Anfernee Penny Hardaway 41pts vs Miami Heat 96/97 Game 4 NBA
The Orlando Magic have gone from the brink of elimination to the verge of the second round.
Penny Hardaway scored 41 points and Orlando evened its first-round series with Miami at two games apiece Thursday night with a 99-91 victory over the Heat.
The Magic, blown out in the first two games of the best-of-5 matchup on the road, will return to Miami Arena for the decisive game Sunday. The winner will advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks.
Hardaway, who played the entire game, was 12-for-23 from the field and had seven rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots after scoring a playoff career-high 42 to help Orlando stave off elimination in Game 3 Tuesday night.
Derek Strong had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Game 3 sparkplug Darrell Armstrong contributed 12 points and nine assists in a career-high 40 minutes for the Magic, who played without injured starters Horace Grant and Rony Seikaly.
Alonzo Mourning led Miami, which won the first two games by 35 and 17 points, with 23 points and 13 rebounds. P.J. Brown had 20 points and 13 rebounds, while Jamal Mashburn made six three-pointers and finished with 19 before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
The Magic used what amounted to a four-guard, no-center lineup to get back into the series in Game 3, but Coach Richie Adubato resisted the temptation to start Thursday's game with the same disruptive lineup.
Instead, Orlando stuck with Brian Shaw at point guard and moved 37-year-old backup center Danny Schayes into Seikaly's starting spot and continued to depend on Hardaway to carry the offense.
The Magic star scored 18 of his team's 27 points in the first quarter and had four more in a 15-2 run that put Orlando up 42-27 midway through the second period.
It was 53-39 at the half, and the Magic weathered a Heat surge to cling to a 73-64 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
The closest the Heat got in the second half was 61-57 with 4:14 left in the third quarter. Orlando regained control with an 8-2 spurt and led by at least five the rest of the way.
The Magic are looking to become only the sixth team in NBA history to rebound from a 2-0 deficit to win a best-of-5 series. The last team to do it was Denver against the Seattle SuperSonics in 1994.
Notes: Seikaly's injured foot will remain in a cast for six to eight weeks. ... One of the disadvantages of Orlando's small lineup is that it leaves the Magic vulnerable on the boards. They were outrebounded 53-32 in Game 3 and 44-40 in Game 4. ... Penny Hardaway tied Orlando's playoff record for points in a half with 27 in the first two quarters. ... Miami's Tim Hardaway continued to shoot poorly, going 5-for-18 and scoring 16 points.
Length: 344
Rating: 4.90 (17 ratings)
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