Magic Laying The Bricks For Rockets’ Sweep Struggling Shooters Scott, Anderson Hold The Key To Orlando’s Slim Hopes

The Orlando Magic have gone from gunslingers to bricklayers.

Ordinarily, Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott are the 3-point shooters whose deadly accuracy burns those spending too much time worrying about Shaquille O’Neal or Anfernee Hardaway.

At least that’s the way it was before Orlando reached the NBA Finals. Now Anderson and Scott are misfiring far more often than they’re connecting. It’s a situation they never anticipated.

“In the first three rounds, that was either myself or Nick making those 3s or making those big plays down the stretch,” Scott said.

Facing the prospect of being swept from the finals with a loss tonight, the Magic couldn’t help thinking Tuesday in terms of ifs and buts.

“Nick makes those free throws in Game 1 and it’s 1-0,” Scott said, “If I shoot just 40 percent the other night, we win the ball game.”

Oh, those free throws. Anderson admits he hasn’t been the same since he missed four of them in the final 10.5 seconds of regulation in the 120-118 overtime loss in Game 1.

“I don’t feel like I’ve been in the flow of things, not at all,” he said.

He’s encouraged, though, by the two 3-pointers he made, one from 25 feet with a defender all over him, near the end of Sunday night’s 106-103 loss in Game 3.

“I kind of feel my shot coming back, the confidence, all those things,” he said. “I’m down but I’m not out. I’m not going to hang my head and walk around here like it’s over.”

The statistics tell Orlando’s sorry shooting story. Anderson is shooting 38 percent from the field, 9 of 27 from 3-point range. Scott has made 26 percent of his shots and is 5 of 23 on 3-pointers. Both had made better than 40 percent of their 3-pointers in the regular season and in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

Their numbers against Houston are in stark contrast to those of their two high-profile teammates.

O’Neal has made 60 percent of his shots and is averaging 29 points per game. Hardaway is averaging 26 per game and, while his 3-point shooting percentage of .375 isn’t great, it’s the best on the team.

But don’t expect the Magic to start blaming each other for their predicament.

“Sometimes they fall, sometimes they don’t,” O’Neal said. “I’m not the type to point fingers. We as a team haven’t shot the ball well. We haven’t played good defense. That’s why we’re down 0-3.”

The Orlando players and their coach insist it has little to do with anything Houston is doing on defense.

“They’re rotating out and challenging our shooters, but in Game 3 I thought we got great looks,” coach Brian Hill said.

And still they made only 8 of 31 3-pointers.

“It’s not like I’m out there forcing things or taking bad shots,” Scott said. “Then I’d be making myself look worse than I’m already doing. I guess that’s the biggest positive. As we watch the tape as a group, we see that we’re taking good shots, we’re just not making them.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: SWEEPS IN THE NBA FINALS 1959: Boston Celtics def. Minneapolis Lakers 1971: Milwaukee Bucks def. Baltimore Bullets 1975: Golden State Warriors def. Washington Bullets 1983: Philadelphia 76ers def. Los Angeles Lakers 1989: Detroit Pistons def. Los Angeles Lakers Source: News reports Knight-Ridder Tribune