By Rofkens Petit-Homme
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In a game that could be a preview of this year’s Eastern Conference finals, the Orlando Magic played catch-up with the Miami Heat losing 104 to 100.
“I really did like our offensive rebounding,” coach Stan Van Gundy expressed, “not happy with the way we played. It wasn’t aggressive.”
The Magic were down 63 to 79 and 41 percent for field goals to end the third quarter against the starving Heat who now improve the record to 22-1 when leading into the fourth quarter.
Coach Erik Spoelstra after the game had some kind words to issue, “They (Magic) are a championship caliber team.”
Not to worry Magic fans, your only four and a half games behind the Heat for the Division lead. Especially with the insane ‘run down the hill’ before the playoffs.
With the Magic creating a ‘flick of the wand’ performance, they managed to come back from 23 points to bring the game within three points.
“The most important thing was the stops, that was the most important thing,” stated Magic guard Jameer Nelson. What he forgot to mention was his distribution of the ball in the fourth quarter to a multitude of teammates.
Brandon Bass (Small Forward) was out with and ankle injury and not expected back in the Magic line up until after the All-Star break, the Heat’s injury list was… non-existent. Having Matt Miller off the injured list made a difference for the Heat, but having Bass out on the injured list gave Earl Clark (Power Forward) a chance to play.
“I just really wanted to make the best of opportunity.” That being said, Earl finished the game with three rebounds and two points, considering the circumstances of division-rivalry-game-comeback it was a huge contribution.
The Heat blew a 23 point lead but still ended up winning the game, by the foul shot shooting of LeBron James. He cashed in holding 51 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, one steal and one block. A record high in the new Amway Center, the 51 points that is.