| 19 April 2009
Philadelphia came out with a lot of confidence early in this game. They seemed to use Chris Webber's comments that nothing is a guarantee and Orlando would not roll past them as a rallying cry. They were rebounding, rotating well on defense and pushing the tempo. Orlando's defense looked uncomfortable. They weren't calling out switches on defense and picking up needless fouls. Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis both looked over-matched against Andre Iguodala and Thaddeus Young. But the player that tied it all together in the first quarter was Andre Miller. He is so underrated and provides the steadying hand and veteran leadership that a young team like Philly needs to pull off an upset. He had 8 points and 5 rebounds on 4-5 shooting in the first quarter and always seemed to stifle any Magic run in the first.
That being said, the Magic were only down two at the end of the first quarter despite a poor showing.
The second quarter was a different story altogether. Courtney Lee seemed to have taken a page out of Derrick Rose's book by scoring Orlando's first 11 points of the quarter. He took on the roll of second banana behind Dwight Howard. Howard meanwhile had topped his season points per game average against Philly by the end of the first half. He had 18 and 7 in the first half and was imposing his will on the game. A lot of that had to do with Samuel Dalembert getting into early foul trouble. But Howard had none of the usual suspects stepping up to help him out on offense with Hedo and Lewis combining for 1-6 from the field. Their defense however did step up in the second quarter. They held the Sixers to 19 points on 38% shooting in the second quarter and forced the Sixers to settle for outside shots.
The Magic held a four-point lead at the end of the half and didn't seem like they would win as easily as we all thought. Then the third quarter started.
The Magic dominated the third quarter with quick hands creating turnovers and pushing the tempo. Rashard Lewis and Rafer Alston started hitting their shots. They both scored a large portion of their points because of their ability to run the floor and convert in transition. The Magic looked like the team that won 59 games this season. They started taking the Sixers seriously and had a fourteen-point lead heading into the fourth.
Dwight Howard didn't start the quarter because he was poked in the eye. While he was off the floor, the Sixers went on an 18-5 run and got right back into the game. They cut it to a two-point game with 5:30 left in the game. The run was also initiated by Tony DiLeo bringing in Donyell Marshall. Marshall hit threes, grabbed rebounds and showed great poise. Howard came back in to stop the bleeding, but Philadelphia was beaming with confidence by that point and matching every blow from the Magic and extending the run to 32-15 and cutting the lead all the way to one.
The turning point appeared to come at the 1:07 mark. Andre Iguodala went to the line with a chance to take the lead and missed back-to-back free throws. The subsequent play was a thunderous dunk that put the Magic up by three with 49 second left. But Marshall wasn't done. He hit another huge three with 34 seconds left and finished with 11 points in the fourth. After Lewis missed an 18-footer, Iguodala more than made-up for his missed free throws and hit a step-back jumper over Turkoglu for the game winner with 2.2 left.
That's why we watch the playoffs.
Why the Sixers Won
The Sixers took the game because they didn't quit. They were down big, but they knew based on the first quarter that they could play with the Magic. Iguodala went from goat to hero playing a great all-around game and turning his clutch on, but it was the play of guys like Marshall and Theo Ratliff that catapulted the Sixers to a surprising game one win.
Why the Magic Lost
They simply didn't take the 76ers seriously at all. They let the Sixers build confidence by allowing them to take over early in the game. They thought they could throw their jocks on the court and win the game because of their reputation alone. They started playing like the 59-win team that secured the third seed in the second and third quarter. They built a big lead and thought it would hold or the Sixers would quit, and it came back to bite them.
Heading into Game 2
The Magic are going to come out with more fire and prove that they are in fact the better team. They not only need to beat Philadelphia in game two, but they need to stomp on their hearts and crush their confidence. They'll need Turkoglu and Lewis to right the ship to make that happen. The 76ers are probably going to just be happy with the win in game one, but they can't just be happy with taking over home-court advantage. They'll need to show this game wasn't a fluke.
Prediction for Game 2: Magic win by double-digits
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