I really don't want to talk about this game. It was frustrating to watch and continues to be frustrating to think about. The bottom line is that Orlando got the job done despite the ugliness of the game.
It looked like Orlando would run away with this one early too. Dwight Howard had eight points in the opening quarter and seemed to have an easy time scoring down low. If he did not score, it at least left shooters open. And they were hitting shots.
But New York frustrated him to no end throughout the night. He was grabbed and pulled by defenders the entire night. He was double teamed and trapped every time he touched the ball. Orlando fell into New York's trap by not continuing to go to him, rendering Howard almostly completely useless.
And Howard played like it. He struggled to get rebounds and was a ghost offensively. The only thing he did was keep players out of the paint. But the rebounding was so bad, New York scored a lot off of second chance opportunities.
It was not pretty. Any way you look at it.
Orlando played at New York's pace and they had a nice performance from Nate Robinson and Quentin Richardson. I do not know if they can put on this kind of performance again. The Magic led the entire way and the game teetered on the edge of completely pulling away and blowing the Knicks out. Orlando simply could outtalent them for a while.
That worked until the end when New York made things interesting while Orlando remained indifferent.
A win is a win. Rashard Lewis looked very good for the first time in a while. And Hedo Turkoglu shook off a poor performance to help seal the game in the fourth quarter. But it was still very discomforting that the ball did not find its way into Howard and he took only seven shots. New York played good defense, but he has to demand the ball more and find other ways to get involved.
The Magic get the Knicks in New York on Monday. The "Magic Number" to clinch the division is now two with Atlanta's loss to Cleveland today.
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