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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 Orlando. Today, let’s examine the results from the contests in Atlanta.

Game 3

PPP = Points Per Possession

Orlando offense
Orlando’s spot-up game finally produced in Game 3. In Games 1 and 2, Orlando never cracked 0.5 PPP in spot-up. In Game 3, it was Orlando’s best play and they obtained 1.4 PPP. The performance far exceeded their season average of 1.05 PPP, which ranked as the 5th best in the NBA.

The ball handler’s in the pick-and-roll were used extensively Game 3, but their production was the worst among their playoff games. Through three post-season games, Orlando’s pick-and-roll PPP hasn’t matched their lofty production in the regular season.

The Magic utilized roll men four times in Game 2 but reverted to little use in Game 3. Orlando only used their most potent play on one occasion, a Hedo Turkoglu lob to Dwight Howard in the 1st quarter.

The post-up game for Orlando was successful for the third straight game. The indomitable force, Dwight Howard, was responsible for all seven of Orlando’s post-up buckets. He made four hook shots over Jason Collins, two with each hand. Brandon Bass and Jason Richardson used the other three attempts.

Orlando only managed a single And 1 attempt for the second straight game. Dwight Howard was fouled by 2003 Magic draft pick Zaza Pachulia with two minutes left in the first half.

Orlando was the best team in the NBA after they secured an offensive rebound in the regular season and they have continued this trend through three playoff games. Orlando averaged 1.25 PPP after offensive rebounds in the first game in Atlanta.

One particularly bad area for Orlando was their percentage on transition three-pointers. The team went 1-6, and Quentin Richardson’s make over Pachulia was the only successful attempt.

Hedo shot 3-11 overall and went 1-6 beyond the arc. Among players with 600 or more attempts, only three active players (Ron Artest, Jason Kidd, Stephen Jackson) have a lower career FG% than Hedo does in the playoffs.

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BOX SCORE

The Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats by the score of 89-77 to snap their two-game losing streak. This was, admittedly, a boring game to watch and it seemed the fans at the Amway Center agreed because there was absolutely no life in the building. Given that the Magic played the Bobcats in April, in a game that meant nothing, that’s no surprise. Orlando will be entering the 2011 NBA Playoffs as the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, so at this point they’re just trying to stay healthy and develop momentum entering the postseason. The Magic were led by a balanced attack, as five players scored in double-figures. Dwight Howard was his usual dominant self, finishing with 26 points, 14 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Jameer Nelson played relatively well, contributing with 15 points, six assists, and two steals. Quentin Richardson, returning from back spasms that didn’t allow him to participate in the last several games, came back and put up 14 points and five rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu and Brandon Bass finished with 12 points each. With Gilbert Arenas, Chris Duhon, and J.J. Redick sidelined with injuries, head coach Stan Van Gundy was forced to play with a seven-man rotation that featured odd lineups. Clearly Orlando would like to have rest heading into the playoffs but with injuries piled up, that doesn’t seem possible.

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AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

BOX SCORE

The Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats by the score of 100-86 to extend their winning streak to two games. This was a simple case of the Magic being the better team. Orlando was led by a balanced attack, as five players scored in double-figures. Dwight Howard had a quiet game for his standards, finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Brandon Bass was solid, contributing with 17 points and three blocks. Gilbert Arenas had one of his better games in a Magic uniform, coming off the bench and putting up 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. Jameer Nelson had 13 points and seven assists, while Jason Richardson chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds. Perhaps learning their lesson from Wednesday’s loss against the Sacramento Kings, it must have been encouraging for head coach Stan Van Gundy to see the players for Orlando put in the requisite amount of energy and effort needed for them to come away with the victory. The Magic didn’t take for granted playing against an inferior opponent and instead went to work. Defensively, the focus was there for Orlando. For the most part, the team defense from the Magic was satisfactory. There were breakdowns defensively, sure, but they were far and few between. And the individual defense for the Orlando players was just as good.

