CBW review: Celtics vs. Orlando Magic

[snoopy1@xxxxxxx]

Tonights game was played in Orlando less than 24 hours
after the Celtics had beaten the New Orleans Hornets in Boston.  In that 
game, the Cs had
not looked sharp at all.  Orlando was having problems of its own with 
Horace Grant and
Grant Hill only tentatively available due to injuries.

The Magic had also been shaky lately, despite a three game win streak. For 
some reason, the
Celtics always seemed to have problems with the teams they should be able 
to put away
early.  Thats what had happened with the Hornets, and a letup tonight 
might be disastrous
for the Good Guys.

Recently, the Cs had problems with consistent play, particularly on 
offense.  I cringed on
those rare occasions when they ran a fast break, since it was obvious they 
were unpracticed
in it.  Their defense was finewhen they worked at it.  But there were too 
many times when
they let weak teams score more easily than they should have.

In particular, Id realized that Paul Pierce had developed a habit of 
cheating off his man into
the lane, in hopes of picking up a loose ball.  Sometimes this worked well, 
but in a recent
game against the Raptors, it was disastrous.  It all depends on whether the 
man Pierce
guards can shoot well from the perimeter.  Since Pierce had neither been 
benched, nor had
he changed his ways on defense, I had to assume that Coach OBrien was ok 
with this.  Im not
sure the increase in steals necessarily outweighs the increase in shooting 
chances for Pierces
man.


First Quarter:

 Things started fast as both teams ran with the ball.  Orlando decided to 
try to put bodies
on Walker and Pierce every time they got the ball.  The ploy had limited 
effect through the
first half of the quarter as Pierce had 6 points in 6 minutes.  Tony Battie 
was a monster off
the boards, and got some help from Tony Delk to boot.

But about halfway through, Battie went down with what appeared to be a 
problem with his
knee.  Vin Baker came in and committed a foul.  I really hoped Battie would 
return quickly.
The teams sent the lead back and forth throughout the rest of the quarter.

Walker showed smarts as he went on the break and hesitated just a bit to 
draw the foul,
and yes-he made the free throw.

Just after word came that Tony Battie looked ok on the sideline, Tracy 
McGrady hurt his
ankle, and limped off the court.  A minute later, Vin Baker came up 
limping.  Battie came back
in for him.  I wondered if they waxed the floor or something.  During the 
following timeout,
McGrady walked back to the court, and he looked ok.

A minute after that, McGrady sat back down with his 2nd foul.  The Cs were 
working hard
off the boards, and it was paying off so far.  In addition, the Cs had a 
better shooting
percentage, even though Orlando took more shots in the quarter.  As time 
ended, the Celtics
held the lead at 25-23.

Id been surprised, watching his game on the Sunshine Network, that the 
announcers seemed
almost reverential when discussing the Celtics.  There was none of the 
garbage that had
deluged the Minnesota announcers.


Second Quarter:

The Cs started turning it on at both ends, forcing fouls and turnovers and 
shooting better.
This included a mystery hook shot from Walker as he was literally covered 
by three opposing
players under the hoop.  He stuck out the hand with the ball, and flipped 
it up and in like it
was something he meant to do.  Somehow, he was not fouled, according to the 
officials, but
you cant have everything.

Eric Williams was also making his presence known at both ends, and had 8 
points so far
coming off the bench.

But the Magic werent done yet, mounting a 10-2 run that included some 
carelessness with
the ball on the part of the Good Guys.  Tracy McGrady also highlighted this 
on a breakaway
after a steal.  The Magic also started hitting from outside, as the Cs 
were double teaming
down low and daring them to shoot from the arc.

But as a whole, the second quarter was sloppier than the first, and it 
showed for both
teams.  The shooting percentages plummeted for everyone, even as trips to 
the free throw
line increased.

As the quarter drew to a close the Cs went almost totally cold as the 
Magic tried to hold on
to their three point lead in the final minute.  Things held, and the half 
ended with the Magic
ahead 48-45.

HALFTIME

Cookie Break!

The first half started out sort of ok, but went downhill for the Cs from a 
defensive and
offensive standpoint.  The Magic were hitting the looks they got well 
enough to erase a
Celtics lead and take on of their own.  The Celtics went through one of 
those really
aggravating periods of time when they got open looks and couldnt hit a 
basket.  Thats the
kinds of thing that makes players reluctant to pass instead of shooting it 
themselves.

Up until the end of the 2nd quarter, the Cs actually had a good shooting 
percentage.  But the
Magic were getting too many looks and the Cs werent hitting well on the 
other end.

Plus, when the Cs went to the free throw line, the Magic knew theyd just 
caused the Celtics
to cough up one point for their hard work, as the Good Guys werent very 
good at the line.

