A Brief History of the Orlando Magic's Blown Leads This Season
by Evan Dunlap on Feb 6, 2010 2:00 PM EST
in Diversions
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PrintLast night, the Orlando Magic blew a 21-point, first-half lead--and a 15-point halftime lead--to the Washington Wizards in arguably the most frustrating, embarrassing loss of the season. That game prompted me to look into Orlando's history of coughing up big leads this year. Here's a list, presented without comment. Let me know if I've forgotten anything.
| Date | Opponent | Big lead | Clock | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Nov. | Miami | 11 | 7:58, 4Q | L, 99-98 |
| 10 Dec. | Utah | 18 | 8:40, 2Q | L, 120-111 |
| 8 Jan. | Washington | 10 | 10:39, 4Q | L, 104-97 |
| 18 Jan. | L.A. Lakers | 9 | 3:16, 3Q | L, 98-92 |
| 23 Jan. | Charlotte | 16 | 1:31, 3Q | W, 104-95 (OT) |
| 25 Jan. | Memphis | 16 | 7:18, 2Q | L, 99-94 |
| 31 Jan. | Detroit | 14 | 6:22, 2Q | W, 91-86 |
| 5 Feb. | Washington | 21 | 2:22, 1Q | L, 92-91 |
Of course, this examination doesn't give Orlando any credit for surmounting double-digit deficits itself, which it did against Boston last week and against Atlanta on Thanksgiving Day. It also overcame a 13-point deficit against the Lakers, only to fall short, as listed in the chart above. The point is that virtually no Magic lead is safe. 6 times in their last 15 games, the Magic have failed to protect considerable leads. Make of that what you will.
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The losses at Miami and at Portland are the two most embarrassing of the year.
The team didn’t even show up in either one of those games and were never even close to what should’ve been inferior teams in both cases. This loss to Washington is frustrating, but not any more frustrating than the loss in Washington earlier this year. Caron’s display in the 2nd half made it hard to be frustrated with anything besides the reluctance to double team him. Of course there were a few things besides that to be upset with, but that was the main thing to me.
Frustrating is probably the best word to use to describe last night's loss.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
I think these stats are pretty telling
With the exception of the Lakers, most of those game should have been blowouts or at least a decent size win. The most embarrassing is definitely last nights loss to the Wizards. I was at that Miami game and it was a hard loss. But, really? Washington twice and a loss to the grizzlies? Those should have been easy wins. Over-confidence or boredom, can’t figure out which one.
Grizzlies are a good squad.
And it was at Memphis, where they’ve been on fire. They beat the Lakers in Memphis soon after they beat us, so there’s nothing easy at all about that.
Yeah, the Grizzlies are no push-over.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
Excellent write up BQR. This is the one thing that has really really pissed me off this year about the Magic. They will never shake the nickname Tragic imo, because of crap like this. I know this stuff doesn’t matter in the playoffs, but it hurts playoff positioning which at this point the Magic should seriously be focusing on. Good riddance.
"Where do you go from here, Dion?" "I go to Toronto."
Spreading that Calgary Flames, Montreal Expos, The U, and Orlando Magic love.
by KingJafi on Feb 6, 2010 4:46 PM EST via mobile reply actions
As long as the Magic get the #2 seed, I don't care how they get it.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
It seems like every team is out of sorts at this point
The mood in Lakers Nation right now is just depressing. Celtics fans are screaming for Ray Allen’s head. Or the expulsion of his contract.
Cleveland seems to have it together at this point. The same could be said last year, but they are doing a better job of proving it against elite competition. But aside from Cleveland, it seems like all the contenders are going through rough times.
I expect we’ll have a better grasp of what to expect after the All-Star break, when momentum becomes a legit issue.
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