2010 NBA Eastern Conference Finals: Magic (#2) Vs. Celtics (#4)

The longer this series goes, the more it favors the Magic. I felt the Celtics showed their fatigue when they lost in the OT in Game 4. At the rate the Celtics big men are falling ...

The biggest factor though is Rondo's disappearance. It was not even the officiating. Is Rondo hurt or something? In the end, it will again be decided by the health of the Celtics.

LOL at Rashard Lewis. It took him 5 games before he figured out he doesn't need to make every shot of his a 3. Nelson was magic; didn't know until last night he was a Philly guy, as tough as Lowry. You've gotta give props to Reddick. Even though he's committing mistakes, he plays with intensity.

Howard is finally learning how to play against the Celtics defense. Refs called it tight because it's getting too physical. I thought it was fair on both sides.

 

Honestly the more series goes on the more disgusted I am by the Celtics' hypocrisy. That team is full of bullies and thugs. You think Perkins was defending Howard all nice and proper? Hell no, they've been hitting them with elbows and putting both forearms on his back for years now. They've been getting away with abusing people for years, just ask Gasol he got roughed up pretty bad during their finals game. When they do it, it's just being physical, however when the other team starts doing it too, suddenly the Magic are being too rough. Its the freakin' playoffs, suck it up. Or can't the Celtic thugs take it as well as they dish it out?

I lost all respect for that franchise the moment Pierce kneed Bosh in the nuts then acted like he dunked all over him. The Magic certainly have a long way to go, however I sincerely hope they gut it out along with PHX.

 

I wish Yao knew how to step up like this. Fight fire with fire and all that.

 

I got to go with my boys from beantown, they got this in 6.... The C's ain't gonna let the magics pull a rabbit out their hats come game night...

 

That's probably what they were thinking going into Game 5 too....

 

I kind of hear you, but Yao has has 20/10/5 games. What irks me a little is that Howard has that kind of game and people are gushing all over the place, when a real playoff monster like Dream would put up 40/20/6 in a critical game.

Howard is good, but that game was not some sort of superhuman outburst.

 

some thoughts on Game 5:

...even though the Magic seem to have better offensive flow now, they still look clueless on the offensive end at too many occasions. They really struggled at the end of the first half and during stretches of the 3rd and 4th quarter. I think the Magic really caught a break with these end-of-the-shot-clock desperation three pointers by Redick (1st half) and Nelson (2nd half). These plays (in combination with Rondo's struggles from the FT line, at some point he was 1-7 I think) helped them significantly keep their +/- 10 point advantage.

...Rondo had some great stretches but overall he didn't dominate like he did in previous games. Don't know if he was slowed by an injury or Orlando's D has adjusted a little bit. I guess he might be injured.

...the ejection of Perkins was a joke. The first tech (for "elbowing" Gortat) should (and I think will) be rescinded. Perkins should not be suspended.

...I really love JVG. IMO he's a great and insightful commentator. I was watching the game via livestream and during timeouts you could hear some funny off-air remarks he apparently made while watching replays of some highlights.

...I really hate Paul Pierce. He's such a terrible drama queen it's not funny. I have zero respect for this idiot. One moment he's lying on the floor acting like he's about to die, the next moment he stands at the free throw line and calmly hits two FTs showing no physical restrictions at all. DD is right, he would be better off as an Italian soccer player.

...Vince Carter is TERRIBLE. He's really become a liability for the Magic. His shot is off, he doesn't attack the basket, he misses FTs (see Game 2), his defense is mediocre at best and he contributes nothing else (hustle etc.). Redick's outplaying him at the SG-position right now.

...the Celtics are gonna win Game 6 IMHO. I don't believe in that momentum stuff. The Magic need too many things going their way to score enough points against the Celtics D. (I hope I'm wrong though since I am rooting for Orlando)

 

The Celtics are a lot of things, but I don't think its safe to assume that they're somehow going to lay down at home. The series is just exciting now. If the worst of the negative personal labelings are true, it makes it more likely that the Magic are not going to "run away with the series". They are going to be as fired up as ever after the circumstances of game 5.

Besides, I don't think the Magic can keep up that level of play. 52% from 3? C'mon, Rashard "clutch" Lewis shot better than 50%. And I think we'll have centers for game 6. Centers, who can handle single coverage, and stand upright in the face of prideful tech-happy officials and freak boxing injuries.

 

I don't think this deserves it's own thread.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/shaun_powell/05/27/celtics.magic5/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

Kendrick Perkins suspended.

What a dumb rule. Consider it 3-3.

 

no they wont if the Magic face the Lakers in the finals I give the edge to the Magic. They are better than last year's magic and would have the momentum of having won 4 straight games heading into the finals.

They are healthy while the lakers are not

and the most important thing:

The Magic would have home court in the finals...the Lakers have been terrible on the road this post season 3-4 when they really could have been 1-6 as well (the tip in at the buzzer that went in for Gasol and in the tip in that went out for Wes Matthews)

 

They can't beat LA. They don't have to double Howard either.

 

True points. I was only saying that a certain amount of physical retaliation can totally alter the gameplay. Yao gets pushed around more than any man his size should. He allows it - he's too docile. His opponents routinely use this to their advantage.

 

Not to mention ice-cream enthusiasts! :grin:

 

Haha thats great^^^

Anyhow,

STEIN_LINE_HQ But Perkins obviously just one more T away from a one-game suspension, even if he gets through this series without another .

STEIN_LINE_HQ NBA just announced Kendrick Perkins' second technical foul last night was rescinded, meaning Perkins available for Boston's Game 6 vs. Magic

 

True, the Magic have some advantages. I don't believe in momentum going into the Finals unless you've been a dominating team in the playoffs as a whole. I think the Lakers gave the Celtics a blueprint on how to guard howard from last year's finals and they've pretty much figured out how to beat this team. Now that the Celtics are successful in some aspects of guarding Howard with even smaller guys, albeit tougher guys than the Lakers bigs, they have given the Lakers a sort of blueprint that they can put one man on Howard and let him beat them. Sure, Bynum isn't healthy right now, but I don't necessarily think they need Bynum to defend Howard at all times. They can use Mbenga and even Powell at times. The key is really defending the 3pt line, the Lakers for half of the Suns series have done a good job in defending the 3pt line... so I can assume they would do the same to the Magic.

The Magic do have a better team, IMO, than last season... but the team is also different. There's no playmaker on their team, instead they've added a scorer which would benefit them against the Lakers. But, watching Carter now, it looks like he isn't as reliable against a pretty good defense... which tells me that he won't be as big of a threat if the Lakers do meet the Magic in the finals. They have Ron Artest, who is more a more physical 1 on 1 defender than anyone on the Celtics, it's surely to bother him.

I think homecourt can be a factor in the series, but seeing that the Magic have been beat at home twice against a great team and also the fact that the Lakers beat them last season (with this core group of players) that it wouldn't necessarily be a problem for them to win in Orlando.

I don't want to comment anymore on a series that "could've been" though. I just don't see how the Magic can win 4 straight games against a pretty good Boston team even with the injuries and other problems that they've been facing.

 

Perkins is playing the tech got rescinded or whatever that craps called

 

http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/

Sums it up well. Yeah, refs sucked. No the Celts didn't lose because of it.

 

I've grown to hate the C's over this series, but I can't help but to go for them because of their will and dedication to win. I think they'll take this thing tonight... although if Sheed/Davis don't play... they'll need 20+ from the big 4.

 

If your a Lakers fan, you do not want to face the Celtics in the Finals.