Orlando Magic: Another Heart-breaking Defeat

The Orlando Magic found another way to lose to the Boston Celtics. A field goal drought over the final five and a half minutes got the job done this time. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Orlando Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu took the pass from point guard Rafer Alston and canned a eight footer in the lane. The Magic, trying to grab a three to two series lead heading home, regained a ten point advantage over the Boston Celtics. They seemed to have the confidence and determination to avenge a heartbreaking defeat in Game four. Yet, this game would turn out to be eerily similar.

Five minutes and thirty nine seconds remained in the fourth quarter when Turkoglu’s shot rattled in. The Celtics crowd grew tiresome as their team depressingly walked down court. Boston trailed for a better part of the game, and did not appear to have much left in the tank. Yet, those green clad fans soon had something to cheer about. Plenty, in fact.

Suddenly, Orlando began to miss, and miss, and miss some more. Shots that fell over the first three quarters went array. Maybe it was because of Boston’s defense, or maybe it was flustered, nerve racking offense. Either way, the Magic’s magic ran out.

Glen Davis, the Celtics power forward who hit the game winning shot in the previous game, came alive when it mattered once again, hitting two straight jump shots set up by Paul Pierce. The run that quite possibly saved Boston’s season had begun.

Orlando called a timeout to regroup, but whatever the hoarse Stan Van Gundy yelled to his players in the huddle did not get through; a turnover on ensuing possession, then a missed three-pointer while fighting the shot clock, then two consecutive missed layups.

Four straight empty trips translated into a lost lead. Ray Allen’s catch-and-shoot three-pointer with a minute and twenty seconds left gave the Celtics an advantage, their first since the score was eight to four with only four minutes into the game.

Orlando called another timeout, and again, it did not translate into success. The five who took the floor, center Dwight Howard, forward Rashard Lewis, guard J.J. Redick, Alston, and Turkoglu–had to be thinking ‘Oh no…not again.’

They played like a team in shock. This was disheartening to witness, but understandable because the pain was self inflicted. The Magic looked as if they would head home happy, but, after controlling the game for 42 minutes and 21 seconds, they crumbled to pieces.

Orlando had a chance to take the lead, despite their cold shooting, but Alston’s jumper clanged off the rim. Boston guard Rajon Rondo snatched the rebound and drained the shot clock all the way down before hoisting a desperate three-pointer. The shot fell short of the hoop, grazing the net. A violation was called, but after the officials conferred, they did what they have done throughout the playoffs, and made a horrible decision.

Without looking at the replay, the three officials–Bill Spooner, Monty McCutchen, and Mike Callahan–determined that Rondo’s heave ever so slightly nicked the rim, resulting in a reset of the shot-clock and a new possession for the defending champions. This forced the Magic to play stifling defense once more.

They did, but once again, a prayer, this time thrown up by Allen, that actually touched the rim evaded Orlando. Turkoglu fouled Paul Pierce, the recipient of the rebound. The tactical foul game was played for the duration. Nine free-throws were made over the final nine seconds. Unfortunately, the Celtics made six of them, which meant a four-point victory and a three to two series lead was theirs’.

The Magic did everything in their power to squander another win that was well within their grasp. Since Turkoglu’s eight footer, they were held without a field goal and accounted for just three points during that span. Also, they failed to finish defensive stands, as rebound after rebound slipped from their midst at the most pivotal of junctures.

They now head home with the opportunity to tie the series. In order to win, Van Gundy must make it clear that regulation is 48 minutes, and not the 42 minutes and 21 seconds they played.