Orlando Magic News for May 19th: the Magic Collapse, Dwight Howard Scores, and More

Kevin Arnovitz of TrueHoop makes some excellent points, as usual, in this video breaking down the Orlando Magic's "banal" letdown against the Boston Celtics last night. Shot selection is a real concern for the Magic, it appears.

Eddy has detailed stats on Dwight Howard's offensive night. Howard shot 9-of-13 from the field and scored 30 points. Take a look at how well he did against Rasheed Wallace and Kendrick Perkins, two guys who have stymied him in the past.

The 30-point outing didn't impress Kelly Dwyer, however, who's also quick to mention the talking point about Howard not having a post game is "complete and utter bollocks":

But he's not squaring his shoulders, or setting his feet correctly, and he is hurrying shots. And though he dropped 30, a bunch of those free-throw makes were lucky to go in, and a few of those field goals took ridiculous bounces before dropping in. It was like Jamal Crawford scoring 30 by banking in threes and top-of-the-key jumpers. The ball wasn't supposed to go where it did, but somehow it went in.

Sebastian Pruiti says Howard became more effective in Game 2 by making quicker moves and by eliminating the "gather" in his delivery. Gathering the ball gives Boston's defenders time to recover and contest his shot; cutting it out ensures that he maximizes his speed advantage. Great, great work with the video, as usual.

If the Magic want to make a series out of their current predicament, coach Stan Van Gundy must adjust his lineup, writes Khandor. One of his suggestions is for Van Gundy to bench the "inferior" Matt Barnes and J.J. Redick in order to play the "all-around" superior Mickael Pietrus. He also thinks it's time for both Ryan Anderson and Brandon Bass to get a shot at backup power forward minutes. Neither has played in this series, as Van Gundy has elected to go big with Marcin Gortat logging all the power forward minutes Rashard Lewis is leaving behind.

Henry Abbott points out that the Magic benefited from 9 straight calls that went against Boston in the 4th quarter last night. Not once during that stretch did the referees whistle Orlando for a violation.