Posts Tagged → Orlando Magic
Appreciating Dwight Howard’s greatness
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
It’s hard out here for Orlando Magic fans.
The Magic lost in the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs to the Atlanta Hawks.
There’s so much uncertainty surrounding Dwight Howard‘s future.
And general manager Otis Smith‘s continued quest to to find the right combination of players to surround Howard in hopes of being an elite team and championship contender before it’s too late is a difficult one, given that he’s dealing with the nearly unmovable contracts of Gilbert Arenas and Hedo Turkoglu as well as a shallow talent pool.
To be honest, the Magic are reaching a crossroads as a franchise and there’s not a lot of positive things to talk about right now.
However, it never hurts to look back and appreciate the MVP-caliber season that Dwight Howard had for Orlando, especially in the playoffs where he elevated his level of play to transcendent heights.
Despite being undermined by the lack of consistent contributions from his supporting cast, Howard was a man amongst boys against the Hawks. That description couldn’t be more apt than in Game 1 when Howard had 46 points and 19 rebounds. Howard’s point total was a playoff career-high and it also tied the franchise playoff record for most points scored in a game — Tracy McGrady had 46 points against the Detroit Pistons in a game during the first round of the 2003 NBA Playoffs. The 31 points that Howard scored in the first half was a franchise playoff record for most points scored in a half. Needless to say, Howard had a record-setting night.
Even though the Magic lost Game 1 despite Howard’s herculean efforts, it’s worth taking a look back at his performance because it’s a perfect example of the evolution he’s undertaken on offense. Everyone and their mother talked about Howard working out with Hakeem Olajuwon during the offseason, and Game 1 was an example of that hard work paying off. Rather than track every single basket offensively for Howard, let’s take a look at his first half output.
Wednesday’s Magic Word
- Zach McCann of the Orlando Sentinel: “Earl Clark is thankful the Phoenix Suns agreed to trade him to the Orlando Magic as part of the six-player, blockbuster deal in mid-December. The move to Orlando might have saved his NBA career. Earlier this year, when the Suns declined to pick up Clark’s $2 million option to keep him for the 2011-12 season — making him a free agent this summer — Clark took it personally and wondered what his NBA future would entail. He barely played in Phoenix, had a reputation as a not-so-hard worker and was stuck between forward positions. It appeared Clark would be competing to make an NBA squad from the end of a bench on a new team next season. But that all changed in December when the Suns sent Clark to the Magic in the deal that brought Hedo Turkoglu and Jason Richardson to Orlando. The fresh start rejuvenated Clark, a second-year player out of Louisville.”
- The Orlando Magic’s search for a shooting guard continues.
- An update on Daniel Orton.
- Ric Bucher of ESPN.com talks about his back-and-forth discussion with Dwight Howard in the locker room when the Magic lost Game 3 against the Atlanta Hawks.
- Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com recaps Orlando’s season and ends with this note: “It will be fascinating to see what the Magic try to do this offseason in an effort to bounce back and return to championship-level form. Except for J-Rich, everyone on the Magic’s roster is under contract for next season. Since Richardson was very valuable to Orlando since his arrival, it’s certainly possible that Otis [Smith] will try and re-sign him to a long-term deal. Otherwise, if there are any changes to the Magic those alterations will likely come in the form of trades.”
- Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider provides a solution for the Magic’s woes but not before warning that the task to improve will be difficult: “The Magic could blow it up again, but “it” is rubble anyway. We saw this season that there’s no such thing as an unmovable contract — interestingly enough, thanks to Magic GM Otis Smith — but the stock of [Gilbert] Arenas and Turkoglu has fallen so low that they’re glorified sunk costs at this point. If this sounds like we’re painting a grim picture here, that’s because it is a grim picture. There are no easy answers here, but this is the bed that Smith made. They have no room to sign anyone in free agency and they don’t have the positioning in the draft to pluck an instant contributor. Flexibility-wise, Smith is in a straitjacket, and his only hope is that Arenas and Turkoglu do their best Benjamin Button impressions or accept buyouts. Both scenarios are pipedreams.”
Many needs and few assets
AP Photo/John Bazemore
Via Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel:
An unconventional power forward, [Ryan] Anderson intrigues teams. He has size at 6-feet 10, can shoot the 3 and could be a better post-up player with some weight-room work. What also is appealing is Anderson’s salary over the next three seasons: $1.4 million, $2.2 million, $3.2 million. He could be the “sweetener” the [Orlando] Magic would have to add to a deal that returns a starting shooting guard or power forward.
What the Magic have with [Brandon] Bass, in reality, is a starting power forward that would be a solid back-up on other teams. If you could only splice Bass and Anderson together in some Swedish laboratory, you’d have a star, although neither are great defenders. Bass is labeled “No-Pass Bass” because you’ll seldom get the ball back from him. But he can shoot it from medium range, and he also has a power game. Too bad he’s only about 6-7. Like Anderson, he has a friendly contract ($4 mill for each of the next two seasons.)
