Magic at Cavaliers: Right/Wrong

The Magic used a fourth quarter flurry to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road, and thus secure the third seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs, 101-86.

What went right:

1. Fourth quarter defense- Orlando tightened the screws defensively in the fourth period as they held the Cavs to just 14 points on 4 for 23 shooting. Orlando outscored the Cavs 32-14 in the final period.

2. Pat Garrity contributing- Garrity scored a season high 13 points off the bench and added 2 rebounds and a steal. With Brian Cook out with a wrist injury, the team will need great contributions from Garrity like they received in Cleveland.

3. Active hands on defense- The Magic forced 16 Cleveland turnovers which led to 25 Orlando points. This was one of the most active games from the Orlando defense.

4. Great defense on LeBron- Cleveland’s MVP candidate never got comfortable on his home floor as the duo of Maurice Evans and Keith Bogans held James to just 17 points on 6-22 shooting from the field.

5. Orlando won the point guard matchup- The combo of Jameer Nelson and Keyon Dooling outscored Cleveland’s combo of Delonte West and Daniel Gibson, 23-21. The Magic duo dished out 10 assists, to just 5 for the Cleveland point guards.

6. Turkoglu filling up the stat sheet- Hedo Turkoglu made big shots seemingly whenever the Magic needed them, and finished with 23 points on 8-14 shooting and added 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

7. Free throw shooting- Orlando finished the game 18-20 from the line for 90%, going 17-19 in the second half. The Magic hit big free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Magic MVP- Hedo Turkoglu- Turkoglu hit some tough shots down the stretch and played solid defense against Cleveland’s Devin Brown. Turk’s scoring late keyed the Orlando comeback victory.

What went wrong:

1. Rebounding- Orlando was outrebounded in the first half 32-11, and Cleveland finished with a 48-33 advantage on the boards. Cleveland grabbed 18 offensive rebounds. This is the third consecutive game that Orlando has been outrebounded severely.

2. Missing Howard- Hopefully Stan Van Gundy can put an APB out on Dwight Howard because he was all but missing on Saturday afternoon. Howard finished with just 4 points on 1-8 shooting, and turned the ball over 3 times while committing 5 personal fouls.

3. First half intensity- The Magic seemed to sleepwalk through the first three quarters of the game before stepping up the intensity on both ends of the court in the final period.