Game Three: Orlando vs Detroit

Do or Die

Orlando have to win tonight

• Howard on the left block, goes right into the paint, misses
• Fastbreak Orlando, Hedo to Lewis, layup
• Lewis blocks Maxiell, out of play, Rip Hamilton off a screen, misses
• Too easy, Rasheed on the right block, handoff to Chauncey, easy dribble baseline and uncontested layup
• Howard dribbles left spins right, loses the ball, regains control, right hook shot off the bank, miss
• Howard on the right block again, muscles his way into the paint, gets the roll on the hook
• Ouch, Billups isn’t getting up, timeout Detroit. Chauncey drove into the paint, Jameer fell, Chauncey fell after him with his back to Nelson, started doing the splits, well lets just say from the way he’s reaching he’s in some pain right now.
• Rodney Stuckey comes in for Billups
• Jameer goes right at the rookie Stuckey, gets to the rim and gets the foul. Hits the FT. That’s 5 of Orlando’s 9 for Jameer.
• Orlando lead 9-2
• Maxiell on the left block, Mo Evans from behind, knocks it loose, fastbreak the other way
• Lewis on the drive around Sheed o nthe break, drives baseline, baseline pass to the corner to Nelson, three pointer , good
• Loose ball foul on Detroit, that’s four, they’ll be in the penalty next foul. 7 minutes to go.
• Stuckey gets the step, around the perimeter, into the left lane, layup, blocked by Howard from the weakside. Fastbreak, Nelson ahead to Lewis in traffic, layup
• Timeout Flip Saunders
• 16-2 Orlando
• Chauncey trying to walk it off, doesn’t look good. Injured. He’s gone to the locker room. Right hamstring strain they are calling it. His return is questionable.
• Rip gets Dwight on the screen and roll mismatch, calls an iso, drives baseline, stops and pops on the baseline, misses over Howard, Howard rebound
• Hedo on the screen and roll with Howard at the top of the key, goes left, finishes the reverse layup off the glass
• Rip Hamilton drives into the paint, passes up the layup when Dwight comes over, Maxiell thinks about it, passes up to Stuckey, Stuckey comes in, pump fakes, gets Howard off his feet, takes the lay in, misses it. Intimidation thy name is Dwight Howard. Well done rookie for being the only one with the balls to take him on.
• Rasheed hits a three
• Rasheed misses a three, rebound Howard, outlet pass to Turkoglu, Hedo goes coast to coast and gets fouled at the rim. Hits one.
• Magic lead 23-6
• McDyess misses the 18 footer, Pistons 2-15 from the field now, Dwight and Sheed battle for the rebound, Dwight tips it, Sheed tips, Sheed tips it again but out of bounds. Timeout SVG.
• Tayshaun Prince into Wallace, he drives past Howard, dunks it home
• Dwight in the paint again, scores again. He has 9, 5 and 3.
• Tayshaun Prince on the right block against Mo Evans, backs him down and gets the layin
• Nelson responds with a layup off the dribble in the half court
• Lewis fouled on the drive. Orlando lead 28-12. Rashard hits both FTs, 30-12. There’s 50 seconds left in the first.
• Tayshaun Prince acting as the point guard now with Stuckey getting a breather
• Rip hits from 18 feet. They’ve scored 8 quick points here.
• Nelson runs down the clock, over to Lewis, on the drive, bank shot, no
• Rasheed Wallace rebound, pass to Rip, Rip dribbles hits Afflalo with the 40 foot pass, layup at the buzzer, it’s good.
• Second Quarter
• Magic lead 30-16
• Turkoglu off the glass, that didn’t look intentional
• Prince still at the point, dribble drive, going left from the top of the key, pull up fallaway from the elbow, miss
