Hedo Turkoglu rubs Jameer Nelson's head during a break in the action in Saturday evening's Orlando Magic/Detroit Pistons game. Detroit won, 90-89, to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Photo by Doug Benc, Getty Images

This game was ours for the taking, but we didn't take it. We had an 11-point halftime lead and bumped it up to 15 with a Maurice Evans three-pointer. All we had to do was to get two more stops and two more baskets. That's it. We could have gone up by 19 points and the Pistons would surely have packed it in. Instead, they went on a backbreaking 15-0 run, capped off by a fast-break dunk by Richard Hamilton.

And in the end, we only needed one basket to win. Tayshaun Prince hit a floater in the lane (thanks to an Antonio McDyess offensive rebound) to put the Pistons ahead, 90-89. Hedo Turkoglu, who scored 13 of his 20 points in the period, missed a driving layup over Prince at the buzzer to end the game and, essentially, the series. But it should not have come to that. We wasted too many opportunities to blame the loss squarely on Hedo's missed layup. Take a look at this laundry list of miscues:

• Dwight Howard's missed dunk (2:28, first quarter). This dunk wasn't heavily contested. Dwight reached back with one hand and simply threw it too hard into the back iron.
• Keyon Dooling's bad pass (11:30, second quarter). The scorer credited Keyon with the turnover, but this one was Dwight's fault. After screening for Keyon on the right baseline, Howard rolled to the basket and was wide-open. Keyon delivered a crisp bounce pass, but Howard bobbled it, and Jason Maxiell recovered for Detroit.
• Jameer Nelson's missed free throws (take your pick). Nelson, shooting 83.9% from the stripe this postseason, went just 2-of-6 from the line tonight. Sure, other guys missed free throws -- Rashard Lewis was 1-of-2 and Hedo was 4-of-5 -- but Nelson's misses simply stand out more. His miss with 44 seconds remaining kept the score 89-88, our favor. If he had made it, Tayshaun Prince's floater with 8.9 left in the game would have tied the score, not given the Pistons the lead.

Obviously, I'm disappointed we lost, but we still got some great efforts:

• Hedo was huge in the fourth quarter, as I mentioned.
• Maurice Evans played his tail off and scored 15 points.
• Keith Bogans had 6 points and 7 boards (?!) off the bench, and he showed a new dimension in his game: the driving layup. Both of his field goals were of that variety, and they were both "and-one" plays. A shaky foul shooter, Bogans converted on both his tries.
• In just 3 minutes, Marcin Gortat showed flashes of brilliance, scoring on a beautiful hook from the left baseline (over Rasheed Wallace, no less) and on a layup. The final total for Marcin: 4 points, 1 rebound, and 1 block in just 3 minutes.

I say "just" 3 minutes for Marcin because he should have been on the floor longer. Dwight Howard had arguably his worst offensive performance as a professional, with 8 points on 3-of-12 shooting. He didn't make any shots after the first quarter. The Pistons took him out of the game by muscling him as he shot, and he did not get the benefit of the whistle. Perhaps intimidated, by their defense, he also rushed a few shots, including one put-back (3:08, second quarter) that the threw entirely too hard off the glass; all he needed to do was grab the rebound, come down with it, gather himself, and go up for the jam. With more rest -- he played the entire second half! -- he might have been able to tip-in Hedo's missed layup at the final buzzer. He might have been able to box-out McDyess (who finished with 14 rebounds) more effectively. And something tells me that Gortat would have been able to hold his own in Dwight's absence. But we'll never know for sure.

After Game Three, Yahoo!'s Kelly Dwyer wrote that we let the Pistons creep back into the game because "Jameer Nelson really enjoys shooting 20-foot jumpers." It's true. Nelson tends to settle for the jump-shot too frequently, and especially at the ends of quarters. He ended the Magic's last three first-quarter possessions on jump-shots, making the first and missing the next two. He finished with 6 assists and just 1 turnover, which is fantastic, but the 6-of-14 shooting isn't. And we covered the free-throw shooting.