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AP Photo/Chuck Burton

BOX SCORE

In an exciting game that went down to the wire, the Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats by the score of 91-88 to win their third consecutive game of the regular season. After Quentin Richardson made a lefty layup in a 2/5 pick and roll with Dwight Howard to put the Magic up by three points with 9.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, excellent individual defense by Mickael Pietrus on Stephen Jackson forced the Bobcats to rely on Boris Diaw to come up with a game-tying three-point shot. Unfortunately for Diaw, Howard was there to contest the three-pointer, which hit the front of the rim, and Orlando was able to come away with victory. The Magic were led by Howard, who had 22 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocks, and set the tone early with 13 of his points coming in the first quarter. Rashard Lewis finally emerged for Orlando, finishing with 22 points and six rebounds while hitting clutch shots in the final stanza.

Lewis and clutch — two words meant for each other.

Despite the pace being low and it being a low-scoring affair, this was a fun game.

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• Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel: “It was [Matt] Barnes who revealed last week that his assignment for Game 1 was Ray Allen instead of Pierce, whom he guarded during the regular season. Pierce is averaging 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists per game in the Eastern Conference Finals. Today both Barnes and Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said the defensive assignments have yet to be determined. And while Barnes said he would do his job on whomever the coaches wanted him to guard, when asked if he could stop Pierce, he replied confidently. ’I think that I can,’ Barnes said. ‘You don’t really stop anybody; you just want to slow him down.’ ”
• More from Ganguli: “Magic coach Stan Van Gundy reminded his players this week that over the last few years very few teams have won a playoff series without winning on the road. It was his way of telling his players that even though their home court advantage was smashed to smithereens this week, that is something they can overcome. Something they might have had to overcome anyway. [...] Van Gundy said he didn’t implement any drastic changes to the game plan today. He does not plan to change his starters, either. [...] But they did insert a few new plays to help Rashard Lewis’s offensive game, and worked on improving ball movement, shot selection and offensive and defensive transition games.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com states that Matt Barnes will likely guard Paul Pierce in Game 3 of the 2010 NBA Eastern Conference Finals: “The likelihood is that Barnes will hound Pierce in Game 3, while Carter will move back to checking Allen. That’s the way the Magic schemed defensively against the Celtics during the regular season. And Barnes grew accustomed to checking the other team’s best players, having big defensive nights against the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson and Stephen Jackson during the regular season and in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Being the Magic’s defensive stopper is a role that Barnes, a potential free agent at season’s end relishes.”
• Shaun Powell of NBA.com comments on the prospective matchup between Barnes and Pierce.
• Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse has more on the same subject.
• Rob Mahoney of ProBasketballTalk takes a look at some of the adjustments the Magic need to make against the Celtics: “The key is for Stan Van Gundy and his staff to identify the most problematic areas and the Magic players to adjust before its too late. In a seven-game series, changes in approach and execution are only as influential as the time at which they’re implemented. Everyone within the Magic organization can only hope that there’s still time to implement a change, go about making the necessary adjustment, and do their best to perform beginning with Game 3. One possible adjustment is to yank the injured Matt Barnes from the starting lineup, and replace him with the far more effective J.J. Redick.”
• Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post goes a step further and explains why J.J. Redick should start: “I’m not trying to slam Barnes here–he’s playing through back pain right now, and he’s had a great year–but the individual and team-wide numbers condemn him, and strongly suggest that Orlando stands a better chance to compete with Boston when Redick’s on the floor. Look at the efficiency differentials the team posts with those players sharing the floor with the other starters. Redick’s worth 37.31 points per 100 possessions over Barnes so far in this series! That’s just too glaring to ignore.”
• Rashard Lewis needs to score.
• Austin Burton of Dime Magazine chimes in on head coach Stan Van Gundy’s plan to get Lewis involved more on offense against the Celtics.
• Senior vice president Pat Williams doesn’t think it’s time to panic if you’re a Magic fan.
• Dwight Howard: “Well, the sun came up today and life went on like normal. I know we’re in a really tough spot right now going down 0-2 to the Celtics, but I’m not about doom and gloom at all here. Repeat after me: We can still do this!!! We need to get over the hump. All that matters now is getting our minds and our games right for Game 3 and not worrying about what has happened in the first two games. Of course, we’re upset about losing a tough game like we did Tuesday. We poured everything we had into that game. We looked at the film today and saw that the game came down to doing all of the little things. In games like this it’s more about having energy, running back on defense, rebounding and scrapping for loose balls. Those are the things that win big games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Right now, Boston is making those plays, but we know we can turn it around and swing things in our favor.”
• Zach Harper of Hardwood Paroxysm takes a look, with the help of video, at Howard’s post game in Game 2.
• Trey Kerby of Ball Don’t Lie: “In the first two games of the series, Lewis has played a little more than 83 minutes. Based on his per-minute stats from the regular season, you’d expect about 35 points and 12 rebounds for that amount of tick. Lewis has fallen a little short of that — he’s scored 11 points and grabbed 11 boards in the two games. That’s not good. Furthermore, the normally dead-on Lewis has made just 25 percent of his shots thus far. And as you can see by his shot chart, in typical Lewis fashion he’s been hesitant to mix things up inside, preferring to hang out by the perimeter and chuck threes. Once again, not good.”

