Somehow the Magic found a way to blow a 18 point lead (14 with 9 to go in the 4th) and fell to the Sixers 100 to 98. After taking the morning to get our collective lives back together, here is what we think about Game 1, and a bit about what should come for the rest of the series.

The Big Train:

Let's start with the bright spot. In his first playoff game Courtney Lee looked extremely shaky early on. In the 1st quarter he was 0 for 4 from the floor. However, he turned it on and finished 8 of 17 from the field for 18 points. Hooray for the rookie! Now, umm, as for the 4th quarter, giving up 35 points is simply unacceptable. The Magic were slow getting back on defense, missed assignments, did not help when it was needed, and so in. Disgusting. However, I still think we win the series. Go Magic?

Maxwell Effort:

The Sixers just made their shots down the stretch and made good plays. Philly's last 3 offensive plays were kind of unbelievable. That pass to Ratliff over Dwight...I am still not sure how it got there, Marshall's game tying 3 off an offensive rebound, and then AI's shot which was defended pretty well. Just a nice series of clutch performances for Philadelphia. At this I do not know how to quantify Philly's confidence level but they went from a team who appeared to be going through the motions in the 3rd to stealing Game 1. Just a crazy, disappointing series of events for Magic Nation.

Terry & The Pump Fakes:

Philly shot extremely well but they did so because they were left open from the perimeter. This team needs to take a good hard look at themselves and come out on Wednesday breathing fire.Philly seems to feel that Courtney is not a threat, I say hit the man that is open/hot from the floor. He and Dwight were great offensively, they need the ball in the 4th, Stan needs to surgically remove the ball from Hedo after the 3rd.

Jareth Cutestory:

Defense defense defense. This is what SVG preaches to his team. And what do they do in the 4th? Well, nothing. I don't know if they felt that could just coast by after getting that big lead, but hopefully this teaches them that they have to play all 48 minutes in the playoffs. Iguodala was on absolute fire against Turk. It was a thrill watching Courtney take over the 2nd quarter, even though he seemed to cool off in the 2nd half. Donyell Marshall looked like he was back at UCONN. Disappointing loss, but I think we could bounce back and take the series in 5 games still.

Paul Ego:

If you don't want to play the type of Defense that got you to where you are, you are in for a long night. If you refuse to feed the man-child down the stretch when you need to keep a firm grip on a short lead, you are in for a long night. Mr. 4th Quarter himself did manage to score twice as many points in the 4th as he did in the first three quarters combined. Too bad he only had 2 points going into the 4th. Seriously. It's okay to have a bad game, to be a little rusty after an ankle sprain and a few games off. It really is NOT okay to ignore the fact that you are a black hole of suckage for an entire game, play with no effort on D, and no results on offense, but to shoot like you can't miss and defend like well, what kind of defense do you call it when you don't defend at all, then blame team mates when your assignment scores? It's like Orlando was playing 4 on 5 defensively.

El Fantasma De Carlos:

What do say after last night's game? I was pretty disappointed with the performance of the team. How can you blow an 18 point lead, opening game of the playoffs, on your home court. I understand we have a couple of guys banged up. But if you can't play defense, and your shot is way off, you need to sit down. I'm talking to you Hedo. Shard at least contributed a little. And coach...if you see and you know the guys is hurting, why, oh why keep him in there...I almost rather had seen Marcin shoot a desperation 3 with 2.2 seconds to go. I hope this serves as a wake up call to the team. I still think they can win it in 5, but they need to play defense, that defense that got them there in the first place. Dwight can't do it alone.

Vile Femista:

DEFENSE. How is it even possible that was the main problem last night? Besides intensity but we aren't lauded on that. I still think we will win the series but not with a continued lack of defense. Hedo, thanks for proving what so many fans already know and hopefully opening the eyes of those that had yet to realize. You have to play defense as well, it isn't an option. Stan needs to evaluate his decisions as well, that was shameful. And Dwight, next time you are guarding two guys because your teammate cannot step up and he blames you, please punch him in his face.

Comments (1)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment