By Karsceal Turner
Funny how a couple games worth of being trashed, bashed, and torn out of the frame by the 17-time NBA Champions can be a somewhat humbling experience.
This is how it went down at the Amway Arena Tuesday night. The loss put the Magic in a familiar predicament. We’ll talk more about that a few paragraphs down. The final scores of these two back-to-back playoff losses were not indicative of a mishandling or dismantling of the Magic, rather it revealed consecutive melt-downs by the home team. Nooo, I’m not saying the Magic are on the verge of choking away the series but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention concerns over not taking care of business at home, especially since others are thinking it. I shall be your conscience.
I sat in the arena staring at the scoreboard nearly a half an hour after the game was over. Other reporters and writers dashed to the interview rooms and locker rooms; clean-up crews began the task of cleaning up tons of garbage from the stands, teenagers scavenged between the rows looking for souvenirs. Me? I just stared up at the scoreboard. It read 92-95.
There is a reason the Boston Celtics have the most championships for any NBA franchise…in a word, savvy. Obviously the boys from Beantown took offense to the collective opinions of their being too old to make a run for their 18th championship. Come on, we’ve all thought it at least once.
The Celtics made a hell of a statement beginning with Paul Pierce who simply had his way with Mickael Pietrus on the offensive end. Pierce scorched the Magic for 15 points even before a flagrant forearm by Dwight Howard clubbed him in the head late in the second quarter. With the way the Celtics sometime play the jury is still out on that flagrant thing.
Anyway, Pierce finished with 28 points and ravaged Orlando in every way. When he wasn’t having his way, the Celtics point-guard Rajon Rondo was busy running the break, completing crisp passes, and crossing-over Magic defenders on his way to dropping 25 points along with eight assists, two steals, five rebounds, and only two turnovers. The man played a complete game. Damn what you heard. Rondo is the spark which powers this Boston team.
Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins each added 10 for the Celts while Glen “Big Baby” Davis chipped in eight. Rasheed Wallace was good for six while Tony and Ray Allen (no relation) each had four. However, the more famous Allen is known for putting up much higher numbers. He scorched the Magic for 25 in Game 1 on Sunday. He is currently averaging 16.9 ppg. You can bet he will shoot much better in Boston.
In contrast, Orlando shot 41 percent from the field and 22 percent from beyond the arc. That simply isn’t going to get it done.
Dwight Howard scored a game-high 30 points while Vince Carter and J.J. Redick dropped 16 each. This was a good look until the Magic went almost seven minutes between field goals in the third quarter. It looked all too familiar. Magic fans collectively wondered where all our shooters went?
Mickael Pietrus was damn near absent with a quiet five-points and was 0-1 for three-point shooting. There was also an APB for Rashard Lewis who only had five points on 2 of 6 shooting. Jason Williams scored three points but hey at least he was 1-1 from three-point range right? J-Dub also had four assists and five boards. Matt Barnes had six and was 1-3 from beyond the arc. Wow! Did I even mention Marcin Gortat? He had a deuce along with his 6 rebounds and one block. It all availed to naught.
The moment of truth came in the fourth quarter in a scene reminiscent of hoop dreams. In complete silence with the Celtics leading, 95-92, and 31.9 seconds left, Vince missed two straight free throws…klink, klink! As with the first game Sunday, the Magic proved they were capable of pulling it out at the end…but didn’t.
Don’t stick a fork in the Magic just yet.
Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy gave an assessment which is likely confirmed by every single fan.
“Our shot selection was terrible and we didn’t play smart enough and we didn’t sustain what worked offensively,” Van Gundy said. “We know that we still have enough time to win a championship. The mood of our team isn’t perfect right now, but we all still believe. Even though we’re down 2-0, it’s not over. We’ve been through this before and we know how to come back from this.’’ Uhh Stan, let us not forget about player rotation during crucial times of the game. I just wanted to get that in there.
The Magic players have not thrown in the towel either. Dwight Howard summed it up tersely: “There’s no need to quit. There’s no need to say that we’re going down fighting because we’re not going down.”
Howard certainly knows what he is talking about. The Magic know how to win in Boston, beating the Celtics in November (83-78) and February (96-89). And they rallied against the Celtics last spring after falling behind 3-2, winning once in Orlando and thrashing the Celtics on the parquet floor court in Game 7.
Games 3 (Saturday, 8:30 p.m.) and 4 (Monday, 8:30 p.m.) will be played in Boston where the Magic won last spring in a Game 7 in the playoffs and twice during the regular season.
History even suggests that the Magic are still capable of getting back in the series. A total of 14 NBA teams have rallied out of 0-2 holes to win best-of-seven playoff series.
Also there have been three teams in history who have won after losing the first two home games.
They (the Magic) twice returned from series deficits to win last year – including going down 3-2 to Boston in the second round – and overcame suspensions and injuries to starters. But the fact remains they weren’t really challenged this postseason. That is until the boys from “Beantown” traveled to the “City Beautiful”.
The Celtics don’t have all those banners hanging in the rafters for nothing. Hell, many Magic fans were banking on those fresh new legs being able to outrun and out-gun the Celtics the same way they did it to the Bobcats and the Hawks. All the banter about the Celtics being old will become as mildewed as the planks on a parquet floor if the Magic don’t get it in gear. Home advantage is gone but this series ain’t over…yet.
You think the Celts have a chip on their collective shoulders after being bounced by Jamlando last year during these same Eastern Conference Finals? Yep! I definitely would want some get-back, if I were a patron of Green and White.
Pierce tried to down play the two wins.
“The feeling of this team right now is just focus,’’ he said. “The only thing we did was win two games. In order to get to the NBA Finals you have to win four. This is a great Orlando Magic team and they’ve proven it all year. We have to keep our same intensity and really take it up to another level at home.’’ Very good points and well said Paul but you know damn well you’re still salty about what the Magic did to you last season. Indeed, I dare say some people, including some of my fellow journalists have counted the Magic down and out. They aren’t being quiet about it either.
Me? I happen to be a real fan but not a delusional one. I believe the saying around town is “Believe in Magic”. I’m down with it, the fans are down with it but the question beckons rather, are the Magic down with it?
