Thursday, May 20, 2010

Orlando may have ran out of Magic




After taking a 2-0 lead in the series, the Boston Celtics seem to be playing like the 2008 NBA Champions, when they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers. Counted out heading into the playoffs with a subpar regular season due to injuries, the Celtics are probably now the most feared team in the playoffs. On their journey to the Eastern Conference Championship, the Celtics blew past Miami in five games and surprisingly shocked many beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in 6 games. To tell you the truth, none of this is a surprise to me. They may be old, but their smart and you can't teach basketball IQ. The Celtics experience and IQ beats most teams by itself. The regular season means only so much as the San Antonio Spurs have proved relentlessly in the past. The Playoffs are what count!!!
Yesterday's game 2 was a necessary for the Magic to win and they couldn't deliver. Now they will be playing the next two games in Boston, which isn't the easiest arena to win in. The Magic need to go back the chalk board and fix their mistakes as they made a couple of late game mistakes last night (Two missed free throws by Vince Carter under a minute and poor judgment by JJ Redick) On a positive side, Dwight Howard finished with 30 points and eight boards and dominated the Celtics from start to finish by getting their big men in trouble. It’s obvious the Magic's bread and butter three point game isn't getting the job done, so you have to find another way to win. Even with limited post moves in my eyes, Dwight Howard needs to be their primary option. The Celtics rotated as many people as they could on him, he got all of them into foul trouble, which helped spur the comeback. The defending Eastern Conference champions are still alive in this series, they just need to play better defense, which I feel should be their primary focus, rather than offense. Boston can beat you in many different ways and have great role players that aren't scared to score such as Big Baby Davis... Worry about stopping them on Offense and your Offense will benefit from it.
As for the Celtics, they almost blew yesterday's game because of foul trouble which led to the Orlando killing the offensive glass giving them second chance points. Even though they're up 2-0, the Celtics know what Orlando is capable of and shouldn't give them any breathing room.

Boston notes: Paul Pierce seemed to get his juice back as he ended w/ 28 points. In order for the Celtics to be successful in the long run, they will need their closer to finish out games and be more consistent like last night. The newest member of the Big 4, Rajon Rondo, ended w/ 25 pts, 8 dimes and 5 boards. Kevin Garnett also gave the Celtics the lead back under a minute with a fade away shot over Dwight Howard.

Magic Notes: JJ Redick came off the bench and scored 16. Redick was key in their offense last night and played an exceptional game besides forgetting to call a timeout, which wasted crucial seconds off the clock. Matt Barnes played a good defensive game on Ray Allen, who only had 4 points shooting 1 of 6 from the field.

Game Changer: Orlando Magic's, Rashard Lewis has been awfully quiet this whole season. Lewis was key in their run to the championship last year and hasn't produced much for his team this year. Without a doubt, Lewis can change a game with his great shooting ability for his height and being able to put the ball on the floor. It's now or never Rashard!!! Step up!

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