With two games left in the season for each respective team, the state of Florida faced the possibility of not having an NBA team represent it in the playoffs for the first time since 1993. To put that into perspective, the last time both Floridian teams missed the playoffs was Shaquille O'Neal's rookie season. The Miami Heat probably did not know about this, but they sure came out of the gates playing like they did. The Orlando Magic were only able to put up 39 points in the first half. At least they weren't held to another seven-point quarter tonight.
The second half started with more of the same; the Heat even held a 22-point lead, but the Magic were able to battle back some toward the end of the third quarter, and they really began to make a push in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to six.
With 1:22 left, the Miami Heat held a six-point lead, but Orlando had the momentum; that is, until Victor Oladipo made a bad pass in transition that Tobias Harris couldn't keep inbounds. To rub salt in the wounds, Luol Deng hit a three-point dagger to put the Miami Heat up by nine. A Tobias Harris triple that could've been a four-point play if the referee was more generous with his whistle brought the Magic back within six but by then, there wasn't enough time for Orlando to complete their comeback.
A big issue for the Magic was finding the energy to make the hustle plays and win 50-50 balls. James Borrego tried to counteract that by playing Moe Harkless almost 20 minutes - in which he scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Kyle O'Quinn remained in Borrego's dog house as Dewayne Dedmon continued to eat up his minutes, but this time he did it coming off the bench. Aaron Gordon heard his named called as a starter for the seventh time this season and the first time since February. In 32 minutes, he did a lot of things well, except find the bottom of the net, shooting an abysmal 2-of-14 with one shot getting annihilated at the rim by Hassan Whiteside. Contrary to his routine domination of the Heat, Nikola Vucevic also had a rough time scoring against Whiteside with only one of his seven attempts finding nylon and only three points in the scoring column for the Montenegrin.
On a more positive note, Elfrid Payton, Victor Oladipo, and Tobias Harris each finished with double-digit scoring numbers. Elfrid Payton scored 10 points and dished out seven assists to go along with his three steals. Victor Oladipo lead all scorers with 30 points, but his presence on the defensive end was also felt with four steals, two blocks - one of which being a highlight reel chase down block on Dwyane Wade that would bring a tear to LeBron James' eye. Tobias Harris was the only Magic player with a double-double on the night with 26 points and 12 rebounds.
The Heat had five players score in double figures - Hassan Whiteside, Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Goran Dragic, and Chris Andersen. Whiteside continued his dominance on both sides of the ball. Wade looked like he found the fountain of youth, especially on the defensive end. Deng and Dragic continued to show why they were worthy additions, and Chris Andersen did his Birdman things and flew around the court.
On Wednesday, Orlando will finish their season against the Brooklyn Nets in Brooklyn. If the Magic are able to pull out the win and Miami wins their final regular season game in Philadelphia, then Florida will continue its 22-year streak of making the playoffs and the Miami Heat will be representing the Sunshine State as the eighth seed.