Orlando Magic Must Learn To Put Away Opponents
The Orlando Magic are currently 25-15 and are third in the Eastern Conference behind Miami and Chicago. The difference between the Magic and the two teams that sit in front of them is how they treat big leads. The ability to finish off games has been a problem for the Magic this year.
The most glaring example of the Magic not being able to finish off opponents came on January 26 against the Boston Celtics. During a five game losing streak in which the Magic set a new franchise record for least amount of points scored in a game and threatened that record less than a week later, Orlando blew a 27 point second quarter lead to the Celtics and lost by eight. While the Magic had shown an inability to put away opponents when they had large leads that was the first one they lost.
The Magic have shown that inability twice in the last week. On Thursday night, the Magic hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder who currently hold the best record in the NBA. Late in the third quarter, the Magic pushed their lead to 14 and looked to be pulling away before the Thunder came roaring back and won by three. It happened again Tuesday night when the Magic played in Charlotte. Orlando pushed their lead in the second quarter up to 20 before the Bobcats came back to trail by only five at halftime. Charlotte would end up winning by 16.
While the Magic have lost games after building large leads, they’ve also lost large leads and barely squeaked out wins. On January 11, the Magic traveled to Portland during a three game west coast road trip. Early in the fourth quarter, Orlando had built itself a 20 point advantage and looked as if they were going to roll over the Blazers. However, the Blazers made a late run and the Magic were barely able to escape yet another collapse as they defeated Portland by just three.
A major reason why the Magic are unable to put teams away is the free throw shooting of star center Dwight Howard. Howard is shooting a miserable 48.5% from the line this season which has convinced opposing teams that the best way to defend the dominant center is to foul him. That strategy has worked. On Monday, the Magic led in Toronto by four with two minutes remaining when the Raptors decided to continue the “hack-a-Howard” defense. Howard responded by missing four consecutive free throws keeping Toronto in the game. Though the Magic won that game, it very easily could’ve gone the other way.
The Magic are one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference this season and would be an elite team if one thing would change. That one thing is playing all 48 minutes. The Magic have made it a trend this season to accumulate big leads and then go on cruise control expecting to sleep walk through the remainder of the game. In Tuesday night’s loss in Charlotte, swingman Jason Richardson alluded to this problem during a halftime interview. That shows that the Magic players are aware of the problem and yet, continue to repeat their mistakes. Unless Orlando changes their mindset and plays all 48 minutes to the best of their ability, they will continue to lose games in which they have complete control.
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