Playoffs: Magic at Celtics Game 2

[lovehoops01]

Dwight needs to play better than he did tonight, too. It's not often that I say that about him, but I just thought he couldn't let Perkins push him off the block like that. On the other hand, if he is going to be expected to stop everyone who comes in the lane, he is going to have a tough time staying out of foul trouble. Plus, someone else is going to have to stop all the 3-point shots on the wings they gave up tonight.

[whocares]

1. wow.
2. this has to be the worst dwight has played for a long while.
3. he was worse than putrid.
4. he was completely brain dead.
5. he switched at the wrong times.
6. he could neither hit his shots nor could rebound.
7. even the mini-run the magic had towards the middle of the fourth quarter was ground to a complete halt by his two offensive fouls (illegal screens), missed shot, poor defense.
8. wow.
9. in other news, the backcourt was outscored 29 to 60!
10. house will not be this hot ever.
11. pierce will not be this cold in the coming few games.
12. kudos to doc rivers and his coaching staff for figuring out how to have a chance at beating the magic.
13. as strange as it may sound, hedo on rondo, jj on allen, pietrus on pierce might work, if alston misses the next game.
14. it kinda did, this game.
15. thanks to the magic's forfeit of the second game, the coming two games are almost must wins for the magic if they "really" desire to advance to the conference finals.

[SloNick Russia]

Frankly I don't think that Cs can beat us shooting jumpers if we are agressive on offence and get our points.
Dwight just didn't challenge them enough today, of couse horrable diffence on the perimeter didn't help either, but IMO the blaming should start with our best player.

[lovehoops01]

I don't know. They have Ray Allen (one of the best 3-point shooters ever), and Paul Pierce is usually pretty good, too. He just hasn't been able to stay on the floor much so far, and I wouldn't expect that to continue either. And Eddie House looked pretty darned good tonight, too. I don't want to see him score 31 points again. If he does, the Magic's odds of winning the series are not good.

[SloNick Russia]

Add some diffence and we'll be OK. Our perimeter guys + Dwight is too much for Allen + Pierce to overscore from range. Lay-ups from Davis and Perkins are totally un-excusable. If Ray or Pierce make a contested 3 - fine and I simply enjoy watching Rondo's jumpers.

[orlandomike]

We lost because noone could hit open shots. simple as that. no 3's no 2's no layups, nothing. When Redick finally hit a couple he was ejected.

I dont expec tus to shoot that bad as a team again. it happens occassionally. we are 1-1 there, that is what you shoot for, now game 3 will show what this team is made of.

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

I just watched the highlights of the game and LOL @ Alston smackin Eddie House across the back of the head. That made me laugh. I despise Eddie House and his antics so next time maybe Alston can take a crowbar to his face.

That loss was no big deal. I expected our guys to not have the same fire as game 1. You had to be crazy if you expected Orlando to go back home 2-0.

[Pitbullz EP]

Good win for them....Reasons we lost...Missed shots...thats it. Wont happen again.

If they have to depend on us to miss shots again and fat eddie house to have another fluke game then they're in trouble. Orlando will win both in Orlando and steal another one in boston. I'm not worried about Boston. People overract to one game, it's human nature.

[Magicalltheway]

I feel bad for me and all you guys, it was a torture watching the game last night. Adding Rafer's probable suspension will make it worse. We knew they would come strong, we knew they were hurt from losing the first game and we did nothing about it. We let them steamroll over us. I dont know about you guys but I was hurting watching the game. Again, we did not look confident shooting the ball. Rafer has an wide open lane to drive and dunk instead he opts to shoot a 10 footer and miss, Hedo wide open 3s and misses badly. Dwight way subpar and got pushed around. Without Rafer I dont know how we can keep up with Rondo. Any chance of CL playing, even if he does how effective can he be after coming from a surgery.

[Pitbullz EP]

I feel bad for me and all you guys, it was a torture watching the game last night. Adding Rafer's probable suspension will make it worse. We knew they would come strong, we knew they were hurt from losing the first game and we did nothing about it. We let them steamroll over us. I dont know about you guys but I was hurting watching the game. Again, we did not look confident shooting the ball. Rafer has an wide open lane to drive and dunk instead he opts to shoot a 10 footer and miss, Hedo wide open 3s and misses badly. Dwight way subpar and got pushed around. Without Rafer I dont know how we can keep up with Rondo. Any chance of CL playing, even if he does how effective can he be after coming from a surgery.

