For the second consecutive season, the Orlando Magic are staring at a 2-0 series deficit against the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and the Magic need a home win in tonight's Game 3 - Orlando is a 3.5-point betting favorite with an over/under of 186 on WagerWeb.com - to have any realistic shot at extending this series much past five games.
Orlando, which is 3-0 at Amway Arena in these playoffs, needs to forget about the clock issue that went against it at the end the third quarter of Game 2 and hope that its 3-point shooting success of that quarter returns.
After misfiring on a season-low 2-of-15 shooting from downtown in the opener against Detroit, the Magic made 11-of-26 on Monday night, including a third-quarter surge that featured seven consecutive 3s and a
36-point quarter.
"When they are making shots on the perimeter, they are tough to stop," Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince said. "We got to start manning up and put more pressure on those guys and make them get off that (3-point line)."The biggest culprit Monday was the Magic's 19 turnovers; compared with Detroit's 10 (the Pistons had only six in Game 1). The Magic are averaging 16.6 turnovers per game in their three postseason losses.
"When you turn the ball over you aren't giving yourself a chance, and we just have to do the little things like that, as well as not letting them get the offensive rebounds," Orlando guard Jameer Nelson said. "There are just some things that we need to take care of. We have great competitors in this locker room that compete really hard, and we just turned the ball over."
Orlando has now lost nine straight playoff games to Detroit. One more loss would tie the Magic with three other teams for the second-longest postseason losing streak to one team in NBA history.
Magic All-Star Dwight Howard ditched a brace protecting his left thumb Monday, saying he couldn't grip the ball with it. The injury helped limit him in Game 1, but Howard returned to form without it Monday to collect 22 points and 18 rebounds.
Detroit has held Orlando to an average of 82 points in two games - far under its 104.5 regular-season average.
Forward Jason Maxiell has been a revelation for Detroit, shooting 10-for-13 from the field, averaging 11.5 points and three blocks through two games. Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups averaged 23.5 points in the first two games but is shooting only 39.4 percent. And after Richard Hamilton's 4-for-16 night in Game 2, he's down to 34.4 percent and 15.5 points for the series.
Coach Flip Saunders wants his All-Star guards to slow down a bit and remember their importance to the offense.
"As I told him and Chauncey, when they get into that mode, they take us out of our offense," Saunders said. "You've got to sit them down for a couple of minutes and let them calm down. Then I'll put them back in."
The Pistons are a rather pedestrian 6-9 in Game 3s dating to the 2004 championship run.
Betting trends: Pistons are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 Wednesday games. ... Under is 14-6 in Pistons' last 20 overall. ... Magic are 6-2-1 ATS in their last 9 vs. NBA Central. ... Magic are 13-5-2 ATS in their last 20 home games. ... Over is 8-3 in the last 11 meetings.
No comments:
Post a Comment