Game 2: Orlando Magic 96, Philadelphia 76ers 87

It does not have to be pretty. Sometimes with this Magic team it isn't. And when you have your backs up against the wall, for all intents and purposes, you probably want it to look and feel better.

How often though does Orlando win when Dwight Howard fouls out and is held under 20 points and scrapes only 10 rebounds? When they are outshot and struggle to stay over 40 percent shooting? And Courtney Lee, of all people, leads the team in scoring?

How often do the Magic lose when holding an 18-point lead late in the third quarter and Howard turns in a 31-point, 16-rebound effort?

Things could not be any more confusing for the Magic right now.

Lee scored 24 points and Rashard Lewis paced Orlando with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists to even the best-of-seven series at one with a 96-87 win on Wednesday.

This seemed like an odd game. I was stuck at work and had to listen to it on radio (thanks NBATV).

But I still have some thoughts on this game. It seemed to me Orlando was still letting Philadelphia control the pace in this one, especially early. It was kind of a break-neck game. As I think we all know, though, Orlando is the better team and they did the little things they have been doing the last two years to gut out a win.

I would like to see the ball going to Dwight Howard more. He was key in this one for sure. By halftime, all four of Philadelphia's big men were in foul trouble.

Even though Philadelphia seemed to control the pace, Orlando still seemed to be the agressors and outwork the 76ers. The Magic won the rebounding battle 30-28 and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds. That makes things easier for the win.

Orlando also got to the line 30 times, which helps. The defense was much better and it was made clearer by the Sixers' inability to get anyone beside Andre Miller or Thaddeus Young scoring in the first half. It was a pretty solid job, but the Magic still could not pull away to any extent in this game.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out on the road -- maybe the pressure will be off.

Speaking of pressure, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu still appear to be rusty. Lewis had the better overall game, scoring 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. But that was all on four of 14 shooting. Not so great.

Turkoglu was not much better. He also had 16 points and added six rebounds, but shot three of 10. They both will have to be better for Orlando to regain advantage in this series.

Despite how poorly they are playing, Courtney Lee has been simply magnificent. He had another fantastic game with 24 points. He was the big aggressor in this game. He was 10 of 17 from the floor and was really the only reliable offensive option all night. He has certainly proven he can do this every night with a great Game 1 as well.

Again, it was not the prettiest game. But Orlando has always been able to pull out these ugly games. They certainly have a better chance of winning these type of games than Philadelphia. The Magic might need to make games ugly to really shut out the Sixers. When they cannot get on the break, they lose.

Since I had incomplete coverage, be sure to check out these recaps of the game:

-Orlando Magic Daily Postgame thoughts
-Orlando Magic Daily Full Recap
-The Orlando Sentinel