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BOX SCORE

Get your brooms out. The Orlando Magic were able to defeat the Charlotte Bobcats by the score of 99-90, sweeping the series and advancing to the 2010 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals to await either the Atlanta Hawks or the Milwaukee Bucks. The Magic are the first team in the playoffs to advance to the second round. Also, the sweep marks the first time Orlando accomplished the feat since 1996, when Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway were teammates, and it’s also the franchise’s first four-game sweep. The Magic were led by a balanced attack, with five players scoring in double-figures. Vince Carter played relatively well, scoring 21 points and carrying Orlando in the second half while Dwight Howard was sitting on the bench — again — with foul trouble. Tyrus Thomas led the way for the Bobcats, with 21 points and nine rebounds. Charlotte finishes their year having yet to win a postseason game in franchise history.

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• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “The [Orlando] Magic will face Jordan’s desperate team tonight and try to accomplish something never done during the Dwight Howard era: Sweep a playoff series. In fact, the Magic have never won a seven-game series with a sweep — and they’ve had seven chances since 1994. The Magic have recorded only one sweep (3-0) — and that was in a five-game, first-round series against the Detroit Pistons in 1996. With Howard, Orlando’s only legitimate shot at a sweep came in 2008. The Magic won the first two games of their first-round matchup against the Toronto Raptors. But they lost Game 3 in Toronto and eventually ousted the Raptors 4-1. Can they make it their business to care of business tonight?”
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “There are hundreds of people hanging out in the lobby of the Dean E. Smith Center on Sunday afternoon for some sort of hospital convention, but only one was wearing a No. 7 J.J. Redick Orlando Magic jersey. And walking through Chapel Hill — the home of the University of North Carolina — while wearing a J.J. Redick jersey is like walking through a yard full of pit bulls while wearing a pair of pork chop boxer shorts. ”How dare you wear that jersey on this campus,” one heckler screamed incredulously. “How dare you! That is not acceptable attire around here.” Even though he graduated from Duke five years ago and now plays for the Orlando Magic, Redick might still be the most unpopular person in these parts since those no-good federal revenuers came down 100 years ago to destroy North Carolina’s moonshine stills.”
• Josh Cohen of OrlandoMagic.com: “Orlando has relied on the extraordinary play of Jameer Nelson, who twice this series has erupted for 32 points and has only committed three turnovers in the three games combined. Despite leading the series 3-0, Dwight Howard and Vince Carter have not performed like they are accustomed to. Superman fouled out late in the fourth quarter in Game 3 and has not recorded a double-double yet in the series. Carter, meanwhile, has shot 13-of-40 from the field in the three games combined. Before marching on to the conference semifinals, it would be inspirational for each of them to have a monster game.”
• Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer: “You don’t change a team’s season-long personality with a half-hour of video, but that didn’t stop the coaches from trying. Charlotte Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson called Sunday’s film session “brutal,’’ so you know what they were viewing: Poor ball movement, a pattern of turnovers and a tendency to default to jump shots. That’s what wasted a tremendous defensive effort in Game 3 of this playoff series with the Orlando Magic. Usually when they were beaten this season, those were the causes. Down 3-0, they’re one loss from being swept in their first-ever playoff series. The Magic has been zoning up on defense to the extent NBA rules allow. That became a common tactic versus the Bobcats this season. The Toronto Raptors used the zone extensively against them and word spread around the league.”
• Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer: “Charlotte is unlikely to beat Orlando Monday night. The Bobcats had their best chance to win Saturday and, frankly, blew it. They are down three games to none in their first-round playoff series, and here’s what happens if they lose. The Magic praises their intensity and hustle, the playoffs go on and the Bobcats do not. The result will be so anticlimactic that by Thursday we’ll forget we had an NBA team in the playoffs. But that’s an improvement over the first five seasons, when we forgot we had an NBA team.”

