Keep Your Foot on the Gas

Well, the Celtics sure haven't disappointed thus far, but the big question going forward is "can the Celtics keep up the focus and intensity, or will they crap the bed?" Based on the regular season, you'd have to expect the latter, but given the Celtics' current hot streak I just don't know what to expect. My philosophy is to stay even keeled and not to overreact to the game-to-game swings that send so many media members off the deep end and generally drag down the quality of analysis and commentary to the most base level knee-jerk reactions and hyperbole imaginable. Let's see if I can avoid that pitfall for the next 700 words...

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.

Anticipating Adjustments

Well it certainly wasn't pretty, but I'll take a victory any way it happens in the Eastern Conference Finals against a team as formidable as the Orlando Magic. The Celtics did an absolutely fantastic job of defending Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis yesterday and despite almost collapsing in the fourth quarter came out of game one with a 92-88 victory. There's a lot of stuff to discuss and digest, but more than anything I'm wondering what if anything we can take away from this game and use to divine more information about how the rest of this playoff series will play out.

First the good: Dwight Howard was frustrated from wire to wire yesterday and the Celtics' front court did an outstanding job of making Howard work for every inch of position on the interior and sent him to the line to earn his points whenever possible. The combination ok Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace battled Howard to a standstill, forcing him out of the paint and his comfort zone without help from the other Celtics, allowing the rest of Boston's players to stay close to the bevy of perimeter shooters on the Orlando roster. The result of some spectacular interior defense was a solid defensive effort for almost the entire game, excepting the last 7 minutes of the game where Orlando just started knocking down more shots than they had been all game long.

Undoubtedly Orlando will make adjustments and play better in game 2, not only because they'll have a greater sense of urgency to win but also because they should be acclimated to the level of intensity for this series after cakewalking their way through the first two rounds. Also, I suspect that Stan Van Gundy will make adjustments on offense to help his team get more and better open shots than they were able to muster yesterday.

It's clear at this point that the Celtics are extremely well equipped to defend Dwight Howard in post up scenarios, so I doubt you'll see a whole lot of that tomorrow and throughout the rest of the series. Kendrick Perkins is especially patient and disciplined on defense and has had tremendous success in the past defending Howard's "post game," so I am fully expecting to see a lot more high screen & roll plays from the Magic as we go forward in this series. Getting Howard, Jameer Nelson and the basketball moving more is Orlando's best shot at creating open looks for themselves, and despite the fact that the Celtics defend this play very well it could be a great way for Orlando to establish a better rhythm on offense. Howard stands to benefit from more pick & roll basketball, but I actually see that play as a great way to get Rashard Lewis going, as defensive rotations to cover the screen & roll will lead to more open looks on the perimeter for Lewis as well as opportunities for him to use his quickness and create off the dribble.

The Magic will undoubtedly come back harder in game 2 and should be favored to even up the series, but the Celtics can take some encouragement from the fact that they beat Orlando despite playing a less than flawless game themselves. Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo both had below average games yesterday and should play better as the series goes on, and you have to expect that the second unit will step up and contribute more than they did yesterday, although they were hardly terrible in game 1.

The KG/Rondo match-ups are considerably less favorable in this series, but thanks to Boston's balance in the starting unit, the Celtics were able to generate buckets thanks to both Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Allen was terrific despite almost blowing the game by dribbling the ball off his own foot (as Tyler Fox said, "way to Tony Allen that one, Ray") and then not boxing out Jameer Nelson on a free-throw attempt in the closing seconds, and I am expecting more and better things from him as the series goes on. Ray has a speed and quickness advantage on every Orlando defender he is likely to see, and although Redick did a great job in the 4th quarter of chasing Ray off the 3-point line and around screens, I'm not sure the Magic can do that for 48 minutes.

The real key to this series, however could very well be Paul Pierce. After getting swallowed by LeBron James and the Cavs in the last round, Pierce put up an impressive and efficient (despite 5 turnovers) stat line yesterday. The Celtics isolated Pierce against Vince Carter, and the Truth's eyes seemed to light up at the opportunity. This is wild speculation, but I expect to see the best out of Pierce this series as long as Vince Carter is checking him. Pierce is as quick and waaaaaaaaaaay more physical than Carter, and from the looks of things he took a lot of joy in dismantling a guy who got drafted 5 slots ahead of him in 1998 and is Paul's only competition for "biggest injury faker in the NBA" (see? I'm not afraid to zing the hometown guys).

