Updates
Fri, Apr 24th 2009, 09:52
Magic beat Philly, even the series
The Orlando Magic got a big lift from reserves Anthony Johnson, Marcin Gortat and Mickael Pietrus to overcome foul trouble from Dwight Howard and defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 96-87 in Wednesday’s Game 2.
The victory allowed the Magic to even the best-of-seven series at 1-1. Games 3 and 4 are Friday and Sunday night in Philadelphia.
Howard, who was honored again before Wednesday’s game as the Defensive Player of the Year, played just 2 minutes in the fourth quarter because of foul trouble. All he could do for the final 3:11 was watch and hope after fouling out of the game.
``Man, I hope these boys don’t come back again,’’ Howard said of the Sixers, who wiped out an 18-point deficit to win Game 1.
Johnson had 11 points, none of them more important than a pull-up shot in the lane after Howard had fouled out and Philadelphia pulled within 84-79.
Gortat added six rebounds and two blocked shots and closed the game in Howard’s absence. And Mickael Pietrus added five points and five boards and played tough defense on Andre Iguodala.
J.J. Redick, a key part of Orlando’s rotation all season, didn’t play, in large part because rookie Courtney Lee was so effective. Lee scored 24 points, the second most for a Magic rookie ever in the playoffs.
Still, Redick said that his mind is engulfed these days by thoughts of the play offs. He wakes up thinking about the postseason and lays down at night with basketball on the brain. This is the time of year that every basketball player lives for, Redick said.
``For a professional athlete, the playoffs are the most important time of the year. This is the stuff that you dreamt about growing up that you paid attention to growing up,’’ Redick said. ``I didn’t watch a lot of NBA regular-season games growing up, but I did watch the playoffs every year. It’s just a different level of basketball.’’
Including the playoffs, the Magic have won 11 of the past 12 games against the Sixers. They won twice in Philadelphia during the regular season and have been one of the NBA’s best road teams the past two seasons.