The Official Site of JJ Redick

Mon, Apr 27th 2009, 17:35

MAGIC WIN GAME 4 TO EVEN SERIES 2-2

The Orlando Magic are hoping that this jolt – a clutch, game-winning 3-pointer by Hedo Turkoglu – will be just what they need to snap out of an offensive funk and finally overcome the Philadelphia 76ers.

When Turkoglu drained a 25-footer over Thaddeus Young Sunday night with 1.1 seconds remaining in Game 4 it allowed the Magic to win 84-81 and pull even at 2-2 in the best-of-seven series.

Now, the Magic hold homecourt advantage again and need two wins to get to the second round. In so many ways, Sunday’s victory seemed to pick up the spirits of a Magic team that has struggled mightily with putting away the scrappy Sixers.

``It’s a new series now,’’ Magic guard J.J. Redick said. ``It’s a three-game series and we have homecourt advantage. We gained back some momentum and stayed alive. We’re fighting for our playoff lives. It was a big, big win for us.’’

Finally, the Magic were on the other end of a last-second, game-winning shot.

Philly’s Thaddeus Young hit a spinning layup with 2.2 seconds to play in Game 3 for a Sixers win. And Andre Iguodala’s jumper won Game 1 in the closing seconds.

This time, the game belonged to the Magic because of Turkoglu’s exploits.

Turkoglu entered Sunday’s game having made just seven of 30 shots, but hit eight of 11 tries for 17 points in Game 4. Rashard Lewis, also off his game much of the early part of the series, added another 17 points, two 3-pointers and seven rebounds. Dwight Howard had 18 points, 18 rebounds and three blocked shots.

As they did earlier in the season when Turkoglu kicked out to Lewis for the game-winning shot to beat Philly, the Magic’s two forwards worked together on the final play. This time, Lewis set a pick to get the matchup the Magic desired – Thaddeus Young on Turkoglu. When Young backed off for the drive, Turkoglu rose up and confidently drilled the game-winning 3-pointer.

The shot helped Orlando win after it had blown a 10-point lead with 4:30 to play.

As for J.J., he played 5½ minutes of the first half and managed to be aggressive even though his playing time has been spotty throughout the series. Redick had a strong layup in traffic after dribbling the length of the court and grabbed two rebounds. J.J. missed all three of his 3-point tries, but he vowed to continue to seek out shots when he’s called on to play.

``I played aggressively and I want to keep looking to make plays,’’ J.J. said. ``My threes just didn9 9t fall, but I felt good out there.’’

The Magic haven’t broken 100 points in more than three weeks, a span of 11 games and 13 of the past 16 outings. But Turkoglu’s game-winner could be just the kind of infectious moment that sparks the Orlando offense.

``We shot the ball well, but we didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball,’’ J.J. said. ``But it was a great defensive performance by us. We know that it’s tough to score points in the playoffs, but we just have to get going to be the team that we are.’’