That's a wrap, both for this recap and for this series. Game Five is Tuesday night in Detroit, and I expect the Pistons to close it out in big fashion on their home floor. They've earned it. Of course, I won't complain if the Magic steal one there... but I wouldn't bank on it.

Marcin Gortat dunks down 2 of his career-high 12 points in the Orlando Magic's 103-83 win over the Washington Wizards.
Photo by Fernando Medina, NBAE/Getty Images

The regular-season finale was everything it was cracked-up to be.

Washington benched its stars, and I get the sense the only reason DeShawn Stevenson played was to keep his consecutive games played streak alive. Meanwhile, we rested our best players: Dwight Howard didn't play after the first quarter; Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu didn't play after halftime; and Jameer Nelson didn't play at all due to a sore thumb. The result?

18 points for J.J. Redick. 12 points and 11 boards for Marcin Gortat. 8 points and 5 rebounds for James Augustine. A 20-point victory. A 52-win season.

An unmitigated success.

If anything else, this game showed two things: first, that J.J. can shoot his way out of a funk, something I wasn't sure he could do. His final total of 18 points on 14 shots isn't all that impressive, sure, but he made 7 of his last 9 shots after missing his first 5. That's a good sign. But even more encouraging is the hustle and skill Marcin Gortat displayed. The Polish rookie had 5 offensive boards, and although he missed plenty of the gimme put-backs, he showed that he might belong in the rotation someday, perhaps even as a 5-to-8 minute player next season when Howard and Adonal Foyle both need breathers.

For more on the game, check out Truth About It's liveblog over at Bullets Forever; The Orlando Sentinel's recap; and PopcornMachine's GameFlow.

Now? It's playoff time. Bring on the Raptors.

I get the sense that J.J. Redick is on his way out, or at least that he will be this summer.

From Brian Schmitz's recap of last night's win:

The club has the midlevel exception (roughly $6 million a year), but that attracts few stars. Short on bigs, [Magic GM Otis] Smith said he'd like to add another power forward "to protect Dwight."

And from Schmitz's blog today, emphasis mine:

Magic General Manager Otis Smith flatly refused to trade J.J. Redick before this season's trade deadline, but he is a little more open to moving the unhappy Duke icon now.

Smith told me that he'd look at dealing Redick either in the June draft or in another trade this summer.

Redick, frustrated with his lack of playing time, requested a trade early this season. Smith now says he doesn't rule out dealing Redick this summer, but would prefer he remain patient and stay with a promising team.

Smith might be looking for another shooting guard on the market, although Maurice Evans played well since arriving in a November trade from the L.A. Lakers.

"All of our free agents had good years," Smith said.

I'm not a math major, but I do know how to add two and two. Smith's new stance regarding Redick leads me to believe he thinks Maurice Evans is good enough to be this team's starting two-guard, and that Redick is the Magic's best trade asset to acquire what the team needs most: a true power forward, a point I drove into the ground back in February.

All that said, I doubt Redick has as much value as we think he does. If Otis thinks he can use Redick to move up in the draft, he can probably forget it. The Magic, who will probably pick in the 20s, certainly can't expect to receive a lottery pick for a little-used, undersized, two-guard who is a defensive liability... can they?

A more realistic option is trading J.J. for an established role-player. TravelerKT from Denton's board suggests shipping J.J. and Marcin Gortat to Portland for Channing Frye (stats). Those per-36-minute numbers sure are pretty, as is the PER of 14.7, which makes him a "pretty good player" according to John Hollinger's rating scale. As a bonus, his rebound rate (the percentage of available rebounds he grabs) is 15.5, 47th in the league this season.

Not much is certain about the Magic's offseason maneuvering, and with the playoffs and draft still to come, it's probably too early to speculate. But it indeed appears as though J.J. Redick's days as part of the Orlando Magic are nearing an end.

	vs.
51-30		43-38
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
Sun Sports
Probable starters:
Jameer Nelson	PG	Antonio Daniels
Maurice Evans	SG	D. Stevenson
Hedo Turkoglu	SF	Darius Songaila
Rashard Lewis	PF	Antawn Jamison
Dwight Howard	C	Brendan Haywood
Season series:
3 Nov 2007: Magic 94, Wizards 82
5 Mar 2008: Magic 112, Wizards 92
19 Mar 2008: Wizards 87, Magic 86

Neither team has anything to play for except pride. I don't expect to see too much of Dwight, Hedo, or Rashard tonight. Granted, Stan Van Gundy said after the game last night that he always prefers to be on the winning side of the scoreboard, but I don't think he'll mind losing tonight, if that is indeed the result.