• Orlando miss, fastbreak, ahead to Prince on the right wing, Prince passes to the top of the key, Rip from 18 feet, good.
• Orlando lead 32-20
• Billups return still rated as questionable. Still recieving treatment.
• Hedo on the right wing, drives left, spins right, tough bank shot from 10 feet, miss
• Rasheed backs down Gortat, turnaround. Gortat can’t guard him.
• Arroyo and Gortat with the screen and roll, nice pass from Carlos to Gortat for the dunk
• Stuckey drives on Arroyo, Arroyo falls back on the pull up, open shot from 15 feet on the left wing, miss.
• Stuckey has to have a good game tonight to make up for the loss of Billups
• Rip on the left wing, goes left, baseline J, good.
• 40-26 Orlando
• Lindsey Hunter and Juan Dixon aren’t activated tonight. Very short bench guard’s wise for Detroit. Stuckey is going to get nearly all of the minutes. Then some Afflalo with Rip/Tay handling the point. Hayes in now.
• Hermann drives right into the paint, rejected by Howard, ball goes to Stuckey, Stuckey off the dribble drains the jumper
• Offensive foul Howard
• Rasheed is very close to technicals and ejections. He lost his head in that last timeout
• Howard kicks it out of the post, Magic swing the ball, pass goes to Rashard in the corner, three pointer
• Stuckey misses from 17 feet, rebound Bogans, Hedo tries to coast to coast, takes a terrible forced 10 foot runner on the right wing bank shot. Brick.
• Hamilton cuts the lead back to 13
• There’s three and a half minutes to go
• Hedo into the paint off the Nelson feed, Hermann strips him as he goes up for the shot, out of play. Orlando ball. Nice defense. Hedo takes another bad shot, bricks another shot. These aren’t just missing, they’re miles off. He’s 2-7 for 5 points now.
• Hedo controlling the ball, high screen and roll with Dwight, drives and kick to Lewis for the three pointer on the right wing. Rashard is 5-6 for 13 points.
• Hermann on the offensive glass, foul. Timeout.
• Orlando lead 47-34
• Theo bodies up Dwight, gets inside his shirt, Howard tries to take him off the dribble from 14 feet, loses it. Dwight needs to give that up, he isn’t going to beat Theo like that.
• Prince layup
• Howard with the rebound over Hermann
• Lewis for three
• Orland lead 52-39 with 37 seconds to go
• Stuckey lets the clock roll down, Tayshaun on the iso on the right wing, gets trapped, turnover, fastbreak, Lewis gets the layup
• There’s 8 seconds left, Pistons inbound it to Stuckey, dribbles up the fcourt, drives hard on Nelson, goes left on the left wing, spins right back towards the middle of the paint, fouled, sticks with it, gets the layup on the continuation. Three point play.
• Halftime
• Orlando lead 54-42
• Billups will not return tonight. He is listed as a day-to-day injury.
• Some team stats – Fairly even outside of the shooting. Orlando lead 19-17 on the boards. Detroit 3 turnovers to 4 for Orlando. Combined blocks/steals 8-3 Orlando. Orlando have gotten 38 shots, shot 55%, 4-12 from three, 8-11 from the line. Detroit had 42 shots, shot 43%, 1-4 from three, 5-8 from the line. Orlando 11-7 in assists over Detroit.
• Dwight is leading the way for Orlando with 13 (6-8), 6 and 5 blocks. Lewis has 18 [7-8] and 4. Nelson [4-8] has 12, 2 and 2. Hedo is only 2-9 with 5 points, he does lead Orlando with four assists.
• Rip Hamilton leads Detroit with 13. He needs more help from Rasheed and Prince. Stuckey had 9 points on 3-8 shooting.