House is a liar when he says he didnt instigate. NO matter they let Boston do whatever they want. Regardless if we have rafer or not we can beat them. They WONT win in Orlando. Sorry, that was just a fluke win.

[mhectorgato]

I just watched the highlights of the game and LOL @ Alston smackin Eddie House across the back of the head. That made me laugh. I despise Eddie House and his antics so next time maybe Alston can take a crowbar to his face.

That loss was no big deal. I expected our guys to not have the same fire as game 1. You had to be crazy if you expected Orlando to go back home 2-0.

No - but you'd expect them to try to get 2 up there. They got the first one and they seemed content with that.

[mhectorgato]

House is a liar when he says he didnt instigate. NO matter they let Boston do whatever they want. Regardless if we have rafer or not we can beat them. They WONT win in Orlando. Sorry, that was just a fluke win.

(put this also in the other thread)

Sportscenter showed a differnt angle (1 time) when House was going back he bumped Rafer. It was after that Skip smacked him upside the backside of the head.

[humblebum]

I think it's pretty clear why the Magic lost this game: they were simply lacking focus and energy on the defensive end. Too many open looks on the perimeter and too much penetration into the lane for the Celtics guards.

I stated before the series began that if the Magic were not disciplined on defense they wouldn't be successful. The Magic will come back more focused in game 3, there defense will be better and it'll be a more competitive game.

Keys for the Magic:

Contain Rondo's penetration to the lane
No open looks for Eddie House (this is how the Bulls really stymied the Celtics bench)
No settling for jumpshots on offense

[Banks2Pierce]

1. The Magic's best defensive move was putting Hedo on Rondo, playing 10 feet off of him and letting Hedo help out with the rest of the celtics O.

2. Magic just looked content with their one win up in Boston.

3. The emotional peaks/valleys of a series are crazy. One game you feel like you can beat anybody in the league and the next night you think the Twolves could take you. Ok, maybe not that far, but you get the point. The key point is to not get too high/low on your team at any point in the series.

4. Magic's best chance to win is to get Perkins in foul trouble. Celtics are barely doubling Dwight in the post and Dwight hasn't made them pay.

5. For some reason I am terrified of Lue if Skip is suspended. I feel like he's one of the most underrated in the league.

[gofret]

1. The Magic's best defensive move was putting Hedo on Rondo, playing 10 feet off of him and letting Hedo help out with the rest of the celtics O.

2. Magic just looked content with their one win up in Boston.

3. The emotional peaks/valleys of a series are crazy. One game you feel like you can beat anybody in the league and the next night you think the Twolves could take you. Ok, maybe not that far, but you get the point. The key point is to not get too high/low on your team at any point in the series.

4. Magic's best chance to win is to get Perkins in foul trouble. Celtics are barely doubling Dwight in the post and Dwight hasn't made them pay.

5. For some reason I am terrified of Lue if Skip is suspended. I feel like he's one of the most underrated in the league.

Wow great work..Howard has to step up.I mean perkins must be in foul trouble.

[Bay_Areas_Finest]

You know, I was actually thinking earlier that I'd rather see Tyron Lue out there instead of AJ if Alston is suspended. Johnson just doesn't have the quickness to keep up with Rondo. So, not only is Lue quick enough to stay in front, but the dude can flat out shoot from the outside.

[spinedoc]

So let me get this straight. The only person that shows up for game two, in the second round of the playoffs is none other than JJ Redick? I've got to quit eating crazy stuff right before bedtime, because that's not a dream, its a bad nightmare. Anyone else feel that we are in an Orwell novel? Hmm, must be just me then.

[Devin 1L]

So let me get this straight. The only person that shows up for game two, in the second round of the playoffs is none other than JJ Redick? I've got to quit eating crazy stuff right before bedtime, because that's not a dream, its a bad nightmare. Anyone else feel that we are in an Orwell novel? Hmm, must be just me then.

Yeah, and is then limited due to fouls only to eventually foul out in 24 mins.

[Potterman]

It goes to show you that JJ can perform in the NBA. So far whenever he is out there he has at least not be a hindrance.