Hopefully, the inconsequentiality of this game will result in PLENTY of minutes for J.J. Redick, James Augustine, and Marcin Gortat. Yes, the fans pay to see the Big Guys, but the end-of-the-bench players are easy to root for, too. Especially J.J. Let me go ahead and start the chant:

J!-J!-RED!-ICK! clap, clap, clap-clap-clap.

J!-J!-RED!-ICK! clap, clap, clap-clap-clap.

Check out SB Nation's Wizards blog, Bullets Forever, for their P.O.V. and to get another look at the SBN 2.0 platform. We make the switch this Friday.

Tip's at 7 on Sun Sports. If you're going to the game, give the guys a huge ovation. And say hi to the guy in the lower bowl who always wears a Brian Cook jersey.

Go Magic.

Quick notes on this stiflingly humid Friday.:

• Monday,  a panel of FanHouse writers named Hedo Turkoglu the NBA's Most Improved Player. Now, Ball Don't Lie has a poll which lets its readers decide who should win. Hedo leads the field by a wide margin, with 44% of the vote. Andrew Bynum, who would probably be the front-runner if he hadn't busted his knee, holds second place in the poll with 25%. Anyway, uh, vote Hedo!
• The Blowtorch looks at the Magic's weakest link: their back-up big men:

  Here is a list of bench players 6'9" and over that have played in games for the Magic this year:

  Brian Cook
  

  Pat Garrity
  
  Adonal Foyle
  
  James Augustine
  
  Marcin Gortat
  
  Bo Outlaw

  I'm serious. Bo Outlaw played in a real NBA game for a real NBA team this season. I don't think he's actually on the roster right now, but that's ridiculous.

• Speaking of backups, the Orlando Sentinel confirms that Brian Cook will probably miss at least the first round of the playoffs due to his broken hand.
• Dwight Howard and Chris Paul share the spotlight in this split-screen NBA Playoffs commercial. For the love of Seikaly, please let the Hornets and the Magic play each other in the Finals sometime soon. (Thanks, HP).
• Last week, SLAM gave a sneak peek of the cover to its latest issue, which features Dwight Howard. It's on sale now, and the magazine's website has a behind-the-scenes look at how the photographers made Dwight fly. And if you need any more incentive to get this issue (cop this ish? I have no idea), it also profiles D-League star Rod Benson. BOOM THO.

	vs.
48-29		30-47
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
Sun Sports HD
Probable starters:
Jameer Nelson	PG	Kirk Hinrich
Maurice Evans	SG	Larry Hughes
Hedo Turkoglu	SF	Luol Deng
Rashard Lewis	PF	Tyrus Thomas
Dwight Howard	C	Joakim Noah
Season series:
31 Dec 2007: Magic 112, Bulls 110
15 Jan 2008: Magic 112, Bulls 88

Both combatants tonight are coming off inexcusable losses. The Magic fell to the Knicks on Sunday night, and the Bulls dropped a game to the Heat last night. Losing to the Knicks is bad, but to the Heat? Well, we certainly shouldn't have trouble with the Bulls then.

Not so fast. Bulls guards Larry Hughes and Ben Gordon have each scored 40 points against us this season, although Hughes was still a Cavalier when he did that. Still, they've given us problems in the past, and we can't overlook them.

Dwight Howard will play despite taking an elbow from Marcin Gortat in practice yesterday. If Brian Schmitz had his way, J.J. Redick would play 20-to-25 minutes tonight. I wouldn't bet on it.

Mike From Illinois will have the recap for you. Go Magic.

Dwight Howard must not like power forwards.

