Dwight Howard played much better in the post in Game 2, scoring 30 points on 9 for 13 shooting.  The main reason was that he was much more effective in the post, and he was much more effective in the post because he limited the number of times he “gathered” after making his move.  What do I mean by gather?

Dwight Howard has one of the quickest big man spin moves I have ever seen.  However, when he comes out of that spin move notice that he hesitates and allows the defense to get back to him, negating the effect the spin move has.  He was still able to convert on this play because of his size advantage over Rasheed Wallace.  This was the only time that Dwight did it in game 2.  Let’s go back to game 1 and look at some of his moves against Kendrick Perkins (A game where he really struggled).
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After Vince Carter missed 2 foul shots to keep the game at three points, the Magic needed a stop to have a chance at tying the game.  There was 6 second difference from the shot clock and the game clock, so there was no need to foul, and the Magic didn’t.  They just played solid defense and got the shot they wanted, a Kevin Garnett jumper one step inside the three point line.  This is where Redick makes his mistake:

Before we get to criticizing J.J. Redick, we do have to give him credit for crashing the boards as soon as KG releases the basketball on his attempt.  With Boston worried about the fast break, they only send two guys in for the rebound, and they are effectively boxed out.  Redick is uncontested as he attacks the rebound.

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