Magic disappear in another late game
They better hope this isn’t a habit.
Orlando nearly blew a 26-point lead against the Celtics tonight at TD Banknorth Garden, allowing Boston to get within four points in the final two minutes of the game. Only the unkind roll of a Ray Allen three-point miss spared the Celtics from creeping to within a point.
“We had a great first half but in the second half we just had so many turnovers and made bad decisions,” said Magic guard Hedo Turkoglu. “That’s the thing we have to work on, try to control the whole night long.”
This isn’t the first time this season Orlando has allowed a comeback against the Celtics this season. The Magic nearly blew a 16-point lead to the Celtics in a regular season game on March 25 but held on to win, 84-82.
Magic point guard Rafer Alston talked about the disturbing trend after the game.
“I think we understand playoff basketball,” said Alston. “We had trouble with that even in the latter stages of the regular season and last season. This time we were able to hang on late.”
Specifically, the Magic struggled with Boston’s defensive pressure in the second half. Orlando committed 10 turnovers after halftime and looked lost at times trying to run their offense.
“Well obviously we’ve got to go to school on how their pressure flattened us out, what we need to do better offensively, and where they hurt us and where we made mistakes defensively,” said Magic coach Stan Van Gundy. “I thought for the first 30-32 minutes we probably played the best we’ve played all year, and then for the last 16 minutes we’ve played as poorly as we possibly could at both ends of the floor. We could not handle Rajon Rondo’s pressure.”
From the other side, the comeback inspired the Celtics, but only to a point.
“We never feel like we’re out of a ball game,” said Celtics captain Paul Pierce. “But you never want to get down like that, especially at home. There’s no excuse for it. I know we can play better basketball than we did.”
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