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• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Are the [Orlando] Magic conducting some bizarre experiment? It looks as if they’re now trying to invent new and different ways to win that don’t include four-time all-time star Dwight Howard and barely include eight-time all-star Vince Carter. Take Saturday’s game of charades. The Magic won despite committing 21 turnovers for 31 points. They won with point guard Jameer Nelson, 5-foot-10, taking over the 6-11 Howard’s role as top scorer. They won with power forward Rashard Lewis playing Carter’s role as go-to guy late.”
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Howard picked up his sixth foul with 3:32 remaining in regulation, and the Bobcats took an 80-79 lead when Raymond Felton made a free throw. But the Bobcats couldn’t take advantage of Howard’s absence. “It didn’t seem like he was out, because we wasn’t attacking the rim, and the spacing was still terrible on our part,” Charlotte’s Stephen Jackson said. Rashard Lewis, tender left ankle and all, quickly drew two fouls and made all four of his free throws to give the Magic an 83-80 lead. Nelson hit a six-foot shot in the lane, Vince Carter hit a pair of foul shots and backup center Marcin Gortat made three of four shots from the stripe to close out the victory.”
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “The Magic are so good and so deep that they are winning even when they play badly as they did during their 21-turnover monstrosity Saturday. It makes you wonder just how dominant these guys are going to be when Howard actually starts playing instead of sitting on the bench in foul trouble. The Magic big man played only 26 minutes and fouled out Saturday, but still the Bobcats couldn’t pull out the victory despite an obnoxiously loud sellout crowd for its first home playoff game since the city was awarded a franchise six years ago.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “Games like this, when Dwight Howard is constantly saddled with foul trouble, are why the Orlando Magic retained Marcin Gortat. Games like this, when Orlando’s top two scorers are effectively limited, are when the Magic can fall back on being the NBA’s deepest team. And games like this, converting repeatedly down the stretch on the road against a desperate Charlotte team, show why the Magic are once again championship contenders. Getting some clutch rebounding and – of all things – free throw shooting from Gortat and gutsy offensive play from Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis, the Magic rallied in the final three minutes for a 90-86 defeat of the Bobcats that was immensely telling. Not only did it the victory give the second-seeded Magic a commanding 3-0 lead in the series, but it also showed the steely resolve of an Orlando team that’s had to go other places for points and production. And the Magic again looked like a playoff-tested team on Saturday, rallying from a one-point deficit with their best player (Howard) having already fouled out.”
• Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post: “The Bobcats scored only 6 points after Howard fouled out, and a lot of credit goes to Orlando’s defense. But I can’t help but think that Charlotte did Orlando some favors on their possessions. Boris Diaw rushed a three-pointer, and Larry Hughes clanked another trey well short near the end of the shot clock on the next possession. Hughes learned his lesson and drove to the basket on the next play, drawing a foul on Carter and converting the free throws. Felton got a nice layup inside. But overall, you’d have to say the Bobcats settled for two many jumpers late in the game, and Jackson’s missed three-pointer really nicely sums up Charlotte’s approach down the stretch. Just too early to take that shot–though he was, again, very open on a beautiful play Brown drew up for him.”
• Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer: “Instead of imposing themselves on the Howard-less Magic, however, the Bobcats continued their three-fest. They scored only six more points, two on a layup by Felton, the other four on free throws. ”I never thought I would coach a team where a third of their shots would be 3s,” coach Larry Brown said. The Bobcats took 74 field-goal attempts, 23 of them 3s. They shot as many 3s as they did free throws. Only five 3-point attempts went in. In the fourth quarter, Charlotte took six 3s and not one was good.”
• Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer: “Here it is, in the official play-by-play: 3 minutes, 32 seconds left, and All-Star Howard commits his sixth personal foul, attempting to block a Raymond Felton layup. Felton makes the resulting free throw and the Charlotte Bobcats lead 80-79. And then….wretched. The Bobcats were outscored 11-6 to lose 90-86 and fall behind 3-0 in this best-of-7 playoff series. If the Bobcats don’t win Monday, they’ll be swept in their first playoff appearance.”
• John Krolik of ProBasketballTalk: “After a back-and-forth second half, the door was open for Charlotte when Howard, who’d been effective throughout the fourth quarter, fouled out with the Bobcats up one and three and a half minutes to play. The Bobcats didn’t have enough shooting to get over the hump, and Boris Diaw and Larry Hughes came up short on crucial three-point attempts. With the Bobcats down one and 31 seconds to go, Larry Hughes called timeout and set Stephen Jackson up with a three-point look. He missed it. After that, the Magic made enough free throws to hold on, and the Bobcats now find themselves in a 3-0 hole.”

