ORLANDO, Fla. — Benched for the fourth quarter and overtime, Magic starting point guard Rafer Alston was upset with Stan Van Gundy’s decision to leave him out in the crucial minutes of Orlando’s 99-91 Game 4 loss to the Lakers on Thursday night.

Alston was replaced by All-Star Jameer Nelson, who is still rusty and recovering from shoulder surgery. The decision didn’t go over well with Alston.
“I was shocked. I was shocked,” Alston said. “It’s tough. You’re thinking Coach will come back to you. The first two games I could understand, but again we were right there to win the game. As a player you would like to have your number called.”
Alston had 11 points on 5-for-13 shooting, two assists and one turnover in 27 minutes. Nelson had two points, three turnovers and three assists in 26 minutes.
Alston has been the team’s starting point guard since he was acquired from the Houston Rockets at the trade deadline. The move was made after Nelson went down from what was then-called season-ending surgery on his right shoulder.
Alston, who also expressed displeasure with his minutes after the Magic’s Game 1 loss, said he didn’t understand the decision.
“I wouldn’t have an explanation,” Alston said. “I wasn’t hurt. I ran through nine heat packs. I didn’t get the call.”
Van Gundy had a different take.
“I thought we had a very, very bad third quarter,” he said. “And then it wasn’t so much one guy over the other, it was just we had a unit in the fourth quarter that I thought was playing real well. And then you get down to the point where Rafer hasn’t played in 10 or 12 minutes, I thought it would be hard to bring him back.”