At halftime of the Celtics-Magic game, it looked like Boston was pulling away turning this game into a blowout.  The Celtics had just outscored the Magic by 10 points in the second quarter, and they went into halftime with an 11 point lead.  The Magic came out in the third quarter, and the game did turn into a blowout, just the other way around.  The Magic outscored the Celtics in the third 36 to 11.  Lets look at how they did it:

Getting Dwight Touches:

The Magic came out in the third quarter and made it obvious that they wanted to get Dwight Howard the basketball.  He scored 7 of the team’s first 9 points to start the quarter.  In my opinion, the success of Dwight Howard (and in turn, the Orlando Magic) is where and when Dwight catches the basketball.  Let’s look at these first couple of possessions.

This first possession of the quarter is a set play for the Magic to get Dwight the basketball.  Here, the Magic are running a pick and roll away from Dwight, and that action lulls Kendrick Perkins to sleep, allowing for Dwight to seal him off.

In my opinion, the key here is that they get it to Dwight so early in the shot clock.  This allows him to size up the defense, kick it out, get the ball back on a re-post, and then he has the time to take a dribble and score on a hook shot.

Knocking Down Threes:

Whenever the Magic are successful, you know that they are going to be hitting their three point shots.  The Magic were 4-5 from three point line in the third quarter.  This third quarter looked like it was straight out of the Eastern Conference Finals.  They weren’t forcing three pointers (which is something they seem to be doing when they struggle), they were getting their 3 pointers in transition and after dumping it into Dwight.

This first three comes off of a block from Dwight Howard.  The Magic quickly push the ball up the floor, and it gets swung to Vince Carter.  Vince Carter (who many people are getting on right now) does a great job of making the extra pass to Rashard Lewis, who knocks down the three.

This next one is what makes the Magic so dangerous.  When they get Dwight Howard touches and he takes advantage of them (by scoring), teams have no choice to double team.  The problem is, the Magic have 4 guys on the court around Dwight who can hit a three point shot.  So no matter where the double team comes, you are forced to leave a three point shooter open.  Here, the ball gets passed into Dwight, he starts his move, gets doubled, and kicks it out.  Rashard Lewis knocks down the wide open three: