"Lee"fense Wins Games for Orlando Magic
After watching the Magic face the Sixers at Amway Arena for the second game in the first round of the playoffs, I finally realized why the Magic are having such a tough time against Philly.
The Forwards
Philadelphia 76ers' two starting forwards Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young match-up extremely well against Orlando's two starting forwardsย in Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis.
Both 'Turk' and 'Shard' are 30 years-old while Iguodala is 25 and Young is just 20.
Iguodala and Young both have a faster first step then the Magic's forwards and are notably quicker than them as well.
These Sixers forwards prevent Turk and Shard from playing their "natural" game on the court.
Offensively, Turkoglu and Lewis both live off of their shooting. If a defender can keep up with them on defense, these guys are basically shut down on the offensive end.
During the two-game series thus far, Turkoglu is shooting a horrific 27 percentย from the field and 33 percentย from the three-point line. He has combined for just 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists in a little over 37 MPG.
Shard is shooting a whopping 36 percentย from the field and a dreadful 20 percentย from three-point range (just two per game).
Clearly both these players are having serious problems with scoring.
Turkoglu hinted in the interview after last night'sย victory that his ankle has had a major impact on his recent play. Yetย he will continue to battle it out.
Shard was not interviewed, but he is clearly in a serious shooting funk and needs to snap out of it quick.
He stepped it up on the boards last night grabbing eight rebounds and will need to continue to be more aggressive on the offensive end of the court. Standing 6'10", Lewis has the ability to take the ball to the rack and finish, he just relies on the three-pointer way too much.
"Lee"fenseโ(v.)โthe act of Courtney Lee playing stellar defense.
Like it or not, rookie guard Courtney Lee won the game for the Magic last night.
Let's begin during the first quarter.
Sixers point guard Andre Miller got off to a quick start scoring 13 points in the first six minutes of action. Magic point guard Rafer Alston simply could not keep up with Miller's play, causing head coach Stan Van Gundy to substitute back-up guard Anthony Johnson into the game.
After finally realizing Johnson was not quick enough either to defend Miller, Van Gundy put rookie guard Courtney Lee on him (Lee defended players like Wade, Bryant, James, and Allen throughout the regular season.)
Lee was the answer to the Magic's problem. He stopped Miller from contributing as much and quickly began his own offensive surge.
Lee finished the first half with a teamโhigh 11 points and ended the game with a career playoff high 24 points shooting 10-17 from the field. He wasย oneโofโfour from threeโpoint range, andย threeโofโfour from the charity stripe.
Why Courtney Lee won the game for the Magic
Courtney stole the ball three times from the Sixers and turned those turnovers into points.He was the only player on the Magic roster to persistently drive the ball to the rack.
Lee came up remarkably clutch during the last eight minutes of the game, hitting a jumpโshot, and a big threeโpointer to increase the Magic's lead to ten.
With a fouledโout Dwight Howard, Lee finished off the game scoring another two clutch freeโthrows with only 22 seconds left on the clock.
But in the end, the "Lee"fense is what ultimately won the game for the Magic.
Ending opinion
Dwight Howard dropped just 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks in 30 minutes of action. For NBA fanatics, we all know those are minuscule numbers for the big man.
Howard will need to step it up during game three, along with forward Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis.
Courtney Lee will continue to be the Xโfactor for the Orlando Magic during the first round and will hopefully help advance them past this series.
Game 3 prediction: Magic win by at least 10 points.
