Evan Dunlap of Orlando Pinstriped Post takes a look at some of the trends from game 4:
"Magic coach Stan Van Gundy’s decision to go with a smaller lineup–playing Hedo Turkoglu at power forward, with Jason Richardson and J.J. Redick on the wings–helped his team get back into the game, and it’s pretty clearly a tactic he needs to use in Game Five. Orlando’s smallish lineup, which had Jameer Nelson at the point and Glen Davis at center, scored 26 points in 11 minutes, shooting 11-of-22 from the field with seven assists and no turnovers."
Philip Rossman-Reich of Orlando Magic Daily liked Orlando’s approach to the game:
"Certainly Orlando approached the game like it was imperative that they win it. The effort was there from the start as it was (finally) Orlando getting to the hot start. That quickly dissipated deep into the second quarter as the Magic went nearly nine minutes without a field goal, seeing a 16-10 advantage turn into a 34-25 deficit. The Pacers took control as the Magic could do nothing offensively except get fouled — shooting 14 for 16 from the foul line in the quarter."
John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com discusses Glen Davis’s last shot:
"The Magic had a chance to force a second overtime period in the final seconds. Head coach Stan van Gundy originally drew up a play for Richardson to get a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but the Pacers denied the pass. Instead, the ball went in to Davis, whose 15-foot fade-away jumper came up just short and deflated the Magic.“I got a great shot off, but it was just short. It was on line,’’ said Davis, who had 16 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. “It was right there, but it was just short. If it was up an inch or two more we might be playing more overtimes or celebrating right now.’’"
Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel takes a look at the officiating:
"With 22.2 seconds left in the extra period, Glen Davis posted-up George Hill and made a layup that tied the score 99-99 as Davis fell to the ground.Magic coach Stan Van Gundy wanted a foul call on Hill, but a whistle never came.“I thought Glen had the three-point play on that dish to the rim,” Van Gundy said. “I thought he got fouled, but they saw it differently. And that would’ve changed the game. If he goes up and makes a free throw, they may still score, but they can’t hold for one shot.”"
Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star shares his thoughts:
"The Magic, who are always dangerous from behind the 3-point line, came hard and didn’t let up during the final eight minutes. Orlando scored 18 of its final 26 points from within five feet of the basket. Part of the problem was breakdowns by the Pacers on defense and the other problem was that the Magic just ran their offensive sets to perfection.Say what you want about Stan Van Gundy’s antics on the sideline and his problems with Dwight Howard, but he knows how to coach."
"The run began with two Jameer Nelson/Glen Davis pick-and-rolls that were defended equally poorly. On the first, David West (weakly) moved over to stall Nelson’s ball penetration and make no real attempt to recover as Jameer made an easy bounce pass to a rolling Davis. No other Pacer reacted either and Baby got the easy dunk. On the second, Nelson found no resistance and drove all the way to the hoop for an uncontested layup.They switched it up after that, instead letting JJ Redick handle the ball in an end-line out of bounds play. Davis set the screen, Leandro Barbosa and Roy Hiibbert acted entirely indifferent to JJ’s drive and the former Dukie finished at the rim. Orlando wisely went with this two-man game again soon and while Hibbert played the action better, Leandro was again caught in no man’s land and nearly stumbled as he fruitlessly flailed at Big Baby as he walked his way to an easy dunk."
Nathan S. of Indy Cornrows shares his thoughts:
"The second unit as a whole deserves a lot of credit for their play in tonight’s game. They brought the energy the starting lineup didn’t seem to have in the first half, and gave the blue and gold a lot of quality minutes. Leandro Barbosa hit some big shots in the second quarter despite slipping and sliding his way on defense the entire end of the game, Lou Amundson had what was shaping up to his best game in a long time before he was hampered with foul trouble, and Tyler Hansbrough made some key plays in keeping shots alive for the Pacers to go alongside Darren Collison’s big game. There isn’t much to really say about the bench as a whole when it comes to how they’ve played lately, but this is the kind of depth Indiana needs if they hope to keep winning this postseason."
(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, ESPN Florida’s Magic Insider (http://ESPNFlorida.com) and is the co-host of the ESPNFlorida.com Insiders Show Sunday mornings at 10:00 am EST. Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him onTwitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here)