The consensus was that the Magic – owners of the Eastern Conference’s third-best record and the fifth-best mark in the NBA – deserve to be in the title talk, especially with superstar center Dwight Howard still affixed in Orlando.
Then, the Magic went out Sunday and proved their legitimacy, standing toe to toe with the powerhouse Heat for 42 minutes of game action. But over those final six minutes – when Miami took advantage of Orlando’s mistakes and pulled away for a 91-81 victory – that’s where it became painfully obvious that the Magic still need to improve before the playoffs.
``We can compete with (the Heat), but we have to put four quarters together and do a better job of not turning the ball over,’’ said Howard who had 18 points and 11 rebounds, but had four of Orlando’s 20 turnovers. ``That’s what gave them a chance to get out early and get the lead and win it at the end. It’s the small things that are going to matter in a game like this.’’
Down as much as 13 points in the first half, the Magic clawed back and got the game tied just before halftime. They were within one with 9 minutes left and down only four with 6:25 remaining. But Orlando had four turnovers in a five-possession stretch and Dwyane Wade (31 points) took over with five straight Miami baskets.
``We know we can beat them, but we can’t rely on our offense to save us or expect Dwight to save us with monster numbers. We have to play better defense and not turn over the ball,’’ Glen ``Big Baby’’ Davis said. ``We’ve been turning the ball over a lot and have been careless with the ball. We didn’t take care of it at all and we can’t think we can just turn it on (in the playoffs). We’re not that good. We can’t make a lot of mistakes against this team and play the right way. We don’t have a Dwyane Wade to create. We have to play the right way.’’
Reserve forward Quentin Richardson scored 15 points and made five 3-pointers, while Jameer Nelson and Jason Richardson chipped in 13 and 12 points respectively. The Magic shot 39.5 percent for the game, made six of 15 tries in the fourth quarter and had seven turnovers down the stretch.
``Our guys fought hard and competed hard all night. We have competed hard against Miami in every game,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. ``My approach as a coach is always going to be from a defensive standpoint, but they key to how we do against Miami is with our offense. Our two games at home we’ve played well offensively. And the two games down here we’ve been miserable offensively.’’
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The Magic (29-17) and the Heat (33-11) finished the season series 2-2 with each team winning twice on their homecourt. Orlando and Milwaukee are the only teams to defeat the Heat twice this season. That gives the Magic confidence that they are among the NBA’s elite teams.
``We don’t get all of the hoopla, but I think other teams out there know we have a good team. When we play together and play the right way, we’re really good. But we just have to do it on a consistent basis,’’ Howard said. ``I think we have a team that can make a run. I just feel like a lot of guys have to understand what they can do and what they bring to the table. When we play hard and play together we have a chance to win every single night.’’
The Magic will have another major test against a second straight Eastern Conference powerhouse Monday night when they host the Chicago Bulls. The two teams have split two games this season, winning on the other team’s home court. The Bulls beat Philadelphia in Chicago on Saturday night and had Sunday as a travel day to get to Orlando.
Here’s a look back at the key plays from Sunday’s nationally televised game in Miami:
MAGICAL MOMENTS
MAGIC MYSTERY
MAGIC MOVES
John Denton writes for OrlandoMagic.com. John has covered the Magic since 1997 and recently authored ``All You Can Be’’ with Magic center Dwight Howard. E-mail John at jd41898@aol.com
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