Second half

• Rasheed Wallace misses from three to start the third, steals the ball on the other end. Fastbreak Detroit, Stuckey ahead to Rip on the right wing, back to Stuckey, dribbles in to 14 feet and drains it.
• Hedo gets a runner to go finally
• Rasheed in the post over Dwight, turnaround.
• Howard spin move on Maxiell, dunk
• Rasheed from 22 feet, misses
• Mo Evans drives into the paint, deflection by Wallace, then Stuckey, out of bounds. Nobody really went for that loose ball. Not a good sign for either team.
• Nelson on the drive and kick to Hedo for three from the left wing, nice.
• Wallace posts up Howard, turns into the middle, takes the scoop shot in the paint, rolls off the rim
• Rasheed is missing but not by much
• Hedo gets an unlulcky foul. Little nudge on Tayshaun after good defense.
• Tayshaun on the left wing, two dribbles left, pull up from 16 feet, good shot.
• Howard in the post against Maxiell again, takes a running hook. Stay tall big fella, no need to beat him with speed. He dipped his head and shoulders below Maxiell on that rolling hook.
• Rip on the catch at the elbow, dribbles right, hits the 13 footer
• Nelson misses, fastbreak, Rip leads the charge, to Stuckey, miss, Nelson grabs it falls out of play, throws it back behind him, right to Maxiell to Prince, layup.
• Lewis drives on Rasheed, draws the foul. Rasheed wants a call for a hooking foul.
• Reggie Miller can’t say Rasheed Wallace and Rashard Lewis in the same sentence. He’s getting excited and loud by his failure. This is painful. Calm down Reggie.
• Rip on the screen and roll at the top of the key, stripped on the drive, turnover.
• Hedo on the screen and roll with dwight on the left wing, pull up from 17 feet, miss
• Prince gets inside, Howard swats it and controls the ball, outlet pass, fastbreak, missed shot.
• Howard on the defensive glass, quick break by Orlando, up ahead to Evans, drives baseline, dunk
• Prince on the clear out, draws the foul on Evans, that’s three on Evans. Magic in the penalty. Prince shoots two, hits two.
• Pistons iso Prince yet again, step back J on the baseline.
• Detroit on a 12-2 run and have pulled the game within 3
• Turkoglu on the drive, stripped, 4 on 1 fastbreak Detroit, Rashard Lewis picks off the pass, kicks it ahead, trails the play, gets it back, three pointer. Huge play by Lewis on both ends.
• Orlando lead 70-64 with 1:15 to play. Dooling picks up a foul, more FTs, Rip hits both.
• Howard in the low post on the right block, reaching foul on Rip, he just got in the way more than fouled. Reggie Miller is right, Dwight needs to slow down, he’s making his moves too quickly and falling into the traps/doubles of Detroit. He hits one of two.
• Orlando up 5, 71-66
• Stuckey drives, loses the ball, gets control, kicks it out, nice ball movement from Detroit, Prince gets a good look from three, misses, long rebound, bounces right back to Prince, everybody else ran for the break, Prince hits from 18 feet, he was wide open.
• Rashard Lewis drives, draws the foul on Prince,
• Stuckey has 17 points now. Detroit’s bench has outscored Orlando 22-5.
• 18 seconds left to play in the quarter, Detroit will hold it for the last shot, Stuckey milks the clock, gives it to Rip at the top of the key, drives left, pump fake, Dooling bites, Rip takes the contact, draws the foul. Hits one of two.

Fourth Quarter

• Orlando lead 73-69
• Rashard Lewis jab steps Wallace, creates some space, three pointer
• Turkoglu drives down the left lane, bricks another runner. Terrible shot. Howard gets the rebound and is fouled. Hits one.
• Orlando lead 77-69
• Hedo with another ticky tack foul pushing Stuckey out of play on the rebound. Four on Hedo. He plays decent defense, if he stopped fouling he’d be a pretty effective defender.
• Hedo blazes into the open court, into the paint, kicks it to the corner, Magic swing the ball back to Dooling, three pointer. 7-0 run Orlando to start the fourth.
• Timeout
• Orlando lead 80-69
• Bogans misses the three, Lewis hits the glass and puts it back. 11-0 run.
• Wallace has position down low on Dwight, fouled on his dunk attempt.
• Hedo for three from the left wing, hits it. Orlando are up 16 with 9 minutes to play.
• Wallace on the right block, spins into the middle, throws up a scooping layup, misses, offensive rebound, put back slam, foul on Howard before it can happen. That’s four on Dwight.
• Another block from Dwight
• Stuckey steals it from Nelson but can’t save the ball after diving on the floor
• Magic lead 94-77 with 5 and a half to play. This is all but over.
• Dwight Howard with great position in the middle of the paint 5 feet from the rim. Same high screen and roll and ball reversal while Howard pins his man. We’ll be seeing more of this play as the series goes on. Dwight gets the three point play.
• This is over

Orlando won, they had to win. Now on to Game Four, if Orlando can win that this series becomes a best of three. Gotta hold homecourt.