Thursday, April 24, 2008

Magic Wont Sweep Raptors.. Lose 108-94


You could argue that this was expected. You had one team who was on the road the first two games. They had their backs against the wall. They got their butts handed to them in Game 1 and clawed and fought until the end of Game 2, but lost. This was their game from the get go.

Ford came back tonight with a strong performance. And Jameer didn't get a field goal until the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Ford mimicked Nelson's strong performances in Games 1 & 2. But it wasn't just Ford who played well at the point, it was Calderon too. No let me clarify, he didn't play WELL, JC played SPECTACULAR. Aside from the un-Calderon like three turnovers, his play was All-Star caliber. The Spanish point guard finished with 18 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds... off the bench! The two Raptor point guards combined for 39 points, 16 assists, 12 rebounds, and only 4 turnovers.

Tonight we got beat on the offensive and defensive boards this time. Again our glaring weakness shows. We need another big man to help Dwight out on the defensive end and with rebounds. Unlike every other game this year, Adonal Foyle was not the first big man off the bench to spell Dwight Howard. The Polish Hammer himself, Marcin Gortat, was the first big guy called. He went in during the start of the 2nd quarter. While he only played 5 minutes and score two points on one shot, he is an active player who never stops moving and hustling.

The Raptors got an early lead and never looked back. We never had a chance. We would miss a shot they would sink two or three of them. This was their game. Our guys just didn't have it in them. The big three stepped it up, but we didn't have any support from the starting guards or the bench. Bogans had 12, but was dreadful for most of the game. I even yelled at the TV at one point, telling Van Gundy to "Get him off the court!!".

Dwight Howard put up another solid game of 19 points, 12 rebounds, but he had 6 turnovers. Lewis had 19 and Hedo put up 26 and 7 rebounds. The big three did their part and had a combined 64 points. The rest of the Magic team did anything but play well. Add up all the points from everyone else and you get a mere 30 points. Thats downright dreadful. Absolutely horrible. We HAVE to get more production out of the rest of the team or we will lose this series!

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