The Magic reached the second round of the playoffs for just the first time in 12 years. They won 52 games, their most since the 1995-96 season. Yet they lost badly again to the Detroit Pistons, 4-1, failing to get past the most dominating team in the Eastern Conference.
Just when they thought they had made progress, it was the Pistons again. At least this time it wasn't a sweep like it was a year ago. This time, it came down to close finishes in three of the four losses. The Pistons used their experience to get every one of the three.
The Pistons bottled up Dwight Howard, who still got his rebounds but failed to dominate offensively like the Magic needed.
They also showed their lack of experience against the most experienced, playoff-savvy team in the Eastern Conference.
PISTONS 90, MAGIC 89: Richard Hamilton had his second consecutive big game, scoring 31 points to lead the Pistons to a 4-1 series win over the Magic.
Hamilton, who had 32 points in Game 4, made only 7 of 20 shots, but he made all 16 of his free throw attempts. The Magic were led by Hedo Turkoglu, who had 18 points.
The Magic had 21 turnovers compared to just three for the Pistons. The Pistons also made 28 of 32 free throws, compared to only 16 of 28 for the Magic.
The Magic last led, 70-69, early in the fourth quarter, but once Rodney Stuckey hit a basket to give the Pistons the lead, they never lost it again. The Pistons led most of the game.
Dwight Howard was limited to just 14 points, although he had 17 rebounds. Turkoglu had nine rebounds and seven assists.
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So the year is not over yet, but I would like to already start talking about next year and how we can improve the the team. What are the free-agents next year that we can get our hands on? We NEED another rebounder, and I personally would like a shooting guard. Point guard is another thing people are talking about but I happen to like Nelson and I think he has shown great potential this series.
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Refs didn't give them one call! Hamilton is the biggest Pu**y on the planet. Whatever. Go Gators I guess, next year Magic should be ready and playing with a chip on their shoulder.
Guys no matter if we get eliminated from the playoffs by these Pistons, I know we will go out with some respect! We have shown we can hang with the top of the Eastern Conference and no matter how much the Piston's fans might want to disrespect us, they know they have their hands full when it comes to the Pistons squaring off against the
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At first I didn't believe it, but after a few garbage calls and the clock stop and the refs estimating that 4.6 seconds went off, 1.1 earlier than the NBA ruled, I now do. I'm so sick of this crap. Anyone else want to way in?
Of course I'm being sarcastic but, I do love the notion that because we complain like everyone else does, we are whiny bitches. This coming from a city that starts fist fights during games for the hell of it and will start city wide fires on a whim. The NBA said they made a mistake with the clock in game 2 (NO SH!T SHERLOCK!) but, why don't they do anything about it? J.A. Adande pointed out today
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No more detroit PA announcer. "chauncey bu bu bu billups" "detroit.........(basketball)"
We can focus on the draft and off-season which is always fun trying to figure out what the team will look like next year. For me, signing Rashard Lewis was more exciting than making the play-off
