Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20 « Thread Started on Nov 19, 2009, 3:26pm »
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Orlando Magic (9-3) at Boston Celtics (9-3) Friday, November 20 8:00 PM ET Game #13, Home Game #7 TV: ESPN, SunSpO, CSN HD, RTV Radio: WDBO, WEEI TD Garden
Probable Starters PG: Rajon Rondo PPG 10.3 RPG 3.5 APG 8.7 SG: Ray Allen PPG 15.2 RPG 2.7 APG 3.4
C: Kendrick Perkins PPG 10.1 RPG 7.1 BPG 2.0
SF: Paul Pierce PPG PPG 18.4 RPG 4.8 APG 4.1 PF: Kevin Garnett PPG 13.6 RPG 7.5 APG 2.4
Reserves Eddie House Rasheed Wallace Marquis Daniels Shelden Williams Brian Scalabrine Lester Hudson Bill Walker JR Giddens
Injured Tony Allen (ankle) questionable Big Baby Davis (thumb) out
Key Player Rajon Rondo When Rondo is aggressive and setting the pace for the game, the Celtics are a completely different team than when he is tentative. As goes Rondo, so go the Celtics. We saw this in the Warriors game. In the first half, Rondo played tentatively and so did the Celtics but in the second half, Rondo was aggressive, taking the ball to the basket and pushing the pace of the game and the Celtics took over the game.
Probable Starters PG: Jason Williams PPG 5.3 RPG 1.3 APG 4.1 SG: Vince Carter PPG 17.1 RPG 3.9 APG 1.8
C: Dwight Howard PPG 18.1 RPG 10.7 BPG 1.8
SF: Mickael Pietrus PPG 10.0 RPG 3.2 APG 0.8 PF: Rashard Lewis PPG 13.5 RPG 6.0 APG 5.0
Reserves Marcin Gortat JJ Redick Ryan Anderson Anthony Johnson Matt Barnes Brandon Bass
Injuries Jameer Nelson (knee) out Adonal Foyle (knee) out
Key Player Dwight Howard Howard leads the team in points, rebounds, and blocks. Rashard Lewis has played well since his return from his suspension and Vince Carter is playing well, but Howard is the leader on this team on both ends of the court.
Key Matchups vs Kendrick Perkins vs Dwight Howard Perk did a great job of slowing Howard down in the playoffs last year and the Celtics will need him to once again defend Howard with single coverage. His extra quickness from the weight loss should help Perk to stay with him. Hopefully he hasn't lost the strength needed to keep Howard away from the basket.
vs Kevin Garnett vs Rashard Lewis KG has his lift back but still doesn't look 100%, especially on defense. But, his defense will be needed in this game as Rashard Lewis is well rested from his 10 game suspension and is raring to go. He missed a triple double by one assist in his last game (17 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists) and that was in just three quarters.
Honorable Mention Bench vs Bench The Celtics bench is much stronger than when these two teams met in the playoffs, and the Magic have a deep bench as well. The Celtics will need Sheed, Quisy, House and Shelden to contribute and hold their own against the Magic bench. The points scored by the benches may be the difference in this game.
Team Connections Doc Rivers coached the Magic from 1999-2004, winning the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in his first season Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen were teammates in Seattle from 2003-07 Anthony Johnson and Brian Scalabrine were teammates in New Jersey from 2001-03 Anthony Johnson played for Doc Rivers in Orlando during the 1999-2000 season Vince Carter and Brian Scalabrine were teammates in New Jersey during the 2004-05 season Vince Carter and Rasheed Wallace are former North Carolina Tar Heels Anthony Johnson and Shelden Williams were teammates in Atlanta and Sacramento from 2006-08
Game Notes • Celtics split the season series 2-2 with Orlando during the 2008-09 season • Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 23.3 points per game last season • Dwight Howard averaged 16.8 points, 15.5 rebounds and 4.00 blocks per game against the Celtics last season • The Celtics are 8-10 against the Magic since the 2004-05 season • The Celtics are leading the all-time series 42-37 with the Celtics 29-10 at home
This is the first meeting of these two teams since the Celtics were eliminated by the Magic in 7 games in last year's playoff semi-finals. I am sure the Celtics would like to get even for that loss and show that they are top dog this season. And I am also sure that the Magic are still smarting from Pierce's comment about them being poodles and will want to show that their win last season wasn't a fluke.
