Frenetic First Quarter
The first quarter of this game was the kind that Houston Rockets head coach, Mike D’Antoni dreams of. The teams were following the seven seconds or less strategy to a tee. It was incredibly strange to see a team coached by Frank Vogel (who was let go by the Indiana Pacers for not pushing the pace) fly up and down the court the way they did.
No semblance of defense could be found from either team, but the Bulls were particularly bad in that area early on. Chicago was letting Orlando get easy look after easy look. It was like watching a Harlem Globetrotters game as both teams marched up and down the floor with ease.
The Bulls were trailing 16-20 with just under seven minutes to play in the first quarter, and then Fred Hoiberg took a timeout. Hoiberg removed Rajon Rondo from the game and inserted Isaiah Canaan. From that moment on, the game was completely changed.
Chicago went on to allow only four points to the Magic in the final 6:39 of the first quarter and went on a 21-4 run on the other side of that timeout. This allowed the Bulls to take 37-24 lead going into the second quarter.