CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN The 2008 NBA Playoff series between the third-seeded Orlando Magic and the sixth-seeded Toronto Raptors opened on April 20 in Florida. The two teams had met three times in the regular season, with the Magic coming out on top twice. Toronto’s sole win had been decisive; however, it was anyone’s guess which team would emerge victorious in this postseason matchup.
Dwight Howard and Raptor Chris Bosh faced each other for the opening tip-off. Dwight won and sent the ball directly into Jameer Nelson’s waiting hands. Nineteen seconds later, Nelson drained a three-pointer from twenty-five feet out to get Orlando on the board first. Hedo Turkoglu followed with four points. Then Maurice Evans, a shooting forward Orlando had acquired from the Lakers in a midseason trade, stuck a three-pointer. Rashard Lewis duplicated that effort with a three-point jumper of his own. Moments after that, Dwight lofted a seventeen-foot jump shot that hit for two points.
Less than four minutes had ticked off the clock and already the Magic had 15 points! It was truly a team effort, with all five starters contributing to the score.
The Raptors, meanwhile, had only eight points. They added just 15 more in the remaining minutes for a first quarter total of 23. Orlando, on the other hand, tallied an unbelievable 43 in the first twelve minutes of play! Dwight had a hand in all eight of the last points, assisting on 2 three-pointers by Keyon Dooling and adding a bucket of his own right at the buzzer.
Toronto did their best to battle back, but by halftime, they were still in a hole by 13. That margin might have been even greater had Nelson and Howard not bobbled several plays in the final minutes. Luckily for Magic fans, they were back in good form after the break. So were the rest of the Orlando players.
But the Raptors had woken up by then as well. They cut the Magic’s lead to eight with a minute and a half left in the third quarter. They edged even closer in the fourth quarter, drawing to within five points two minutes in. With the momentum shifting in Toronto’s favor, Orlando called a time-out.
Whatever Stan Van Gundy said on the sidelines clearly made an impact on his players. Swish! Turkoglu hit from twelve feet out. Boom! Howard thrust down a dunk. Forty seconds later, he ripped down an offensive rebound and kissed the ball to the glass for a layup. And then he banked in another two-pointer to make it six straight points in ninety seconds! He followed up those plays with a steal that he dished to Jameer Nelson—who stuck the ball through the hoop for two more points!
The Raptors tried everything they could to stop the Magic, but nothing worked. Final score: Orlando 114, Toronto 100. Series score: Orlando 1, Toronto 0.
The entire Magic squad had put on a show of strength, but Dwight Howard was the best of them all. His totals of 25 points, 22 rebounds, and 5 blocks for the night earned him a place among the elite: Only eleven other players in NBA history had posted such numbers in a playoff game.
“It felt real good,” a tired but elated Howard said. “Actually, I almost got some tears.”
Two nights later, it was the Magic who nearly “got some tears” when the Raptors roared back from an 18-point deficit to tie it before halftime.
But the Magic were not to be denied. For six minutes in the third quarter, Jameer Nelson and Dwight Howard put on a scoring show. Jameer scored a three-pointer; Dwight tipped in a basket for two. Howard added a free throw; Nelson stuck two from the line. Howard made back-to-back buckets; Nelson made back-to-back three-pointers—and suddenly, the Magic were on top by nine points!
The Raptors clawed their way back again, however, to take a one-point lead with just 1:04 showing on the game clock.
It was edge-of-the-seat excitement in the final minute of the match. Turkoglu made a layup and then two free throws to put Orlando up by three. Then, with nine seconds left, Raptor Carlos Delfino rolled in a layup to cut the lead to a single point!
Orlando had to be very careful not to foul Toronto or commit a turnover. If the ball got into the Raptors’ hands, a single basket would mean the game.
Toronto had a chance for that single basket after an offensive foul. Fortunately—for Magic fans, anyway—Raptor Chris Bosh missed his nineteen-foot jumper. Orlando won 104–103 to go up two in the series.
Dwight, meanwhile, left the court with his second 20-20 playoff game, with 29 points and 20 rebounds. Only four other players in thirty years had achieved that milestone; the last player to do so was Howard’s idol, Kevin Garnett. “Since the last game,” he said later, “the only thing on my mind, when I go to sleep, when I wake up, at the gym with the guys, is to dominate.”
But dominating was not in the cards for Howard or the Magic in Game 3. They lost 108–94 to the Raptors in Toronto, making it 2–1 in the series. Dwight still gave a strong performance, with 19 points and 12 rebounds, but as he said in an interview, “they came out firing on all cylinders and we didn’t do a great job of coming back at them.”
