By Karceal Turner
For all intents and purposes, you can pretty much stick a fork in the Magic…they’re all but done. Especially after that piss-poor performance they put up against the Celtics in Game 3 on Saturday. Boston molly-whopped Orlando 94-71 on the parquet floor and the Celtics are now one victory from the Finals for the second time in three years.
The Magic now know exactly what the Bobcats and Hawks felt like.
Excuse me for using a few choice Anglo-Saxon words to sum up what the collective Magic Nation is feeling in one word… cheated. Orlando never showed any inclination to compete and trailed by double digits for the entire game. Absolutely no fight at all!
Usually, I relish in the fact that I was right. However, in this case being right means our hometown team from the “City Beautiful” is well on its way to feeling the sting of being swept. Indeed, Boston fans and a large portion of basketball fans wrote the Magic off immediately after the first two teams they let slip away. Throughout this series, Boston simply wanted it more.
As if to pour salt in the wound, as if Rondo’s antics, Big Baby’s scoring, and the trio of Pierce, Allen, and Garnett weren’t enough of an embarrassment, Garnett promptly dropped Van Gundy on his ass while chasing the ball. The contact came with 7:50 left in the third quarter with the Celtics leading 56-38. I’ll leave it to you to determine whether Garnett meant to roll the jolly Mr. Van Gundy on his posterior. I’ll also leave it to you to decide whether coach needed to be knocked over for being the orchestrator of such a travesty.
No rabbits jumping from this hat
The Celtics demoralized Orlando by snatching its inside game and contesting all 3-point shots. Howard made just three of 10 shots in 38 minutes and finished with seven points and eight rebounds. His first point came with nine seconds left in the first quarter.
Vince Carter shot 5-for-12 and didn’t score until there were six minutes left in the first half and finished with 15, while Rashard Lewis shot 2-for-8 for four. Jameer Nelson had 15, Mickael Pietrus finished with 12, J.J. Reddick had nine while Dwight Howard was limited to seven points and seven rebounds, Jason Williams had five. Marcin Gortat was simply in attendance.
The Magic simply didn’t execute offensively. Hell, they didn’t even try to execute. They built brick-houses by shooting 36.9 with only ten. When you look at their defense, it was just as atrocious. No box outs, no rotation, no help, they simply put on those uniforms.
Celtics display their own brand of magic
The Celtics have said they don’t care about who gets the points. Leave it to Glen (Big Baby) Davis to get hot and lead the Celtics with 17 points, including 10 in the first half. Rajon Rondo added 11 points and 12 rebounds while continuing to flourish in his role as the General of this team. Your boy Rasheed Wallace chipped in 10.
When Doc Rivers cleared his bench even Marquis Daniels and Nate Robinson got in the books. Ladies and gentlemen, that red flashing light you observe out of the corner of your eye is the “Season In Peril Warning Light”!
Devoted patrons of the Blue, White, and Silver continue to keep vigil in an attempt to Will their team back into this series and out of the reaches of sweep-dom. No longer can fans use the excuse “We came back last year”. This is gut check time. Either the Magic want it or they don’t. I was there during those early years when we were swept by Houston, and later the Indiana Pacers. I still have to attend therapy for that crap. My point is I’m not trying to see the team get swept. I however, am not playing. I write stuff.
Jameer Nelson had a determined response for any naysayers out there in Disneyland. “We’re not bowing down to anybody. They’re playing well, but we’re beating ourselves a lot of times.”
Uhh yeah, that is exactly what is seems you and the rest of team have been doing Jameer. We’re simply talking about you guys showing up and playing like you actually give a damn about trying to dig out of this seemingly insurmountable hole you dug for yourself. Again, I apologize for the short outburst. Please believe I meant every word and then some.
In the history of the NBA, no team has ever lost a series after winning the first three games. Each and every sports column you read is reporting it. The fans at the Garden are some of the raucous in the nation. Please believe they will arrive hours early on Monday night with brooms in hand.
Yep, things are certainly looking bleak for the boys from “Jamlado”. The odds are against them returning to Central Florida to grit this thing out. The statistics say it simply. As I stated from the beginning of this piece, stick a fork in the hometown team…they’re done.
That is, unless of course, you truly believe in Magic.
