson, Jameer Nelson, and Quentin Richardson all knocked down threes on the run.

All season long, the Magic have made an effort to post-up against Atlanta. In the first four playoff games, they never posted-up fewer than 21 times. On Tuesday, Orlando only went to the move on eight occasions, and Brandon Bass and Jason Richardson were responsible for the only buckets.

Orlando defense
The Hawks went to isolation plays frequently in the previous four games, but in Game 5, Atlanta only isolated 12.6% of the time. The next closest total was 17% of their plays in Game 3. Joe Johnson isolated four times yesterday and each of his attempts came against a different defender.

The Hawks, specifically Jamal Crawford, tore Orlando apart shooting off screens in Games 1 through 4. On Tuesday, the Hawks scored 0.57 PPP and misfired on all four attempts in the 1st quarter.

Orlando was upper echelon at stopping roll men during the regular season, but in the playoffs, Atlanta found success. In Game 5, Atlanta barely went to the play and missed on both of their shots from roll men.

The Magic coxed the Hawks into their most spot-up attempts so far in Game 5. The Hawks chucked it up 26 times and scored 1.04 PPP, their second lowest rate through five games.

Another area Atlanta was terrible in was transition. The Hawks used 13 possessions running, a playoff high, and clanged all five of their three-point attempts.

Game 5 was a reappearance of the 2010 NBA Playoffs. Now, the Magic head to Atlanta, where they haven’t won this season. Let’s hope The Otis Smith 11 can put Dwight Howard on their back again on Thursday and force Game 7.

Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images

• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “For the first four games of this playoff series, the Orlando Magic could depend on only one player: Dwight Howard. No one else hit shots consistently. No one else defended game-in, game-out effectively. And no one else brought the necessary intensity at the beginning of games. But with their team facing elimination Tuesday night, the rest of the Magic finally had Howard’s back. On an evening Howard faced early foul trouble, his much-maligned supporting cast turned Game 5 — and perhaps the series itself — on its ear. J.J. Redick, Jason Richardson and the rest of the roster propelled the Magic to a 101-76 thrashing of the Atlanta Hawks at Amway Center. Still, there actually was a time Tuesday when it seemed like the Magic might not force a Game 6. [...] Howard committed his second personal foul on a reach-in with 5:40 remaining in the first quarter and the Magic leading only 10-8. Coach Stan Van Gundy had to pull Howard out of the game. When Howard has been off the floor earlier in the series, the Magic played like Samson without his hair. But not this time. Led by Redick, the Magic closed out the quarter on a 16-5 run.”
• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “If there was any Magic player who actually would dare to offer shooting tips on his website, it had to be J.J. Redick. The way Magic players were misfiring jumpers during the series against the Hawks, they should have been taking advice — and taking out liability insurance. Redick does have an instructional shooting video on the market (“Better Basketball With J.J. Redick), and gives folks some pointers on his site in ‘J.J’s Shooting Drills.’ Redick, though, wasn’t exactly coming through as a company spokesman until it counted most — in Tuesday night’s elimination game. J.J. helped break the game open in the first quarter, hitting five straight baskets to ignite the wipe-out, the first a driving, reverse layup. [...] He finished making 6-of-8 shots for 14 points. He oddly found a way to beat the Hawks’ defense that hugged the 3-point line — J.J. didn’t take any. He relied more on pick-and-rolls and curl patterns to spring him free, shades of his Duke days.”
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “With the Magic season hanging in the balance and the future of the franchise at stake, Orlando needed somebody to step up and help out Dwight Howard Tuesday. Guess what? Somebody didn’t step up. Everybody did. Howard scored 46 points and pulled down 19 rebounds in Game 1 and the Magic lost by 10. He had his worst statistical game of the series (8 points, 8 rebounds) Tuesday and the Magic won by 25. Go figure. J.J. Redick ignited the Magic by scoring 10 straight points at one juncture in the first half when Howard was on the bench with foul trouble. Jason Richardson returned from his one-game suspension to lead the team with 17 points. Gilbert Arenas was a major contributor yet again. And the Magic, who shot miserably from beyond the arc during the first three games of this series, hit 11-of-26 treys in Game 5.”
• Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Orlando Magic played their best defensive game of the playoffs during Tuesday night’s 101-76 win over the Atlanta Hawks, holding the Hawks to a series-worst 36.2 shooting percentage and 76 points on 91 possessions. The Magic’s defense has held the Hawks in check for the most part in this series, but they took it to another level in Game 5, swarming the perimeter and protecting the rim almost flawlessly. The Hawks had very, very few easy baskets and seemingly had a Magic player crowding the ball at all times. Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson — averaging a combined 44 points per game for the series coming into the game — scored just 13 total points on 20 percent shooting. It’s difficult to imagine the Magic playing much better on defense.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “On a night when even the team’s mascot, Stuff, banked in a halfcourt shot during a timeout skit early in the game, the Orlando Magic finally found their shooting strokes from afar and breathed some life back into this best-of-seven series. The Magic battered Atlanta early and often by raining in 3-pointers from all corners of the Amway Center to win 101-76 going away in send-a-message style to the embarrassed Hawks. Orlando staved off elimination, pulled within 3-2 in the series and set the stage for what could be an epic Game 6 in Atlanta on Thursday night.”
• Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post: “Tonight’s game represents what some folks expected might happen in this series: the Magic tear the Hawks apart with Howard inside and the three-point shooters outside, while Atlanta clanks jumper after jumper. That summation is a bit reductive, I admit, but when one considers the Magic’s convincing sweep of the Hawks last season, as well as the Hawks’ six-game losing skid to end the regular season and their negative point differential, it’s not too terribly far off the mark. But nobody could have counted on Orlando’s unbearably bad three-point shooting to date, even accounting for the Hawks’ fourth-ranked three-point defense. Nor could anyone have known Crawford would become the first reserve in six seasons to score 20-plus points in four straight games, or that Hedo Turkoglu would shoot worse than every volume-volume shooter since 1995. All those factors set the stage for the Magic fighting to stay alive Tuesday in just their fifth game this postseason.”
• Michael Cunningham of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “After taking a beating from the Magic, the Hawks return to Atlanta facing familiar questions about how far they have really come. Down 3-1 in the series and facing elimination, the Magic struck back for a 101-76 victory at Amway Center. The Hawks still have home-court advantage and history on their side. They can win the series with a victory in Game 6 on Thursday at Philips Arena, and only eight of 194 NBA teams that have faced a 3-1 series deficit have rallied to win. But Tuesday the Hawks looked nothing like the focused, poised group that had won six of eight games against the Magic this season. The Hawks instead resembled the group that Orlando swept by an NBA-record margin of 101 points in the second round of the 2010 playoffs.”
• Jeff Schultz of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Remember these guys? This is what you feared. Not a game, but a cartoon. Not a loss, but four quarters of exploding body parts. For most of four playoff games against Orlando, we saw what the Hawks were capable of. Then we saw what we already knew they were capable of because they showed it all too often during their bipolar season. Before the game was half over Tuesday night, the Hawks trailed by 10, then 15, then 25, and then everybody pretty much stopped paying attention. Now the doubt is back in Atlanta, and the hope is back in Orlando.”
• Bret LaGree of Hoopinion: “It’s just one game and some history still awaits the Hawks if they can win at home on Thursday or even in Orlando on Saturday but the chance to record an, if not outright impressive, at least a feel-good series victory likely passed them by tonight. The Hawks took bad shots, their head coach created foul trouble where none yet existed, that choice put an inferior defensive unit on the floor for long stretches of the first half, the Hawks fell way behind, and they tried to catch up by taking more bad shots. A familiar tale for the 2010-11 Hawks.”

BOX SCORE

Able to stave off elimination and avoid ending their season on their home court, the Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Atlanta Hawks by the score of 101-76 and force a Game 6 on Thursday on the road. One of the running narratives in the series has centered on the Magic’s three-point shooting, and how awful it’s been. Heading into Game 5, Orlando was shooting 21.8 percent from three-point range. Even though the Hawks deserve credit for being able to stymie the Magic’s army of three-point shooters, that’s still an abnormally low percentage and more of a statistical anomaly than anything else. During the regular season, Orlando shot 36.6 percent on threes and sooner or later, the odds of them regressing to the mean were high. The question was whether or not it’d be too late. Well, if the Game 5 result is any indication, the answer is no. The Magic shot 11-of-26 (42.3 percent) from three-point range and finally played up to their potential on both ends of the floor. Orlando was led by a balanced attack, as nine players scored seven points or more. Jason Richardson paced the starters with 17 points, returning from his Game 4 suspension and making a positive impact offensively. J.J. Redick stood out among the reserves with 14 points on eight shots in less than 20 minutes of playing time. It speaks volumes that the Magic were able to crush the Hawks by 25 points, given that Dwight Howard only had eight points and eight rebounds, but it says more so that the supporting cast was able to step up.

Read more…