The Raptors came out swinging the next match, too. The score was knotted near the end of the fourth quarter. Then Nelson, Turkoglu, and Lewis mounted an offensive attack that left the Raptors gasping—and ultimately, on the losing side of the 106–94 score.
The Magic just needed a single win to advance in the playoffs. They hoped to get it in front of their hometown fans in Orlando on April 28.
From the opening tip through to the final seconds, Dwight Howard was a man on a mission. He made a hook, layups, dunks, and free throws. He blocked shots and shoveled assists. He crashed the boards on offense and defense. By game’s end, he had 21 points and 21 rebounds for his third 20-20 in the series. Even better, the Magic had the win in their pocket!
The moment the final buzzer sounded, Dwight broke into a broad grin. “It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” he said joyfully.
It was the first time since 1996 that the Magic had won a playoff series. Now all they had to do was beat their next opponents, the Detroit Pistons.
They didn’t do it their first meeting. The Pistons knew how to control the Magic. They controlled Howard, playing an aggressive game that held him to just 12 points and only 8 rebounds.
“Detroit is going to talk and push,” Dwight said after the 91–72 loss. “We knew that coming in, but we got too frustrated.”
Howard answered the Pistons’ physical style of play the next outing. He nabbed 18 rebounds, swatted 2 blocks, and tossed in 22 points. But it was all for nothing. The Magic lost again, 100–93.
That defeat made it nine times in a row that the Pistons had denied the Magic in playoff matches. When the series moved to Orlando, Detriot hoped to make it ten. But they were disappointed.
Rashard Lewis was the hero of Game 3; he fired in 33 of the team’s 111 points. Dwight did his share, too, adding 20 points and ripping down 12 rebounds.
“It felt really good finally getting a chance to beat those guys,” Howard said later.
Game 4 was a ferocious battle. The Pistons wanted to head back to Detroit with a decisive 3–1 advantage in the series. The Magic wanted to tie the series at two games apiece.
For much of the game, it looked as if Orlando would come out on top. They led by six at the end of the first quarter. At halftime, they had widened the margin to 11. And midway through the third quarter, they were a full 15 points ahead.
But the Pistons didn’t roll over and play dead. They tightened their grip on defense and completely shut down the Magic for a full seven minutes while cranking up their own offense. When the third quarter ended, the game was tied 70–70.
The score remained close throughout the fourth quarter. That changed in the final three minutes, when Turkoglu went on a scoring rampage. At 3:05 he hit a three-pointer to make it 83–82 in Orlando’s favor. The Pistons pushed past with a pair of free throws, but then Hedo stuck another three-pointer to make it 86–84. Again, Detroit answered with a two-pointer.
It was a tie ball game, with just one minute remaining when Turkoglu struck again, this time with a driving layup. If the Magic could shut down the Pistons’ offense—and not make any costly mistakes—they would win!
But it was not to be. Right after Turkoglu’s layup, Keyon Dooling fouled Piston Richard Hamilton. Hamilton made both free throws to knot the score yet again. Right after those shots, however, Detroit’s Antonio McDyess committed a foul that sent Jameer Nelson to the line!
In the regular season, Nelson had made 125 out of 151 free throws. He stuck the first of two to put the Magic up by a point. But the second missed!
Pistons and Magic players leaped, hands stretching for the rebound. If Orlando came down with it, they could go right back up and put it through the hoop. Or they could send the ball back out and set up a play.
They didn’t get a chance to do either, because Detroit beat them to the ball to give the Pistons control with just forty-three seconds left. They ran down the shot clock as much as they could and then gave the ball to their top scorer, Rasheed Wallace. Wallace missed his jumper, but Detroit recovered the ball again! This time, they made good on their chance with a running jumper by Tayshaun Prince.
Detroit 90, Orlando 89, with eight seconds remaining. The Magic inbounded the ball. Seven seconds ticked away. Turkoglu raced in for a driving layup. He missed! Dwight Howard soared above the rim. His fingers touched the ball for the tip-in. But the ball didn’t fall through the hoop! Howard scrambled for the rebound but couldn’t control it in time.
Final score: Detroit 90, Orlando 89. Series score: Detroit 3, Orlando 1.
The Pistons hammered in the final nail on the Magic’s coffin three nights later before a roaring Michigan crowd. Game 5’s 91–86 loss was even more painful for Orlando because they had closed a 10-point deficit to 1 late in the fourth. That was as near as they came to going ahead. Six Detroit foul shots later, the Magic’s postseason ended, and the Pistons’ celebration began.
Dwight Howard, the player with the perpetual grin, was not smiling.