Perhaps the biggest key to take away from yesterday's game is that despite the stout Orlando defense, the Celtics are a balanced team that can get a spark from four of its starters and occasionally the bench. This series is going to be close, hotly contested and beautiful to watch if you are a basketball fan, so stay tuned!

What Really Makes Orlando Go?

It's very late so I am going to keep this one short and sweet (there's a first time for everything, right?). First I have to say congrats to the Celtics for overcoming a great team like Cleveland and defying trends and expectations to this point. I truly did not believe that Boston had the focus or desire to beat Cleveland, and I am as shocked as nearly everyone else by the manner in which Boston dominated the league's best team. I never doubted that the Celtics could rise to the occasion, they just hadn't shown any signs of life since Christmas and got worked over by the elite of the NBA this year so I really didn't think it was in the cards. Were the Celtics playing a game of Texas Hold 'em, I would have pegged their odds of beating the Cavs as equivalent to catching a 2 outer for the righteous suck-out, I just had no idea that the Cavs were apparently bluffing. Neither did anyone else.

As daunting as beating LeBron James and Cleveland was for this veteran Celtic team, I fear that the Orlando Magic may be better than the Cavs and thus the next challenge for Boston will be even more difficult. No, Orlando doesn't have anyone like Lebron James or Kobe Bryant that can absolutely light the world on fire and beat you by themself, but they do have talent and depth through the end of their bench and play beautiful basketball together. They have a coach in Stan Van Gundy who definitely won't shit the bed a la Mike Brown and gift wrap the series for the Celtics. They're also 27-3 since March 1st, and 8-0 in the playoffs thus far. Nobody has even come close to touching these guys in two whole months, and from the way they beat Atlanta in the last round (a team that owned the Boston Celtics this year, by the way) in record fashion with an average margin of victory of 25 points per game. The Magic are a buzz saw right now, and the Celtics are the lucky ones who get to see if they can withstand a vicious Orlando attack that is relentless on both ends of the floor.

So how do the Celtics pull this one off? What is the key to the series? The answer might not be where you think it is on the court. Although Dwight Howard is Orlando's best player and the focal point of the team, as I have spent a long time discussing before, he is not the crucial element of the Magic's plan of attack. Really, if you want to beat Orlando you have to do two things: don't beat yourself with turnovers or bad shots (yikes), and defend the hell out of the three-point line when the Magic have the ball. Accomplishing the former may be impossible for this Celtic team, but they can achieve the latter if they win one key match-up on the perimeter.

Though the likes of Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett loom large on the court, I believe the series will be decided by the two littlest guys on the floor for both these teams. If Rajon Rondo can contain Jameer Nelson in this series, the Celtics can and should win. If he can't and Nelson gets free, the Celtics and their fans had better get ready for several long nights and an awfully short playoff series. Jameer Nelson is not only Orlando's best and most efficient shooter, but he also uses his dribble penetration to create open looks on the perimeter for other Orlando shooters as well as scoring opportunities in the paint for Dwight Howard. The Celtics must keep Nelson on the perimeter in this series and put a hand in his face or else face the consequences. Rajon Rondo has the tools for the job, and I believe that his offense will be crucial to defending Nelson as well (if Nelson has to chase an active Rondo up and down the court, he will have less energy to shoot dagger jumpers all night long).

But what about Howard? The Celtics have a slew of defenders to take on Dwight Howard straight up, and although Howard has improved his post game this year I still believe that he is secondary to what the Magic do on offense and is not the biggest threat to the Celtics in this series. Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace have all had success defending Howard in the past, and although the young big man can now drive a little bit more effectively if he doesn't start with great position on the interior, I am still more than willing to live with whatever he gets out of post up situations. I still believe that he is ineffective if you can body him out of the paint and push him more than an arms length from the rim, shoddy footwork, below average hands and poor passing skills really hurt Howard in this area. If the Celtics are able to play Howard straight up (they should be), then I like the Celtics' chances of defending the three-point line and hampering Orlando's offensive attack a lot.