The teams were shooting nearly even, the C's at 42% on 18-43 shots, and the 
Magic at 37%
on 18-49 shots.  Up to now, neither team was doing well from the arc - 
Boston was 1-9 and
Orlando was 3-9.  Free throws were not good for Boston, as the Celtics were 
8-16 while the
magic were 9-9.  Orlando also outrebounded Boston 26-25.  The big 
difference for Boston
was a 26-14 lead in paint points.  It would be imperative for the C's to 
get their offense in
gear if they wanted to win this game.

 Cookie Break!


Fourth Quarter:

The Cs and Magic both changed their ways in the third, as the Magic kept 
going inside and
the Celtics worked the perimeter.  Orlando kept going to the line on what 
seemed like every
possession while the Cs needed to show a bloody trail to have one called 
their way when they
went inside.  But the shooting percentage for Boston went way up to 80% in 
the quarter in
the first 6 minutes.

The Good Guys continued this as they also started hitting the three, while 
slowly turning up
the defense against Orlando.  They erased the Magic lead and had a lead of 
their own, but
the Magic were holding their own, and it looked like the third quarter was 
going to end up
just as close as the first two had.  The Cs only missed from the field 
when fouled hard and
had a 36 point quarter en route to ending the period with the lead at 81-75.


Fourth Quarter:

The teams went at each other hard, though the foul calls were inconsistent 
to say the least.
Pierce had picked up his fourth foul and that limited his effectiveness 
against Tracy
McGrady.  But over the first part of the quarter the Boston lead had been 
trimmed to 85-81
when a timeout was called with 8:11 remaining.

But the next three minutes featured some aggressive play at both ends, as 
the refs
appeared determined to give 6 fouls to someone before the game 
ended.  There was one
play where the Magic had a near steal, only to have Waltah! recover the 
pumpkin and get it to
Walker who nailed a three.  At the end of those three minutes, the score 
was tied at 89.

After a timeout, the teams continued to push hardsometimes too 
hard.  Antoine Walker got
called for a T for his admittedly childish reaction to being called for a 
cheap foul.  A minute
later, the Cs stole the ball under the hoop and while McGrady was arguing, 
the Cs took the
ball and scored.  The Celtics held the leadbarelyat 96-95 with 2:34 to go 
as another
timeout was called.

Following the timeout, the players kept pushing hard and looking for their 
offense.  I felt the
Cs wasted several possessions by taking too long to set up for a shot, but 
the last time up,
Pierce was bailed out with a foul.  He sank both shots and another timeout 
was taken with the
score 98-95 with 1:07 to go in the game.

After that timeout, the Cs played good defense and the Magic were forced 
to foul with 21.5
seconds left.  After the free throw, the score was now 99-95 as the Magic 
called a 20
second timeout to set up before the second free throw.  The shot went in 
and Orlando took
the ball.

They got a shot in and fouled Pierce with the score 100-97 and he sank 
both, prompting the
last Orlando timeout with 13.5 seconds to go and the score now 102-97.  The 
Magic were
certain to attempt some kind of three point play.  The question was whether 
they would drive
hard and try to draw the foul.

McGrady got a good look at a traditional three and The Cs rebounded the 
miss as Walker
was fouled trying to dribble out the clock.  He went 0-2 and the Magics 
final shot missed as
the Celtics won the game by a score of 102-97.



This was a hard-fought game, and the intensity was certainly better, but 
the C's were
actually a little too frenzied at times, leading to careless 
fouls.  Orlando did what they
intended--kept throwing fresh bodies on Walker and Pierce all night, 
gambling that the other
Celtics wouldn't be able to pick up the scoring slack, and it very nearly 
worked.  The C's
need to work more on passing out to force opposing teams to abandon that plan.


Orlando statistically played a better game than Boston in several 
ways.  They went 33-88
from the field, while Boston went 36-79.  They outrebounded Boston 
47-43.  The Celtics, on
the other paw, improved from the arc--mostly due to that explosive third 
quarter--7-22
while the Magic were statistically better at 7-20.  The Magic went 24-28 
from the line, for
better stats and production, while the C's were 23-34.  The C's had more 
assists, more
steals and more blocks, but you can see where the Magic could easily have 
ended up winning
this game.  When you torch the opposition for 36 points in a quarter and 
end up winning by 5
points, it becomes obvious that the Celtics didn't make the most of their 
chances, while the
Magic were efficient by comparasion.

The C's get a day to travel to Phildelphia and take on the 76ers on Wednesday.


HEROES AND ZEROS:

Heroes:

Antoine Walker:  19 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.

Paul Pierce: 27 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists.  He also did better from 
the line.

Tony Battie: 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 1 steal.  He is the Bat-Man.

Eric Williams: 21 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 assist.  Very nice work.

Shammond Williams:  11 points, 6 rebounds, and he hit all his free throws.


Zeros:

Vin Baker:  Just doesn't have his game together.

Celtics free throw shooting:  23-34 for 67%.  Consider that those 11 points 
would probably
have put the game away by the start of the fourth quarter.


And that's the view from the doghouse.