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• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “When he thinks about what might go wrong this afternoon in Charlotte, N.C., Stan Van Gundy worries about his players’ collective psyche. Van Gundy envisions 19,077 people inside Time Warner Cable Arena cheering wildly, and he visualizes an already desperate Charlotte Bobcats team feeding off of that energy. And, in his nightmare scenario, Van Gundy imagines his Orlando Magic failing to match that intensity. The Magic will face that danger today in Game 3 against the Bobcats. Orlando leads the best-of-seven series two games to zero, and Van Gundy knows that his players could succumb to human nature and let up just a bit. Instead, Van Gundy wants his players to unleash their inner killer instinct.”
• Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel: “If you watch Games 3 and 4 between the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Bobcats, you’ll probably see Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin sitting courtside right next to the Magic bench. With rain and other severe weather forecast for Saturday, Hamlin hopes to escape Talladega Superspeedway for a few hours and be in Charlotte for the 2 p.m. tip. He’s a Bobcats fan and season-ticket holder, but has a soft spot for the Magic.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “This storyline is like a broken record, but it continues to dominate talk around the Magic because of [Dwight] Howard’s persistent foul trouble so far. He played just 27 minutes in Game 1 and 28 minutes in Game 2 because he had five fouls both nights. That time on the bench has limited Howard to rather ordinary numbers so far (10 ppg., 8 rpg.). The Magic must find a way to keep Howard on the floor more because he changes how Charlotte plays. When he’s in the game, Charlotte is a perimeter shooting team, and that’s a good thing for the Magic because the Bobcats severely lack shooting from long range. But when Howard is out, the Bobcats mantra is to attack the rim relentlessly with Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton.”
• David Scott of the Charlotte Observer: “Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown eagerly reeled off a list of players he has rescued from what could be called the NBA’s scrap heap during his 25 years in the league. ”I got Eric Snow when he was a fourth stringer in Seattle,” Brown said. “Theo Ratliff wasn’t even starting (anymore) in Detroit. I got Raja Bell out of the YMCA in Miami. George Lynch came from an expansion team in Vancouver. Tyrone Hill had been traded many times.” Brown, though, wasn’t randomly plucking those names from the air. Call them afterthoughts, castoffs, second-chance players, whatever: They were the core of his 2001 Philadelphia 76ers team – led by star guard Allen Iverson – that played in the NBA Finals. Brown seems to be doing it again in Charlotte. Albeit without a player like Iverson, Brown has molded a roster sprinkled with players who have found new life playing for him, qualifying for the NBA playoffs for the first time in franchise history.”
• Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer: “Everything else about the Charlotte Bobcats has run to form between the regular season and the playoffs: They still have slow starts on the road, still turn the ball over too often, still need plenty of trips to the foul line to win. So they can only hope, entering Saturday’s first-ever playoff game at Time Warner Cable Arena, that this trend holds up, too: They’re one heck of a home team. No team in the NBA has more of a split personality: The Bobcats won 18 more games at home this season than on the road, the widest such differential in the league. They shoot better, score more and block a ton more shots (282 at home, 164 on the road).”

