Yogi Right Again: It’s Never Over Til It’s Over

Most of the fans at the Omni had gotten the booing out of their system and were on their way home.

Orlando was whooping it up on the bench and sending its reserves into the game to mop up.

This one was over, or so everyone thought. Then Atlanta began a comeback that had even Lenny Wilkens shaking his head: Overcoming a 10-point deficit with less than a minute to go, his Hawks went on to beat the Magic 112-107 in overtime Monday night.

The Magic was up 94-84 after Horace Grant hit two free throws with 48.9 seconds remaining. Then, this sequence of events happened:

36.9 seconds left, Atlanta’s Tyrone Corbin hits a 3-pointer. Magic 94, Hawks 87.

32.2 seconds, Christian Laettner fouls Dennis Scott, who makes 1 of 2 free throws. Magic 95, Hawks 87.

27.2 seconds, Steve Smith drives for a lay-in. Magic 95, Hawks 89.

25.2 seconds, Mookie Blaylock fouls Penny Hardaway right after the inbounds pass, and Hardaway hits 1 of 2 free throws. Magic 96, Hawks 89.

19.3 seconds, Blaylock quickly hits a 3-pointer. Magic 96, Hawks 92. (Some of the fans who were leaving begin to wander back.)

18.0 seconds, Blaylock fouls Brian Shaw right after the inbounds pass, and Shaw makes 1 of 2 free throws. Magic 97, Hawks 92.

10.5 seconds, Corbin hits a lay-up as the Magic try to avoid fouling. Magic 97, Hawks 94.

7.0 seconds, Darrin Hancock fouls Orlando’s Darrell Armstrong, who makes 1 of 2 free throws. Magic 98, Hawks 94.

5.7 seconds, Atlanta inbounds at halfcourt after a timeout and Laettner gets loose under the basket for another lay-up. Wisely, Laettner then draws a delay-of-game warning for stepping out of bounds to guard the inbounds pass. Orlando calls timeout. Magic 98, Hawks 96.

2.3 seconds, Blaylock steals the halfcourt inbounds pass and is inexplicably fouled by Horace Grant while trying to hurry up court. Blaylock makes both free throws. Magic 98, Hawks 98.

Once the game went to overtime, it seemed everyone knew Atlanta would find a way to come out on top.

On the court

Rodney Rogers scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and the visiting Los Angeles Clippers opened a two-game lead on Phoenix in the race for the No. 8 playoff spot in the West with a 121-111 victory over the Suns.

Kenny Anderson scored all 22 of his points in the second half to lead Portland to a 92-87 victory over the Sacramento Kings as the host Trail Blazers earned their 10th straight victory. It is the Blazers’ longest winning streak since they won a club-record 16 in a row at the end of the 1990-91 season. The 10-game run is the longest current winning streak in the NBA and the fourth-longest in franchise history.