Scanning the blogs and beats following the Magic's 96-87 win over the 76ers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals ... The Puns ...: "The thing that really stands out for me in Games 1 and 2 is the consistent aggressiveness displayed by Courtney Lee and Anthony Johnson. Lee and AJ were the only two players that stayed aggressive for both games. Lee is breaking out and his challenge will be maintaining his level of play once teams are no longer leaving him alone. As for AJ, well, it is obvious that the 80-plus playoff games he has under his belt have paid off for the Magic. AJ was the only bench player to contribute anything at all for the Magic,Nike Zoom rookie Penny Hardaway III Mens Black Green, and his two signature plays — the throwdown on Theo Ratliff in Game 1, and his hard drive inside in the fourth quarter in Game 2 — are all you need to know about what he is contributing to this team right now." Peter Kerasotis, Florida Today: "They righted the ship. But the Orlando Magic are still not right. No offense to Courtney Lee, but when he is your offense ... well, that might be good enough to get past the Philadelphia 76ers, which Orlando finally did with a 96-87 win Wednesday night, but in the long run, it won't be good enough. And it's the long run — you know, deep into this NBA postseason — that these Magic men say they're built for. Lee, a rookie who has certainly impressed this season, really impressed Wednesday, leading Orlando with a career-high 24 points. After that ... 'We just couldn't get the ball in the basket, we're just not making shots,' Magic coach Stan Van Gundy groaned, again and again. 'Lee just seems to be playing more free and looser than the other guys. Some of the other guys looked like they have the weight of the world on them.' Maybe not the weight of the world. But definitely the weight of facing an 0-2 deficit in the first round of the postseason, which is where the Magic would've been had they lost again last night." Liberty Ballers: "I have an uneasy feeling in my stomach. The eight role players and head coach let me down tonight. The "Big Three" showed up, and if the Sixers would've gotten a contribution from anyone else we'd have ourselves a 2-0 lead. I've allowed the loss to linger for a few hours, but I still can't get over it. Why did Andre Iguodala score only one point in the first half? Why did Bill Green play 20+ minutes? Why did DiLeo play Donny-Ice when we needed stops and sit him when we needed threes? Why is Courtney Lee averaging 21 points this series? Who in their right mind would allow Reggie Evans to guard Dwight Howard? Why couldn't we get a defensive rebound? Why don't we get to the free throw line anymore? Why is Bill Green playing at all?" Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: "Stan Van Gundy is once again the guru of a championship-caliber basketball team. The coach of the Magic pushed and prodded and goaded and goosed his team to a desperate,Air Jordan XI(11) Womens Basketball Shoes White black, do-or-die victory Wednesday night. He pressed all the right buttons; he made all the right moves. In other words, he pretty much did all the same things he did during Game 1 except for one major difference — the Magic defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 96-87 in Game 2 to once again make everything right in the Magic kingdom. Our education system is bankrupt, our real estate market is in the tank, but, hey, the Magic are tied 1-all with the Sixers. The Magic won this game despite Dwight Howard fouling out in the fourth quarter. They won despite their $118 million man Rashard Lewis hitting only 4 of 14 shots. They won even though they made only 6 of 23 threes. They won with shockingly sensational rookie Courtney Lee scoring a team-high 24 points. And, mainly, they won with great coaching. Stellar coaching. Amazing coaching." Sports On My Mind: "What remains troubling in the Magic Kingdom, is Orlando’s poor three-point shooting. In Game 2 the Magic made only six of 23 attempts from beyond the arc (26.1%). If Orlando cannot get more open three-point looks or convert the shots they get, they stand a very good chance of being upset by the decidedly more athletic Sixers. As it stands now, though, Orlando can travel to Philadelphia for games three and four with hope on their side." Third Quarter Collapse: One has to think the Magic will run away with this series once their shooters come around, yet one also has to wonder if that will ever happen. Lewis and Turkoglu continue to struggle from the field, although to their credit they both made concerted efforts to drive the ball to the basket when their jumpers not falling; the pair combined for 19 free throw attempts as opposed to eight in Game One. And tonight Lewis grabbed arguably the biggest rebound of the Magic's season when he snuck through Philly's defense to snag a missed jumper by Turk, then put it up and in to give the Magic a decisive 92-84 lead with 28 seconds to play. Lewis was also the Magic's best playmaker, finishing with six assists. I can live with his shooting poorly as long as he's still engaged in other aspects of the game." Rich Hofmann, Philadelphia Daily News: "Asked what Lee brings for the Magic, [Andre] Miller said, 'Confidence. He knows we're going to force him to make plays because you try to focus on Hedo, Rashard and Dwight. I think he's known in the past, when we have played him, that he's going to be the guy that's getting shots sometimes as far as our rotations making him and the point guards make plays. And they're doing that. He's doing a good job.' Miller is clinical, precise, pretty optimistic about the Sixers' situation. They do have the homecourt advantage now. They have to bring a more consistent energy to the game, but the change in venue should help that. And even in their split, they have convinced the Magic that they are going to hang around regardless of the circumstances. As Howard said at one point, 'With a team like that, you've got to bury 'em.' Which has not happened. Which is not all bad." Talk Hoops: "Before this game started, I wondered aloud to no one in particular why it wouldn't be one of the featured games on TNT. Sure Miami-Atlanta has Dwayne Wade, but game one in this series was infinitely entertaining and the likelihood of seeing a handful of ridiculously athletic plays from Dwight Howard and Andre Iguodala was very high. Had I only known what I was in store for me. This was one of the sloppiest playoff games I have ever witnessed. There was an abundance of turnovers,Cheap Barefoot Nike Free Run+ 3 Grey Light Blue, the shot selection was atrocious and decision making of both teams left a lot to be desired. As if that wasn't bad enough, neither team cracked 75% from the free throw line. Many will misinterpret that there was great defense being played which led to those turnovers and low field goal percentages, but that is just lazily looking at the box score. There were stretches of good defense by both teams, but more often than not the Sixers were playing one-on-one and jacking up off-balance shots or the Magic would force a pass that just wasn't there." The 700 Level: "... if the last two games don't convince you that the Sixers still could really use the help of one Elton Brand next season, then I suppose nothing will. There have been times during half-court sets when Sammy has been begging for the ball, single-covered, deep in the post, and you can tell that Dre or Lou, dribbling on the wings, would really like to grant him his wish — after all, it seems like the logical play under the circumstances. But they know that they just can't in good conscience direct the ball to that offensive black hole of a basketball player, and instead they end up settling for an outside jumper. Unless he comes back with two bum legs and a stump for a right hand, you can't honestly tell me that having Elton down there instead begging for that ball will not be a gigantic upgrade." Depressed Fan: "If you want a positive to take out of this game, there is one very, very big one. No one, not a single player, coach or fan of this team, should fear Orlando. The Sixers are more than capable of winning this series. They're more than capable of winning another game in Orlando, if they have to. They can force Orlando to do exactly what they want on both sides of the ball and they can take advantage of three mismatches on offense to get a good look whenever they need to. [Wednesday]'s game was a missed opportunity, but it won't be the last opportunity of this series."
Related: The Internets are alive, 2009 NBA Playoffs
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