The Magic have been playing very well, but are once again without their starting point guard who is again out with a knee injury. The Celtics haven't been playing very well and their trademark defense has been missing for the most part in their last 4 games. If they play like they did against the Warriors on Wednesday, they will probably lose this one. They have to get back their commitment to defense and keep their focus for 48 minutes as the Magic are not going to lie down and let the Celtics win this one.
Keys to the Game Defense The most important key to this game is for the Celtics to get back to their defense first mentality. They have to clamp down on defense because they won't be able to out-shoot the Magic. Their defense has been very lax over the last stretch of games and it will take a concerted effort from every player for the defense to get back to where it should be.
Rebound The Celtics have been out rebounded in a few games already this season. Crashing the boards is very important in this game because of how dominant Howard is with put backs once he gets the rebounds. The Celtics must limit Magic second chance baskets by boxing out and crashing the boards. Effort, energy, and desire will show up in the rebounding stats. The team that wants the game more will win the rebounding battle. Hopefully, it will be the Celtics that want it more.
Run the Offense The Celtics must run their offense. They have to move the ball and find the open man. They have to run their set plays and make their shots when they are open. They have been relying on quick 3's way too much this season and need to get back to taking the ball inside and making the extra pass. Focus The Celtics need to come out focused from the start. If they come out sluggish as they have in most of their games, they will find themselves in a hole that they may not be able to dig out of. They have to maintain their focus for 4 quarters because if the Celtics lose focus at all during the game, the Magic will take advantage.
Joined: Nov 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 4,686 Karma: 78
Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20 « Reply #2 on Nov 19, 2009, 5:06pm »
1. Rondo has to exploit the fact that the Magic's Jameer Nelson is out. Stealing the ball off their point guard, causing a ton of turnovers and creating havoc to make sure the magic's 3 point shooting never get in sync.
2. With KG back instead of Big Baby, we'll now see what would have happened in the Eastern playoffs if KG guarded Rashard instead of Big Baby.
3. Sheed will need to take advantage of the Magic's smaller sized team and make those long shots because Dwight won't be able to come all the way up to the perimeter to block him.
4. And I agree both benches are pretty good so neither can afford to let the other's second unit build a lead on them.
With Perkins showing he can take Dwight 1 on 1, it'll allow us freedom to stop those 3 pointers but the biggest worry is if Perkins gets into early foul trouble because we have noone else that can stop Dwight.
Joined: Aug 2003 Gender: Male Posts: 23,991 Location: Boston, HI Karma: 182
Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20 « Reply #3 on Nov 19, 2009, 5:35pm »
This game will come down to role players. We know our Big 3 will get their usual stats, and so will the Magic's key players. But if Perk, Rajon, Rasheed, House, Shelden, and Daniels come through like they can, we should pull this one out at home.
Joined: Aug 2003 Gender: Male Posts: 23,991 Location: Boston, HI Karma: 182
Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20 « Reply #4 on Nov 19, 2009, 5:50pm »
You know, I'm just not confident with our team right now. I'd like to hope that this will be a competitive game and we come out with the victory, but I can't tell you with a straight face that I'm confident we'll do this.
We definitely don't have that moxie we had at the beginning of the year.
Joined: Aug 2003 Gender: Male Posts: 12,891 Location: Worcester, MA Karma: 145
Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20 « Reply #5 on Nov 19, 2009, 9:30pm »
yeah something's m issing from this team right now. We are looking our age a bit which isn't a good thing. Hopefully we are all wrong and this is a wake up call for them. I was feeling the same way Derren but I tend tot hink they will get teh message themselves. It's pretty obvious what the problems have been. We can keep slipping down that slippery slope or come back firing.
But yeah this is a game i don't feel great about which might be a good thing in this instance.
Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20 « Reply #6 on Nov 19, 2009, 10:07pm »
I think what is missing is that focus and defensive intensity. They just don't seem focused on the games. When they put their minds to it, they look great like in the second half. If it was age and fatigue, they couldn't just turn it on in the second half of a game. It seems to me that if it is age, they would just continue to get worse as the game went on. That's why I think it's a matter of focus and motivation.
Joined: Aug 2003 Gender: Male Posts: 23,991 Location: Boston, HI Karma: 182
Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20 « Reply #8 on Nov 20, 2009, 1:25am »
Hahahaha, I do agree with Pierce, though. Last year's Finals was a joke. The Magic should not have been the team to represent the East. It would have been us if KG wasn't injured, or else it should have been the Cavs--even though they choke in big games, Lebron is still way more fun to watch than the entire Magic team.
Joined: Nov 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 4,686 Karma: 78
Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20 « Reply #9 on Nov 20, 2009, 6:03am »
The Cavs would have only made the Finals a 4 game sweep for the Lakers. Its been shown in the past that Lebron can't carry a team in the Finals..The Spurs swept em and the Lakers last year would have done the same. Fact is, the Magic's game plan as good as it looks on paper surrounding one big guy with 4 x 3 point shooters, didn't work out that well in the Finals..Live by the 3 Die by the 3. Even the Nuggets gave the Lakers more of a challenge than the Magic did. The only team qualified to represent the East are the Cs. All anyone needs to do is get Dwight in quick foul trouble, and then the Magic have no interior defense.
Joined: Nov 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 25 Location: New Jersey Karma: 1
Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20 « Reply #10 on Nov 20, 2009, 10:18am »
Another awesome recap FL Celts- my fav part is the team connections you find.
This game scares me a bit because of how lethargic they've looked. I'm hoping for a solid performance tonight and to not let up Sunday vs the hapless Knicks.
Another awesome recap FL Celts- my fav part is the team connections you find.
This game scares me a bit because of how lethargic they've looked. I'm hoping for a solid performance tonight and to not let up Sunday vs the hapless Knicks.
Thanks TB It's like there are 2 different teams. If the defensive Celtics show up, then they will win. If the sluggish Celtics who forget how to play defense show up, then they will lose. Hopefully they will be up for this game and will bring their D game.
Your avatar makes me sad. I can't help but think of what might have been had Bias lived.
« Last Edit: Nov 20, 2009, 10:42am by FLCeltsFan »
Another awesome recap FL Celts- my fav part is the team connections you find.
This game scares me a bit because of how lethargic they've looked. I'm hoping for a solid performance tonight and to not let up Sunday vs the hapless Knicks.
Thanks TB It's like there are 2 different teams. If the defensive Celtics show up, then they will win. If the sluggish Celtics who forget how to play defense show up, then they will lose. Hopefully they will be up for this game and will bring their D game.
Your avatar makes me sad. I can't help but think of what might have been had Bias lived.
You're totally right about the defensive-minded C's. Let's see if they're really in "flip the switch mode" and come out tonight and blow the Magic away. The Knicks game Sunday was really scaring me but the Knicks beat the Pacers the other night so I'm sure they'll let up.
Yeah it's the same avatar I use on Celtics Life. We'd probably be cheering on Banner 20 or 21 by now, at least
Joined: Aug 2003 Gender: Male Posts: 3,493 Location: The Vin Baker Memorial Karma: 90
Re: Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20 « Reply #14 on Nov 20, 2009, 12:48pm »
This is another one of those take it possestion by possestion kind of games. Keep Orlando to 0.8 points per possestion (PPP) and as long as we get .81 points per possestion (PPP) or better we win the game. The Celtics defensive PPP was down around .72 points the 1st 5 games and up around .98 since (or maybe worse). At Indiana was simply horrible for the Celtics in the 2nd half especially being over 1.
A lousy defensive PPP can be attributed to lack of defensive rebounding and playing passively on defense. The Celtics were guilty of both last Friday against Atlanta and were guilty again in the 1st half of the Golden State game Wednesday night. This cannot happen tonight. We better find our A game real quick.
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