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• Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: “Only 14 teams in NBA history have won a best-of-seven series after trailing 2-0. Like in Orlando’s 98-89 Game 1 victory, [Dwight] Howard again battled through foul trouble, held to another 28-minute night. Backup Marcin Gortat was re-signed at a high price for these situations and again played about 20 minutes. “Hopefully, the refs will start letting Dwight be a little more physical and stop calling such tic-tac fouls on him,” [Matt] Barnes said. “You know, give him a chance to play. As far as the physicality, we welcome that now.” Barnes said Howard receives “no respect. Absolutely, Dwight gets no respect from the refs, from the league, as far as not being mentioned as the MVP.” Asked if he were worried the way the postseason is being officiated, Howard said, “Yeah, it’s a big concern.” What the Magic and the Bobcats can agree on is this: They don’t like the way the whistles are blowing.”
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “Once and for all, isn’t it time everybody stopped portraying the Magic as just a bunch of running, gunning, cunning 3-point shooters? Yes, they made more 3-pointers this year than any team in NBA history, but this team would just as soon lock you down as gun you down. Even offensive-minded players like Vince Carter are spouting [Stan] Van Gundy‘s defense-first mantra. “If we’re going to be the last team standing, we’re going to do it with our defense,” Carter said. Coming into this series, the main story line was how the Magic’s rifling offense would deal with Charlotte’s stifling defense. Granted, Charlotte is one of the league’s best defensive teams, but so, too, is Orlando. Has anybody bothered to look at the league stats? It’s Orlando that leads the NBA in field goal percentage defense and defensive rebounding. The Magic have been the toughest team in the NBA to shoot against, allowing opponents a league-low 43.8 percent from the floor. And, oh by the way, they also have a guy by the name of Dwight Howard, who may someday go down as the greatest defensive force the league has seen since Bill Russell.”
• George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: “We know the deal with Carter: Extremely talented individual player, spotty record with the team concept thing, a veteran looking for a championship ring after years of disappointments with other people and places. This first round NBA playoff series started as badly as it could for him. Only four shots went in; the other 15 bounced here, there and everywhere. Vinsanity indeed, but only in the different context. A lot of folks justifiably judged Carter harshly after his 4-19 effort in Game 1 of the playoff series against the Bobcats. But he wasn’t among the crowd of dissidents while watching game film on Monday. He watched each shot. Every single clunker. Then vowed to be better. His 19 points, on 5 of 10 shooting, was a solid rebuttal. The five Magic starters scored in the teens, reflective of balanced scoring. That’s a good thing, Just ask Stan Van Gundy.”
• Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel: “Even before the series started, Bobcats officials hinted that they would use their bigs’ 24 available fouls to put Howard on the free-throw line, where the Magic center is at his most vulnerable. But, if anything, Charlotte didn’t foul Howard enough on Wednesday night. Howard attempted 12 foul shots and made only five of them, and in retrospect, the Bobcats would have been better served if they had wrapped up Howard whenever he received the ball within six feet of the rim. One example of a missed opportunity for Charlotte came just two minutes into the third quarter. Howard collected the ball directly underneath the hoop, between two defenders, and as he jumped and twisted toward the foul line, he banked the ball off the window for a reverse layup.”
• Tania Ganguli of the Orlando Sentinel: “After a bruising physical game, in which both the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Bobcats pounded at each other, the Bobcats found themselves in an 0-2 hole to begin the franchise’s first playoff series. What did Charlotte learn from Game 2 against the Magic? “We gotta be more physical, more aggressive,” Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace said. “If the referees are gonna let us play, we gotta play.” Charlotte lost Wednesday night to go down 0-2 in the best of seven series against the Orlando Magic. They’ll return for the franchise’s first home playoff games starting Saturday at 2 p.m. Charlotte goes home still hoping for an upset, hoping they can pound their way to one.”
• John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com: “On the one side, Orlando has a battering ram (Dwight Howard), aerial assault (Vince Carter) and waves of battle-tested troops (Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson and Mickael Pietrus). On the other side, Charlotte certainly has a nifty one-two punch (Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace), but little else in the way of dangerous firepower. Clearly, after Orlando smothered Charlotte 92-77 in Wednesday’s Game 2 at noisy Amway Arena, this is looking more and more like a matchup where one team simply overwhelms the other with its embarrassment of riches as it pertains to weapons.”
• Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post: “I do think that, going forward, Orlando will need to get more production off its bench. Mickael Pietrus lit it up from the outside once again, draining 3 of his 4 three-pointers, but the rest of the second unit contributed just 12 points on 9 shots. Marcin Gortat, once again forced to take on a larger role due to Howard’s foul trouble, played 19 minutes and finished with just 2 points on 1-of-2 shooting (the miss was a wide-open dunk), 2 rebounds, and 1 blocked shot. You expect those numbers from Gortat in, say, 7 or 10 minutes of work, not 19. And he was, once again, not much of a factor on defense. Though he seemed to be more energetic than he was in Game 1, it’s clear that he’s just not getting into his highest gear, to use an automotive analogy. His failure to box out Boris Diaw on a missed Tyson Chandler free throw led to a three-pointer from D.J. Augustin and a 5-point possession for the Bobcats. Those 5 points, incidentally, represent 6% of their total output. Scoring’s at a premium for this team, as it has been for most of the season.”
• Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer: “Every so often Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown dispenses with the technical jargon, and leads a scouting report with something more gut-level: “Don’t get punked,” it will read on the dry-erase board. They’re getting punked, and that’s why they’re down 2-0 in this playoff series following a 92-77 loss to the Orlando Magic.”
• Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer: “Watching the Bobcats in the first quarter felt like cringing at the Carolina Panthers’ offense in their infamous Arizona playoff game. If Jake Delhomme had been playing point guard, it could not have been worse. Of the Bobcats’ first 13 possessions, they failed to score on 12. They turned the ball over six times. They shot an air ball. Quickly, it was 13-3, Orlando. But because Charlotte was playing good defense and Orlando wasn’t raining 3-pointers with its customary regularity, the Magic didn’t put Charlotte away immediately. Instead, it turned into a slow, painful, boring death for Charlotte in Game 2.”
• Tim Povtak of NBA FanHouse: “Not since the Detroit Pistons became champions in 2004 has anyone won an NBA title without one dominant scorer, without someone averaging at least 19 points a game. Although playoff time traditionally is when teams shorten their playing rotation, the Magic have played like it’s still the regular season, leaning on two people at every position. In both victories over Charlotte, the Magic played 10 guys nine minutes or more. And in both playoff games, they had five players reach double-figure scoring. They did it 46 times that way in the regular season, winning 40 of those games.”
• John Krolik of ProBasketballTalk: “The Bobcats kept the game close by playing good defense on Dwight Howard. The Magic went to him early and often in the post, as Stan Van Gundy promised they would. It ended up playing into the Bobcats’ hands, as they did a great job frustrating Howard with quick doubles, rotating when he passed out, and putting him on the line instead of giving him easy dunks and layups. It took Howard 10 shots and 12 free throws to get his 15 points, and he turned the ball over six times. He looked like he finally got comfortable on the block at the beginning of the third quarter, but promptly picked up his fourth foul and was forced to sit. Howard was again in foul trouble thanks to some cheap loose-ball fouls, and only played 29 minutes. The surprising thing is that during the 19 minutes Howard sat, the Magic actually managed to out-score the Bobcats by 13 points. Howard is a great player who makes the Magic much better on both ends of the floor, but the Magic seemed more comfortable offensively when Howard sat on Wednesday.”
• Britt Robson of Sports Illustrated: “After a slipshod first period in Game 1, Lewis has defended Boris Diaw extremely well while finding his range for a combined 13-for-23 on field goals — including 6-of-12 from 3-point territory while leading his team in plus/minus in each of the last two games (he’s +31 for the series). After a wretched showing in three regular season games versus the Bobcats, Lewis has joined Pietrus in sealing off the weaknesses in Orlando’s game at both ends.”
• Eric Freeman of The Baseline: “The Magic had a more balanced attack, with all five starters finishing in double figures and Vince Carter (19 points on 5-of-10 from the field and 9-of-11 from the line) and Dwight Howard (15 points on 5-of-10 FG and seven offensive rebounds despite foul trouble) leading the way. It wasn’t always entirely successful — they shot 45.3 percent, good but not great — but this was a team effort, the kind of performance that speaks to just how much talent the Magic have. They got just enough from everyone to make this a comfortable win.”