Although the Celtics collapsed in epic fashion in game 3 of the Cleveland series, I am expecting more focus and determination from Boston as the series shifts back to the Garden on Saturday. The Celtics have looked better and played better than the Magic for the vast majority of the first two games, and as many have noted they looked more locked in and focused than they have all season long. Also, they haven't blown Orlando out in either contest so hopefully the Celtics aren't suffering from the same delusions of grandeur that plagued them against Cleveland. The downside is that the Celtics will have had 3 days of everyone writing about how great they are before game 3 tips off, so there will be ample opportunities for them to get drunk on their own kool-aid.
The Celtics have been an enigma all year long, however on the other side of the ball the Magic have been just as perplexing in this series. Orlando was rusty and disengaged in game one, and understandably so after coming off relatively easy playoff series against both Charlotte and Atlanta, so everyone (including yours truly) gave them a mulligan. But after another lackluster performance in game 2 where the Magic saw only a moderate and spotty improvement in their effort level, I am beginning to wonder whether or not these guys have it in them to deal with a physical Celtics team that relies on balanced scoring and hard defense to win.
Dwight Howard improved immensely in game 2, but he was the only Magician who didn't pull a disappearing act on Tuesday. Jameer Nelson labored through 38 minutes and managed only 9 points on 4-12 shooting, Vince Carter chucked up fade-away after fade-away en route to a 5-15 stink bomb that also involved him bricking two free throws in the final minute that could have brought Orlando to within a point of the Celtics, while Rashard Lewis and Matt Barnes no-showed for the second straight game. Keep in mind that a lot of this has to do with the Celtic defense, but Orlando has played well in stretches for both games which leads me to believe that they could do something about this situation if they wanted to. For instance, Orlando was able to pretty much bludgeon the Celtics by playing Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat at the same time, giving them a huge edge in the paint and on the glass. And despite a brain fart to end the game, J.J. Redick has played great defense on Ray Allen and been far more effective than the clearly injured Matt Barnes, yet Barnes is still in the rotation. It's not like Stan Van Gundy doesn't know this, yet he hasn't made the necessary adjustments to give his team an edge.
I suppose it's also possible that the Magic have no answers for the Celtics. boston has been playing defense about as well as anyone and have been able to knock Orlando out of their comfort zone for nearly this entire series. Big edges that the Magic were supposed to have (points in the paint, rebounds, fouls) have evaporated, while the Celtics have exposed Orlando's flaws and forced the Magic into playing the game that they want them to play. I don't know if the Celtics can keep a lid on the Orlando shooters for the rest of the series, but if they keep defending with the same effort and intensity level that they've displayed thus far they have as good a chance as anyone.
The more I think about it, the more I believe that Orlando will perform better at some point, but I am still not that worried because the dirty secret of this series is that the Celtics haven't played great yet either. Boston has done an admirable job of defending with grit and intensity and have battled Orlando to a draw in the areas where the Magic should have dominated, but they haven't played a complete offensive game yet. Thus far Kevin Garnett has struggled in both games, and while open looks haven't been as easy to come by against the Orlando defense, KG has clanked a lot of shots that normally go down. I don't believe that Orlando can match up with all of the Celtics and keep them from being at least somewhat effective on offense. It is simply too hard to cover Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen at the same time, and that's before you take into account the fact that you can see Pierce salivating every time Vince Carter tries to D him up.
I guess I am hoping for success from the Celtics on Saturday but in the spirit of this year's team and Boston sports in general I will brace for the worst. No matter how you slice it, Orlando is in trouble and really needs to shake things up to have a puncher's chance in this series. I am not sure if the Celtics are good enough and the Magic bad enough for this series to end up in a sweep, but after two consecutive stink bombs it is getting harder and harder to imagine Orlando putting up much of a fight in the rest of this series. The Celtics seem to have their number, Orlando knows this and it looks at this point like there is nothing they can do about it. We'll just have to wait and see, game 3 is on Saturday. Until then, keep rooting for the Celtics and think of some condescending chants for Dwight Howard and Vince Carter for game night.
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