Speaking of three-point shooters, the other match up to watch in this series is Rashard Lewis against Kevin Garnett. Lewis has killed the Celtics and Garnett this year with his quickness, and he has proven to be quite challenging for Garnett to stick with after his knee injury robbed him of nearly all his lateral quickness. Though he is only marginally taller than Antawn Jamison, Lewis is a better offensive player and a tougher defender, so KG won't have nearly as easy of a time in this series as he did in Cleveland, and the Celtic attack could suffer mightily as a result.

The only area where the Celtics could really hurt the Magic is on the wing, mostly because Vince Carter has to guard somebody, and whomever that is for Boston will have a mismatch on offense. That would be all well and good under normal circumstances, however neither Ray Allen or Paul Pierce have been able to play consistently well in the postseason so I have my doubts about the Celtics in this area. Pierce won't have to work as hard on defense as he did last series (though if you sleep on guys like Carter, Matt Barnes, and Pietrus they'll kill you), so hopefully we can get more out of the captain this time around. Neither Barnes (who has a bad back, by the way) or Vince Carter are well equipped to chase Ray Allen around screens on offense, but although Ray has carried the Celtics sometimes throughout these playoffs he hasn't had it every night and the Celtics will need more out of him against such a tough defensive team.

I may not fear Howard on offense, but he makes the Magic an elite defensive team that will certainly give the Celtics fits at times. On the other side, the Celtics have been playing great defense in the postseason, however Orlando is younger, faster, stronger and just as disciplined, so the Celtics have to be considered big underdogs in this series. I will really enjoy watching these teams square off, it may be an ugly slugfest of a series but it should be good. More analysis and commentary will follow.

Smothered

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy, nothing gets me going quite like being able to go see my beloved Celtics take on the pesky Portland Trail Blazers in an environment as electric and hostile as the Rose Garden on a friday night. Tyler's mom deserves a big hat tip for scoring the Fox and myself some sweet tickets to the game, and the Celtics deserve an equally big hat tip for coming out and playing with effort, intensity and strong resolve just one night after slugging it out with the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Speaking of the Lakers, I have to get this off my chest before indulging y'all in any more basketball commentary. The two guys sitting next to Tyler and myself at the Rose Garden were Laker fans, why they were at this game is beyond me (though they both seemed intent on scoring with some fat chicks later so maybe that was their motivation). I mean, you're coming to a game featuring two of your most hated rivals and stepping into an arena full of people that think you're assholes and probably wouldn't go R. Kelly on you if you were on fire, so what gives? These guys looked like they just got rejected from some horrible reality show (the one sitting next to me was wearing a muscle shirt, while his buddy had on a ridiculous looking white hat and some kind of designer shirt and jeans), like the West Coast version of "Jersey Shore" or something.

They'd clearly been pre-gaming somewhere, and when they came up to their seats each had two cocktails with them (looked like cosmos, which is very ironic considering how macho and homophobic they were trying to be once the game got underway). They then proceeded to get plowed, talk shit, sexually harass me and everyone else within arms reach and then disappeared for the half of the game. Even when they were in their seats they weren't paying attention, clearly they spent a ton of money on their seats and their drinks and everything else just to do it and be seen and make sure that everyone else knows how loaded they are (and we did notice that they were loaded, but not in the way they were hoping for I'm guessing). They didn't come to watch the game, and they didn't care about the score or the level of play or anything else. In short, this is why I hate LA and the Lakers. Sure, Kobe Bryant is an insufferable prick and the fact that their third string center has a freaking publicist is grating, but the Laker fans are the primary reason that I loathe anything wearing purple and gold. These two guys personified everything that is wrong with being a sports fan and were so distracting and offensive that they took away from the game experience for us (well at least for me, Tyler was fortunate enough to have me between him and them and was flanked on his other side by some hipster girl who only wanted to dance to the arena music). Ugh, LA just needs to hurry up and fall into the ocean already, we've been tormented for long enough.

