Don't worry, Stan: if the team I coached lost to the Hawks, I'd be displeased too.
Photo by Gregory Smith, the Associated Press
The Orlando Magic celebrated Easter early by laying an egg against the Atlanta Hawks last night. The four-point lead we held heading into the fourth quarter simply evaporated, and we ended up losing by eight. Joe Johnson had 34 points and 7 assists; Keith Bogans and Keyon Dooling tied for the Magic lead in assists with 4 apiece; and Dwight Howard shot 5-of-11 from the foul line1. It appears as thought it was one of those nights where we just flat-out don't care, letting an inferior team walk all over us. Luckily, we haven't had one of those nights in a while, so I suppose I'm not too steamed about this loss. Then again, I didn't have to sit through it.
Anyway, I spent some time with the ms. last night, so I didn't follow the game at all. It's just as well. I'm not too about this loss; the fact that we see the Hawks once more in Atlanta leaves open the possibility of a us administering a butt-kicking. And because that game is on the second-to-last night of the season, we could end their playoff hopes, if they haven't yet played themselves out of postseason contention.
The Magic have today and tomorrow off before taking on the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday. Let's hope our guys don't get too hung up on this loss and instead focus on that matchup against the defending world champions.
1 Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire, who's played out of his mind since the Suns acquired Shaquille O'Neal last month, scored 38 points tonight. He was 20-of-20 from the foul line. I weep for Dwight's potential.