Magic's Terrific Tag Team Shines in Game 2
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June 7, 2009
LOS ANGELES -- If your favorite player is Rashard Lewis, you are in luck. If you are more of a Hedo Turkoglu enthusiast, no worries, you still clicked correctly.
It’s very much like your morning doughnut platter at work. There are two delicious pastries remaining on the tray -- we’ll say a Boston Cream and an Apple Crumb (if those don’t agree with you, be creative and choose your own). You know you can’t go wrong with either selection, and better yet, you might as well gobble up both for total satisfaction.
No, the Orlando Magic couldn’t pull out a victory on Sunday as they fell, 101-96, in overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers and yes, the Eastern Conference champions are in an 0-2 hole as the series heads to Amway Arena. There were, nevertheless, two sensational individual efforts from an otherwise hard-hitting defeat.
Lewis erupted for 18 of his 34 points in the second quarter and nearly recorded a triple-double by adding 11 rebounds and seven assists to his stat line. ‘Eagle Eye’ buried six of Orlando’s 10 3-pointers and shot 12-of-21 from the floor.
“I wanted to be aggressive early on,” Lewis said. “If not get shots for myself but create shots for other guys and I was able to do that.”
Prior to Sunday’s loss, the Magic were undefeated in the playoffs all-time when Lewis scored at least 24 points.
Turkoglu, meanwhile, fired in 14 of his 22 points in the third quarter and denied the league’s best closer, Kobe Bryant, in the final seconds of regulation with a blocked shot from behind. ‘Turkish Basketball’ added six rebounds and four assists.
It’s very encouraging to see Lewis and Turkoglu have quality performances in the same game. It was just the third time during this year’s playoff run that both forwards each scored 20 or more on the same night.
It’s becoming more and more apparent that both Rashard or Turk can be go-to-guys when they are asked to be. Most teams in the NBA struggle to find more than one player on their squads to take critical shots and be leaders. But it’s clear that the Magic have at least three guys (including Dwight Howard, of course) who can be prolific scorers.
Although both superstars played tremendously well, it’s evident both would have traded their individual accolades for a win.
“When you lose a game like that, the stats doesn’t really mean anything,” Lewis said.
Although he was supreme on the glass with 16 rebounds and once again effective at the free throw line (7-of-9), Howard didn’t have one of his glittering games that he hopes to eventually string together during this series.
Orlando, additionally, will hope to get stronger games from its guards in Game 3. Both Rafer Alston and Jameer Nelson couldn’t find the mark on their outside shots. The good news is, however, that the Magic got many good looks from long distance.
For more on Game 2, turn to Dan Savage, who writes that the Magic should still be confident they can capture their first NBA championship in franchise history: click here.