I think shooting guard J.J. Redick has some value as a 3-point threat and ball-mover, although teams aren’t wild about his remaining two seasons at $6.5 million and $6 million.
Locked into some long-term contracts and in a salary-cap situation comparable to the national debt, the Magic can only hope that Hedo Turkoglu and Chris Duhon rebound to increase their value. Gilbert Arenas? Even if he bounced back, other franchises still fear his dog-eared baggage.
General manager Otis Smith has his work cut out for him in the offseason. The blockbuster trades in December have left Smith with little wiggle room to fix the roster.
The rise and fall of the Orlando Magic
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Via Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel:
As the franchise attempts to sort out exactly what went wrong, where 2010-11 turned for the worse, they can point to a mystifying playoff shooting slump or to some superb clutch shots by the Atlanta Hawks’ Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson or even to a few unfortunate bounces of the basketball.
But the [Orlando] Magic likely would be better served to recall Dec. 18, the day their team completed two high-risk trades that would define their season and might limit many of their seasons to come.
The team acquired Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark from the Phoenix Suns for Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, a 2011 first-round pick and cash. The Magic also obtained Gilbert Arenas for Rashard Lewis.
Those deals provided the Magic an immediate short-term infusion of energy and offensive skill that led to a nine-game winning streak in late December and early January. But the longer-term aftereffects weakened Orlando’s defense, put additional pressure on center Dwight Howard and didn’t give the team the additional offensive firepower it needed at playoff time. [...]
[Otis] Smith never could have foreseen that Richardson would get into an altercation with Zaza Pachulia that led to Richardson’s ejection for Game 3′s final minutes and Richardson’s subsequent Game 4 suspension. Smith also can’t be blamed for Richardson stepping on some broken glass while in bare feet last Tuesday, an accident that slowed Richardson in Game 5 and severely hobbled Richardson in Game 6.
Indeed, take away either the altercation or the accident, and the Magic might be preparing now for the playoffs’ second round.
But although Richardson displayed toughness, he didn’t develop into the consistent, dependable second scoring that the Magic needed to complement Howard on offense.
Neither did Turkoglu, who became more of a passer than a shooter after a mesmerizing 17-assist performance on Jan. 8 in Dallas. Indeed, Turkoglu made just over 29 percent of his shots in the playoffs and couldn’t match the quickness and explosiveness of his Atlanta counterpart, Josh Smith.
Starting in the next week or so, the rise and fall of the Orlando Magic as an elite team and championship contender will be examined by Magic Basketball in a three-part series — specifically by Nate Drexler, Danny Nowell, and myself.
Key events will be analyzed on a macro and micro level.
The macro side of things will encompass general manager Otis Smith’s construction and, in some ways, deconstruction of a franchise that appeared in the 2009 NBA Finals, only to regress the next two years by losing in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2010 and first round in 2011.
The micro side of things will touch on the signing of Rashard Lewis, a player that exemplified the rise and fall of the Magic in many ways. It’s Lewis’ arrival that triggered Orlando’s ascent to being one of the best teams in the NBA and it’s his eventual regression that signaled the end of that run of success. Also, the parallels between LeBron James (as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers) and Dwight Howard will be closely looked at, given that they are two players that have experienced similar career paths with the teams that originally drafted them. And like James, Howard’s future is under an intense microscope, given that everyone is trying to decipher whether he’ll remain with the Magic for the long-term or if he’ll move on and leave.
Stay tuned for these articles.
Dwight Howard finishes second in MVP voting
Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Via ESPN.com:
Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose is the youngest Most Valuable Player award-winner in the history of the NBA.
The 22-year-old Rose was officially announced as MVP on Tuesday after leading the Bulls to a 62-20 record and No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
Rose finished with 113 first-place votes and 1,182 total points. The [Orlando] Magic‘s Dwight Howard finished second with three first-place votes and 643 points. The Heat’s LeBron James was third with 522 points, including four first-place votes, and the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant was fourth with 428 points and one first-place vote.
The Chicago-born point guard had a breakout third season, averaging 25 points, 7.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds. After a summer with the U.S. National team, Rose made a significant leap.
During the Bulls’ media day in September, Rose wondered aloud in front of the media why he couldn’t win the MVP award. Eight months later, Rose answered his own question.
Recapping Game 6 for the Orlando Magic with Synergy
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.
Second Look: Atlanta Hawks 84, Orlando Magic 81
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.”
Recap: Atlanta Hawks 84, Orlando Magic 81
AP Photo/John Amis
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.
Thursday’s Magic Word
- 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.
Sneak Preview: Orlando Magic at Atlanta Hawks, Game 6
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.”