In other news, the Celtics played smothering defense from wire to wire and raised their intensity level against a weaker team (something they have been struggling with since Christmas) and prevailed easily in a defensive contest. Kevin Garnett provided a spark early on, finishing with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in just 22 minutes, while Ray Allen had his jumper going throughout and lead the Celtics with 21 points on 9-14 shooting. With the exception of Ray Allen, every Celtic played limited minutes and got plenty of rest on the second night of a back-to-back (we barely saw KG or Pierce in the second half), and solid contributions from the entire bench helped the Celtics coast to victory. Boston did a great job of forcing turnovers, running shooters off the three point line, changing shots around the paint, and played Portland to a draw on the glass (at half time the Celtics were dominating the glass on both ends) to help themselves get a much needed victory on a tough West Coast road trip.

On the other side of things, the Blazers definitely played hard and competed with intensity but fell short because of Boston's defensive effort. Portland had only three players (Bayless, Aldridge and Andre Miller) in double figures, and despite a 40-23 free-throw advantage couldn't keep the game close for most of the night. The Blazers got killed by their own poor shooting (less than 34% overall and only 2-12 from distance), turnovers (they had 18 which lead to 20 points for Boston), and by giving up 44 points in the paint to a team of jump shooters. The intensity and effort was there, but the execution for the most part was non existent.

Perhaps the Blazers struggled a little bit to adjust to life without Steve Blake and to integrate Marcus Camby into the team (Camby was on and off, grabbing rebounds, changing shots and doing some little things well but also turning the ball over 5 times in 29 minutes), but really the Celtics perimeter defenders played extra hard and moved well, forcing tough shots that were out of the Blazers' comfort zone. Rudy, Roy and Martell Webster all struggled to find breathing room out there, which put too much of the burden onto LaMarcus Aldridge (who actually played a solid game with a 16/9) to keep things close. Mostly, I feel like the Celtics just played very hard, determined defense against these Blazers and took them out of their game, which proved to be the difference.

In the past, the Celtics have underestimated Portland and taken a lax attitude towards this Blazer team, however after losing in Portland last year, you could see that the Celtics had a totally different mindset on Friday night. While it's frustrating for Portland to lose, it is a huge sign of respect from the Celtics to be so attuned and focused on this game. In the long run, the Blazers will be ok and just need to learn from this experience to see what it takes to separate themselves from just about everyone else out West. Fortunately, the Blazers get to play the Nets on Tuesday, so a bounce back win should be coming right up. Until then, take it easy and remember that Laker fans suck!

Competitive Firee

Well well well, I'm glad that 90% of the time I try to talk to anyone about basketball I get tuned out like so much white noise and subjected to innumerable eye rolls, because before this weekend I was telling anyone who would listen that Paul Pierce would not do well in the 3-point shooting contest this weekend. Boy was I wrong (though I was hardly the only one). Because of Pierce's methodical, slow release, I thought he would struggle mightily to keep the rhythm and tempo necessary to shoot 25 shots so effectively in just one minute. Against other competitors with short, compact strokes (Stephen Curry and Chauncey Billups), it seemed like Pierce was at a disadvantage (and we haven't touched on his foot sprain either). But to the Truth's credit, he raised his game and changed his stroke and took home the trophy despite some stiff competition from his peers.

In the final round, Pierce scored 20 of a possible 30 points (there are five balls per rack, five racks in all and the last ball in each rack is worth 2 points) to edge out young Stephen Curry for the title. While Pierce's shooting was mighty impressive to behold, what really struck me was the fact that he nailed very single one of the money-balls in the final round. If that's not an indication that a player is a fierce competitor and can raise his game when it really matters, I'm not sure what is. Like he's done so many times in the past, Paul Pierce was willing and able to make the necessary adjustments to win, showing us all once again how talented, versatile and intelligent he is as a player. Whatever the situation calls for, he can provide. It's exciting to watch the ball go in the hole a lot, but seeing Pierce change his game to get himself an edge and the win was far more impressive for me.

Hopefully, Pierce and the other Celtics will get their act together soon, they've got a tough slate of games this week, with an LA/Portland back-to-back on Thursday and Friday for good measure. Fox and I will be at the game on Friday (special nod to Tyler's mom for hooking us up with killer seats), so I should be able to provide some good analysis after the contest. Stay tuned, sports fans!