Less than a year after Tony Battie's season ended when his rotator cuff tore while trying to defend Howard, Brian Cook is also sidelined no thanks to Dwight. Both Brian Schmitz and John Denton report that a bone in Cook's right hand broke when Dwight Howard hit it during this morning's practice.

We need Cook and his three-point shooting to space the floor for the second unit -- the Magic are 10-1 when Cook hits two or more triples -- so losing him for the season weakens our already sub-par bench. This injury means more minutes for Pat Garrity and his 2.1 PER, which does not bode well for us. It also means we have extra incentive to bring Battie back before the season ends, as the team can't depend on youngsters James Augustine and Marcin Gortat in the playoffs.

It's not time to panic just yet, but it can't be good when a team worries it might not succeed without Brian Cook and his 5 points per game.

On the bright side, Jameer Nelson is expected to start tomorrow against New Orleans. Nice to know he's doing better.

A few Sunday links...

• Don't forget to register your thoughts regarding the Magic's rumored uniform change. Scroll down on the main page or click here to get to the discussion thread.
• The Magic aren't exactly sure whether they'll face Philadelphia, Toronto, or Washington in the first round of the playoffs, so they're having to prepare for every possible matchup, writes Tim Povtak:

  Not only are they [the coaching staff] still watching film on each of the upcoming regular-season opponents, they will spend the weekend watching video of Washington, Toronto and Philadelphia games, looking to see what works and what doesn't work against each team.

• I'm way too late in linking to this post, but here it is: Hornets247 has Round 9 of the Blogger MVP/ROY rankings. There's a tie at the top of the MVP rankings! Madness!
• A few days ago, Matt from Hardwood Paroxysm posted the transcript of his interview with Dan Reed, the President of the D-League. Check it out. I wish the Magic used the D-League better than they do; they sent J.J. Redick and James Augustine down on separate occasions last year, and sent Marcin Gortat down once this year, but overall they don't seem too keen on developing their players there.
• The blog Triviality of Basketball got an exclusive interview with Adonal Foyle. The Magic's backup center discusses his favorite arenas to visit, how he defends Dwight Howard in practice, his love for poetry, and his post-basketball career plans. Cool stuff.

• It seems like Hedo Turkglu has missed 15 layups. Still, we lead by 17 despite Turk shooting 2-for-9. Ladies and gentlemen, your Milwaukee Bucks!
• We're well on our way to a franchise-record 24th road victory.
• Some of the Bucks are wearing crimson headbands. Actually, they're fuschia; maybe the headband company couldn't accurately duplicate the reddish accent color on the Bucks' uniforms. Either way, it's an...uh... interesting look.
• I love Charlie Villanueva, but he's taken some horrible shots tonight. That line-drive hook right at the rim doesn't look too great, no.
• Also not great about V-Nuv: his temper. After not getting a call on the offensive end, he turned directly to referee Bennett Salvatore while the ball was still in play and stated, in no uncertain terms, that Salvatore had an Oedipal relationship with his mother. Bennett, not a fan of Greek drama, T'd up Charlie.
• Brian THE COOKIE MONSTER Cook has risen: 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, and 2-of-4 from downtown. David Steele mentioned the Magic are 9-1 when COOKIE MONSTER hits two triples or more. This bodes well. Well, that and the 17-point lead, not necessarily in that order.
• The Bucks' three available centers combined to foul Dwight Howard 8 times. Jake Voskuhl had the gumption to confront Dwight after fouling him, which I respect. Voskuhl did what seven-foot scrubs are supposed to do when they're about to get dunked into posterdom: he fouled Dwight hard. I like that. You have 6 fouls: use them wisely.
• Mo Williams guns for stats about as conspicuously as any player I've ever seen. The box score says he has four assists, but I don't recall him passing the ball at all in the first half.
• J.J. Redick and Marcin Gortat figure to get fairly significant tick in the fourth quarter if the rotation players can hold this lead.

	vs.
41-24		21-41
Amway Arena
7:00 PM
Sun Sports HD
Probable starters:
Jameer Nelson	PG	Brevin Knight
Maurice Evans	SG	Quinton Ross
Hedo Turkoglu	SF	Corey Maggette
Rashard Lewis	PF	Al Thornton
Dwight Howard	C	Josh Powell
Season series:
9 Jan 2008: Magic 113, Clippers 106

Given the heaps of praise piled upon the Los Angeles Lakers, it's easy for some people to forget that they share a building with the Clippers. For more on this criminally underexposed team, I checked-in with Steve from Clips Nation.

