September 6, 2008
MAGIC 97, ROCKETS 92
Dooling delivers late at line
Orlando's Keyon Dooling sinks two free throws with 12.3 seconds left to ensure more success on the road.
HOUSTON - The crowd was screaming, and the home-team announcer for the Houston Rockets bellowed, "Keyon Dooling on the line for two noisy free throws."
Dooling said later that he didn't hear a thing -- or notice anybody else in the gym but Keyon Latwae Dooling.
"When the game's on the line, you got to shoot them like your team's up by 20," he said. 'You have to trust your stroke. And shoot them like there's nobody else in the gym but you."
With 12.3 seconds left, Dooling calmly sank two free throws to seal the Orlando Magic's gritty 97-92 victory against the Rockets at Toyota Center , improving their league-leading road record to 13-4.
The Rockets intentionally fouled Dooling after he received the in-bounds pass. Center Dwight Howard was practically assigned to stand by the concession stand. The Magic (18-9) wanted him and his poor free-throw shooting stats as far away from the play as possible.
The Magic came into the game as one of the NBA's worst free-throw shooting teams (ranking No. 26), but Dooling -- leading the club in free-throw percentage (87.5 percent) -- made 9 of 10 against Houston.
The Magic were 22 of 26 from the line, and Howard was 7 of 9. After losing five of their previous six games, it was a much-needed effort on a night when they needed to counter a slow start and a fading finish, plus 16 turnovers.
Magic all-star center Dwight Howard, who had struggled in his previous matchups against Yao Ming, held his own this time against the 7 foot-6 Chinese superstructure. He finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Yao had 19 and 17 boards.
Dooling finished with 15 points, and although he was just 3 of 9, he continually drove to the basket when shots didn't fall. Keith Bogans added 14, and the Magic overcame pedestrian, 13-point performances each from Hedo Turkoglu and Houston native Rashard Lewis.
Lewis, still bothered by a sore neck for the past week, said he will have an MRI today in Orlando "and hopefully, they'll find out what's going on, because it's killing me."
Former Magic shooting guard Tracy McGrady was a non-factor and former Magic point guard Steve Francis was an arena no-show. T-Mac left with a sore knee after scoring just three points on 1-of-10 shooting. Francis stayed home with flu-like symptoms.
Persevering as they have all season on the road, the Magic trailed by 11 at one point in the first half before going on a 15-0 run and opened up a 13-point lead early in the third period.
The Rockets rallied late behind Yao, closing to within 89-84 on a Yao basket. Rafer Alston made two free throws two to trim Orlando's lead to 93-92 with 12.9 seconds left.
Dooling then made his pressure free throws, and Rockets guard Luther Head missed a 22-foot two-point attempt with three seconds left against good defense, and the Magic secured the ball to survive.
"This was my favorite game of the year," Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We played extremely hard. I was hoping we would be able to win a game when we shot in the 30s [percent]."
Actually, the Magic shot 41 percent; it just seemed worse after they missed 13 of 18 shots (27.8 percent) in the opening period to trail 22-15.
Good thing the Magic weren't playing a legitimate contender; they likely would have been read their last rites and buried.
The Magic were playing a Rockets team that ranks No. 26 in scoring, even with T-Mac and Yao, and is struggling mightily to adapt to new Coach Rick Adelman's offense.
"We needed a grind-it-out type of game," Dooling said. "It was a defensive-oriented game, more of their style of play. Even good teams struggle. It's a long season, and there are going to be a lot of peaks and valleys."
Now the Magic return home to face the Utah Jazz -- and Amway Arena hasn't exactly been a warm, cozy venue. "We have to figure out how to play in our building," Dooling said.
Brian Schmitz can be reached at bschmitz@orlandosentinel.com.
Copyright © 2008, Orlando Sentinel
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