Celtics conjure up some Magic against Orlando
Beating the Cleveland Cavaliers might have been a shock given their regular season form, but it shouldn't have been - the Celtics are a good team and they are showing it.
On Sunday night the Boston Celtics proved they are still a match for anyone going into Orlando and taking game one from the Orlando Magic 92-88.
Ray Allen continued his impressive form scoring 25 points and Paul Pierce had 22 points as the Celtics handed the Magic their first defeat of this year’s play-offs, breaking a 14-game win streak. Pierce also had nine rebounds and five assists, his 19th career post-season 20-5-5 game and his sixth since 2008. Boston are 5-1 in those games and if the Celtics’ captain can continue to produce such performances, the C’s could be back in the NBA finals.
Leading by as many as 20 points the Celtics lost focus in the fourth quarter ,being outscored 30-18 but holding on for a four-point win.
"There were stretches in the season, we know each other so well now, where we were becoming less patient with each other. We were getting on each other a little too much. We can take it, but we respected each other,” Celtics guard Allen said.
"When we started the play-offs, we said teams are going to hit us, they're going to attack us. But when somebody scores on us, which they will, we go get the ball out and come back."
Orlando’s home crowd would have been shocked at their team’s performance not least as it was by far the Magics’ worst performace of the play-offs so far. They scored all lows in points scored, field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage and had their worst assist-turnover ratio, but head coach Stan Van Gundy is taking the positives from the game.
"Our guys aren't going to like fall apart. h**l, they got down 20 in this game and they didn't collapse. That's not our team. This is all about winning. Our team doesn't have to prove they can bounce back from adversity and all of that. They've done all that,” the Magic coach said.
And what about the players? Vince Carter, who lead the Magic in points, is thankful for the wake-up call.
"I think it was a wake-up call that we really needed, now it's what are we going to do about it? How do we respond?
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