------------------------------------------------------

3QC: The Clippers are in a bad way right now. Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston, two of their top-four players, have yet to play this season due to injury. Another top-four player, Corey Maggette, is worth more money than he's earning and may leave via free-agency this summer. If you could only bring one of those players back next season, which one would you choose? And why do you think that player is Clippers' key to building a winning franchise?

Steve: There's no question who everyone in ClipsNation would bring back - it's Elton Brand.  And it's not close.  I've wondered at times why other teams seemed to weather prolonged absences of superstar players a little better than the Generic Clippers (no Brand).  I've come to the conclusion that Elton Brand, as the best all around player on the Clippers - the best scorer, the best rebounder, the best post defender, the best locker room influence, the best leader - is just that much more important to the Clipers than, say, Gilbert Arenas is to the Wizards.  The Wizards replace Arenas with Antonio Daniels and there team defense gets better and their turnovers go down, while their offense definitely suffers.  The Clippers replace Brand with Tim Thomas and every damn thing gets worse.  EVERY DAMN THING.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if Brand isn't coming back, don't bother re-signing Maggette.  With both of them gone, they'd be far enough under the cap to actually sign somebody (not that there's anyone out there, but still).  If Brand isn't going to be here, get out the dynamite, blow it up.

Livingston is a bit of an exception - because of his uncertain status, he can probably be retained inexpensively.  I don't expect him to play anywhere else next season - he and the Clippers have been through too much together.  But he's a restricted free agent, and it remains to be seen how much he signs for and for how long.

The good news is that Brand is not going anywhere.  He's chomping at the bit to get back on the floor this season, and would be playing on this trip if Coach would let him.  And the reason he wants to play is to start getting the team ready for next season.  He's committed to staying with the Clippers, and has said as much.  It may only be for the final year of this contract (he has one more year, with an opt out this summer), but he'll be a Clipper next season, and so will Livingston.  Maggette is a tougher call.  I really have no idea what will happen with him.

3QC: The Magic and the Clippers have something in common in that they both have veteran players having career-years this season. We have Hedo Turkoglu; you have Chris Kaman. When completely healthy, how far can Kaman lead the Clippers? Is he All-Star material?

Steve: Is he All Star material?  Well, the short answer is yes.  He might well have been an All Star this season had he not been playing on a last place team.  But I think we're finding out that he's not really cut out to be the main man - as the double teams have become more aggressive, his offensive numbers have definitely suffered.  He has certainly shown that he will be a defensive and rebounding force in this league for years.  He's third in the league in both rebounding and blocked shots, and maintaining that position despite playing hurt for the last month.  He also is a surprisingly good on ball defender - he does ok on the pick and roll, he can cover more mobile centers - he's not just a Camby style free safety loading up on weak side blocked shots.  In the absence of Brand he's had to take the tough low post assignments all season long, and he's still managed to be third in the league in blocks.  (This is another reason Brand will be back - he definitely wants to play alongside this new version of Kaman.  Brand has been top 10 in rebounding and blocked shots for years.  If they can manage to be top 10 in those categories in the same front court it will be the first time since David Robinson and Tim Duncan - and those guys did alright together.)

This isn't actually a question; I just want to give you the opportunity to tell Magic fans, and other 3QC readers on the East Coast, how awesome Al Thornton is.

He's pretty awesome.  Since I see him every night, I forget what a secret he is around the league.  But never fear - everyone got to see Jeff Green in the Rookie game, so there's that.  The fact that Al Thornton wasn't selected for the rookie game; the fact that he lost out to Luis Scola for February Rookie of the Month (Scola averaged 11.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while Thornton went for 17.4 and 6.3); well, that's just life in ClipsNation.

