Orlando Reairs The Same Magic Act

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Why do bad things always happen to my beloved black and blue squad? Why?

I believe the term is Déjà vu isn't it?

You know, when you get the feeling you’ve seen this act before.

Is there any Orlando Magic fan that can honestly tell me that seeing Hedo Turkoglu (Turkey, as I like to call him) or Dwight Howard clang crucial (is there a stronger word than crucial, like very crucial or super crucial?) free throws Thursday night didn’t remind you of Nick Anderson’s shortcomings of 14 years ago?

I knew something was fishy when they had Anderson getting the crowd revved up in the pregame show.

Anderson’s four straight missed clunkers in the Finals opener against Houston still hold a spot in between the heart he shattered years ago but I thought I was long over that.

Up until last night.

I was sitting pretty watching the game. Up by a plus ten margin at the half, Orlando had outplayed the Los Angeles Lakers all the way through the first half but only had a 12 point lead to show for it.

The Magic could’ve easily been up 20-25 but the offense just wasn’t flowing as it was in game 3.

When the Lakers stormed out in the third, highlighted by some fantastic plays made by none other than an ex-Magic player Trevor Ariza (who I’m still mad we traded a promising youngster in favor of practically nothing for) who made game changing steals and swished head shaking threes, what seemed like a game we had in hand turned into a game that had our season on the brink.

Battling back in the fourth quarter I just knew we could still pull it out. We were playing solid defense but the offense just seemed like it needed a spark.

That’s when Stan Van Gundy pulled Turkey out the fridge and put him back into the lineup. No other Magic player could get his shot off against a swarming Laker defense but good ole crafty Turkey got himself to the free throw line and made some nice shots to keep the game from blowing wide open.

Turkoglu made some plays but also missed some free throws that he’s very capable of making but those weren’t the kicker for me.

Turkey was hot late in the fourth,(see why I like the name Turkey so much?) catching fire and even making me spill my orange soda after he drained a three and prompting me to send some in-your-face texts after he sliced in the lane for a nice floater had me feeling like we were set to host game 5 on Sunday with a chance to take the lead in the series.

That’s when it happened again.

Superman, the franchise centerpiece of the Orlando Magic otherwise known as the mild mannered Dwight Howard, clanked two freebies with around 10 seconds left that probably would’ve sewn up a black and blue victory.

Instead, I woke up this morning feeling more blue than anything.

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