Sixers-Magic Game Four

All kinds of worry here in the first half, as the Sixers have (a) shot well from three-point land, (b) gotten a large number of offensive rebounds, (c) forced Orlando turnovers and (d) haven't really scored worth a damn, as the half ends even at 36-36.

Thankfully, Dwight Howard missed some free throws, Hedo Turkoglu continues to look like he left his legs in March, and the first half was as ugly as the series was supposed to be. You'd like to see the underdog and home team have a lead here, and be the clearly better team; if you are going to pull off the upset, at some point you have to actually start to look like the better team, rather than just the even one.

During the halftime, I cook buffalo steaks on the grill and learn that Bea Arthur is dead. It's nearly as random as the play in that first half, really.

Sam Dalembert actually makes a good play early in the third quarter. I had kind of forgotten that he played for the team, really... and then he turned it over again, and all was right with the world.

Early in the third, the Sixers still can't shoot, but the Magic are beginning to heat up, and those eternal doubts that you have when you are the sixth seed start to crop up. No one can score here! The Magic will rain threes for 10 straight quarters and win in six, with blowout wins the rest of the way! And well, when a jump-shooting team is making, it's just that way. The eldest daughter sits next to me playing her Nintendo DS, and I swear, the run is all her fault.

Is it any wonder why Tiger Woods dominates the golfing world, when he gets to talk to animals and drink from magic multi-colored fountains? If I'm another guy on the PGA Tour, I'm calling foul.

We come back from commercial to learn that they make cheese steaks in Philadelphia. Thank you, TNT, I had forgotten.

As the third quarter progresses, my team starts playing with more urgency on offense, but aren't able to sustain a big run, the way they do when they are at their best. Willie Green bricks two free throws -- have I mention how little use I have for Willie Green? -- and the lead stays five as the Magic keep drawing charges. Grr... and this meat grinder continues, with Rashard Lewis causing me no end of worry by waking up for the first time in the series. After yet another Courtney Lee drive to close the quarter, it's Magic 64, Sixers 55, and this series is 12 minutes away from going back to Favorites Control. When you shoot 36% from the field, it's a wonder that you're this close, really.

The fourth starts with missed threes and offensive rebounding, and Lou Williams finally hits after a minute of clock is ran off. Orlando gets three points back easily, with Howard going to the line, blocking a shot and scoring in transition. Once again, my team has to work a lot harder to score than the opponent; this is not new to the franchise's recent history. (Oh, how I long for the team of my youth, with Julius Erving and Moses Malone and Andrew Toney and any number of other guys who could fill it up.) Howard then erases Miller on the defensive end, then follows with a putback slam. It's a 6-point game, but the home team isn't getting stops.

Theo Ratliff picks up his fifth with 7:12 left, and given how little Dalembert has given them this series, that's a big problem. Howard continues to stake his claim as game MVP everywhere but the line, and then Lou Williams makes terrible plays at both ends -- first a turnover, then a late useless foul to give Lewis a three-point play. Just brutal. 10 point game for the Magic with 6:53 left.

Iguodala to Dalembert for a slam, and the forks are kept at bay for a little while longer. The stats say that the Magic are shooting 33% from the field for the quarter, but I can't really believe it. The Shooter Eldest babbles about aliens and monkeys and I blame her, silently, for Rafer Alston hitting a jumper. Miller misses a three, like he should ever try them, and Lee answers with a layup. It's 10 again, the way it's been the entire second half, with less than five minutes left. This series is about to go south. Literally.

Williams with a make from the corner; he has 9 points today, but at least six of them are in the fourth. Lee answers, and man, I'm hating that guy. He has 15 now, all of them back-breaking. Iggy gets to the line; he's got 10 on 3 of 10, and misses from the line; he really needs to get better at that if he's going to take a step up. Williams again from the corner cuts it to 7 after a Lee turnover, and after Alston misses a three, Iggy hits one in transition, and we're suddenly at a a four point game with three minutes left. We are in Fist Pumping Mode Here in the Man Space as once again, My Team Has Heart!

Lewis misses, and Miller takes it all the way; 2 point game, but Turkoglu remembers he's a fourth quarter guy and goes all the way to the hole for a bucket. At least he misses the free throw. Dalembert's fifth foul. Iggy misses a three, which really didn't help. Lee misses, and Miller runs a break and gets to the line on Alston's fourth foul. 88 seconds left, a four point game. Andre makes both, because he's just that kind of man. Two point game.

10-2 run for the home team in the last three minutes. They unfurl their best defensive stand of the game where Dalembert pokes the entry pass away from Howard, a three attempt is blocked, and Howard misses a desperate turnaround at the buzzer.. Miller doesn't get the call and it's 81-79 still. Lewis misses, Dalembert rebounds as my family has some kind of turmoil -- don't they understand it's the end of a playoff game? -- and you're in that situational end of game madness that takes forever and grinds your teeth to sharp edges. 24 seconds left.

You really need to get something good and quick here in case you need to foul... and nothing is better than a slam dunk, which is what Dalembert does after Iggy finds him down low. Tie game, and it's on the defense to force overtime, with 14.8 seconds to go.

Historically, Turkoglu is the Magic's guy here, and.. goddamn it, he delivers. A simple step back three from 27 feet, just canning it over Young, and my hat's off to him, that was just immense. Just over a second left, and it's miracle time to prevent a tied series. Dammit, dammit, dammit. The Magic should not let a shot get off here; it's much better to make the opposition hit a free throw, miss the second and tip in the miss, but that's a hard thing to engineer, especially when with this little time on the clock, the opposition is much more likely to miss a 40 footer. Iggy is fouled while shooting his three, but it's not called and it bangs off the rim. Tie series.

Sigh. Just because I called the Magic to do exactly this -- albeit in five games, not six -- that makes it no easier to take. Off to go punt the cat; and perhaps later, catch the end of Rockets-Blazers. Dammit, dammit, dammit.