While many rookies have been hitting the Wall, Thornton has been steadily improving.  He averaged 6 points in November, 8 in December, 13 in January and the aforementioned 17.6 in February, which he's pretty much maintained into March.  He's also shooting better and rebounding more.  In 21 games since January 30, he's been in double figures 18 times, gone for 20 or more 9 times, and had two games of 33.  He's a freak of an athlete, and can score in a variety of ways.  He's got a deadly first step and the ability to finish around the basket; he can create space for his jump shot; he has NBA three-point range (31 for 87 on the season); and he's got a motor that just doesn't stop.  The athleticism in particular is very welcome on the Clippers.  Brand is one of the less athletic superstars in the NBA.  Outside of Maggette, the Clippers don't have anyone that qualifies as a flyer, let alone a high flyer.  Thornton's myriad dunks this season, over Vince Carter, Chris Bosh, Josh Smith and Mikki Moore among others, are the only things getting the Clippers onto SportsCenter these days.

Perhaps most amazing for a rookie is that he's been the go to scorer in the fourth quarter of several wins.  Against New Jersey he out-dueled Carter in the fourth.  He scored 9 crucial fourth quarter points while being defended by Bosh in a close win on the road in Toronto.  And last week against the Kings he nailed a nasty step back 20 footer on the Clippers final possession to send the game into overtime.  He scored 22 points in the fourth period and overtimes combined in that game, which the Clippers eventually won.  How many rookies are getting the ball in key late game possessions this season?  I'll answer my own question - two.  Kevin Durant and Al Thornton.

The duel emergences of Thornton and Kaman are definitely the silver lining on this cumulonimbus of a season in ClipsNation.

3QC: I like to end these Q-and-A sessions positively, so I wanted to compliment your team on its wonderful uniforms. What are your thoughts on the Clippers' on-court attire? I think the blue alternate uniforms are among the best in the entire league.

Really, that's it?  That's the most positive you can be?  "Nice unis."

I'm no expert by any means, but this is probably an area where the Clippers non-innovative ways have benefited them.  While most of the NBA has been exploring the color pallet (teal?  really?), designing ever more detailed logos, and adding black to pretty much everything (it was cool when the Bulls did it - it's just lame for the T-Wolves), the Clippers have remained with the most primary of primary colors, and logos involving nothing more than letters and a basketball.  As the pendulum has swings back to old school unis, it turns out the Clippers have been there all along.  That blue road uniform is a case in point - pretty much a straightforward royal blue uni with the word Los Angeles on the front.  But name another team that uses that color at all?  Of course, I don't think they've won while wearing that uniform in like two seasons, so I'm beginning to hate it.  But it looks sharp.

------------------------------------------------------

Many thanks to ClipperSteve for those thorough responses. I meant no harm in commending the Clippers for their beautiful uniforms, but I do indeed see now how that could come across as a slight. Apologies to Steve and to Clippers fans for that.

Check out my answers to his questions -- including my take on the Magic's point guard situation -- at Clips Nation.

Assorted notes:

• Corey Maggette gets to the foul line at will -- he's taken 48 foul shots in his last 5 games! -- and converts at a high rate: .841 on the season and .823 for his career. Keith Bogans and Mo Evans are going to keep him away from the basket and force him to take contested jumpers. Maggette's hitting his outside shots at an effective field goal percentage of .418, which is well below average.
• Chris Kaman is day-to-day with a sore back and may not be available this evening. If that's the case, Dwight Howard will feast upon match-up against Josh Powell.
• Al Thornton should go for 20+ points tonight. I don't think Rashard Lewis can stop him.
• No word on if J.J. Redick, who left the team after Saturday's loss to Golden State to be with his brother, will be in-uniform tonight. David Redick underwent successful surgery to remove a tumor from his spine on Monday.
• If J.J. isn't available, and the game is a blowout, we could very well have another Marcin Gortat sighting. I do not object to this. Free Marcin.

Tip's at 7, as usual. I may be a bit late to the party, but better late than never, amIrite?