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From Orlando Sentinel

TIMBERWOLVES 102, MAGIC 101

Orlando Magic fail to reach win No. 50 with loss to Minnesota

Magic blow big lead and chance at their 50th win

Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer
April 12, 2008

Paging Dr. Phil, paging Dr. Phil.

The Orlando Magic are becoming a curious case study for psychologists, amateur and pro alike.

Can another loss to another bad team during a wobbly final stretch carry over to the playoffs? Do meaningless games have meaning?

Will the Magic find the "on" switch in time?

Is the sky really falling in chunks on Stan Van Gundy's head? With a chance to win their 50th game of the season against a league doormat, the Magic opened themselves to all kinds of questions with their stunning 102-101 loss to the stubborn Minnesota Timberwolves (20-59) on Friday night.

It came five days after the Magic (49-30) fell in New York to the equally woeful Knicks. The ledger now shows the club has lost five of its last eight with the playoffs beginning either next Sunday or Monday.

Does it matter?

No one can know the answers until the playoffs arrive, and they can't get here fast enough for the players, apparently.

The Magic have had a postseason spot clinched for almost a month and had secured the No. 3 seed six days ago. They are waiting -- or loitering -- for the tournament to begin, and their attention-span has been elsewhere.

The Magic hit 3-pointers with ease to take an early 14-point lead against the T'wolves but weren't executing efficiently. They remained jump-shot happy instead of showing workmanlike patience to find Dwight Howard (20 points, 14 rebounds) as the T'wolves hung around.

"If New York didn't get our attention to last beyond one game, then this [loss] will not," Van Gundy fumed. "No excuses. We're not getting ready, not doing what they have to do."

But most of the players don't see their current fade to finish the regular season as a sign that their playoff world is coming to an end. "This has nothing to do with how we'll play in the playoffs," forward Rashard Lewis said. "We most definitely should have won. It shouldn't have come down to the last seconds."

Timberwolves forward Ryan Gomes gathered Al Jefferson's miss for an offensive rebound and was fouled by Howard with the Magic leading 101-100.

He made both free throws with 2.9 seconds left to give Minnesota -- which came in with the league's worst road record at 5-33 -- the lead, completing a 12-2 run by the rebuilding T'wolves.

Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu (23 points) launched an awkward 3-pointer that ended up as an airball, leaving Van Gundy to hold up his hands in disgust and amazement.

Turk conceded later "it was kind of a bad shot," but Van Gundy's analysis was a little more pointed. "He had 2.9 seconds, but he shot it like he had .9 seconds [remaining]," Van Gundy said. "I didn't like the shot because he wasn't balanced."

Van Gundy also didn't like his club repeating the same familiar missteps.

They were again beat on the boards (46-37 and 12-6 in offensive rebounding). They blew a nine-point lead with under four minutes left. And perhaps in the most annoying habit they can't shake, the Magic were outclassed by the Timberwolves guards, particularly Randy Foye (25 points, 12 in the final period).

"That's troubling with the guards we're going to be playing in the playoffs," Van Gundy said.

Point guard Jameer Nelson offered "I have no comment" when Van Gundy's criticism was relayed to him.

The Magic were looking to become the fourth team since the club's inaugural season in 1989 to win 50 games -- the first since the 1995-96 edition. Now they have three games left to get No. 50 -- and three games to answer a question that might be put to a pop psychologist:

Can you still warm up for the playoffs by cooling down?


Brian Schmitz can be reached at bschmitz@orlandosentinel.com.

Related topic galleries: Phil McGraw, Michael Doleac, Vehicles, New York Knicks, Stan Van Gundy, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis

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