No Magic Trick, Just Another Win

by Jeff Clark on Dec 1, 2008 9:53 PM EST in Boston Celtics Games

Paulmagic_medium

Jeff and I are cutting up the recap tonight. He did the picture and box and I've got the bullets -Green17

Ray got the team off to a great start, with a hot 9 in the first quarter
The second unit however had a bit of a let down in the 2nd quarter and allowed the Magic to close the gap with only a 2 point lead at half time
However, the bench redeemed themselves in the third quarter taking what was a 10 point lead and running it up, effectively ending the game.
One key stretch included a couple of physical spinning drives by TA (ineptly guarded by Hedo) and physical inside play by Leon and Baby.
The only thing that kept this game from being a huge blow out in the 4th quarter was a couple of unbelievable baseline jumpshots that Lewis and Hedo hit with the clock winding down.
Perk did a great job limiting Dwight Howard's touches, with Superman 2.0 limited to 14 points, 8 below his season average.
Rajon put up 16|4|12. He's killing it.
Here is one reason why the Magic won't get over the hump this season. Two of their biggest players, Lewis and Hedo are "Laker Soft." What's "Laker Soft" you ask? See Odom, Lamar or Gasol, Pau in Game 6.
Sam Cassell made his first on the court contribution tonight. Earning two technicals from the bench and getting tossed. I wish someone would put a mic on Sammy.
And Perk...guess what you've got the Tech Rep. Don't look at the refs anymore please.
Honestly, with the Magic starting a backcourt of Anthony Johnson and JJ Redick, the Celtics absolutely should have won as they did. This is an unfair test of the Magic - we'll see what they've got in Orlando in the new year.

Boston
Starters		Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
R. Allen	G	40:21	8-13	3-6	2-2	+25	1	1	2	1	1	0	0	0	21
R. Rondo	G	33:31	6-10	0-1	4-4	+20	0	4	12	3	1	0	1	2	16
K. Perkins	C	28:50	4-7	0-0	0-0	+15	3	13	0	2	1	1	2	5	8
K. Garnett	F	34:42	7-11	0-0	1-2	+20	1	9	1	0	1	0	0	1	15
P. Pierce	F	33:26	7-13	1-3	9-10	+20	0	7	2	1	1	0	1	4	24
Bench		Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
G. Davis		20:31	1-5	0-0	2-2	0	2	4	1	1	0	0	0	2	4
T. Allen		19:24	2-7	0-0	2-2	+1	1	1	2	2	1	0	1	2	6
E. House		14:32	4-5	2-3	1-1	-1	0	3	0	1	1	0	0	1	11
L. Powe		11:53	1-2	0-0	0-1	+3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
B. Scalabrine		2:48	0-1	0-0	0-0	-8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Totals			40-74	6-13	21-24		9	43	20	11	7	1	5	20	107

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Comments

Haha we’re the best team in the NBA.

Reporter: About a year ago I asked about the Celtics-Lakers thing and you said you'd really only seen it on TV. Now you've been through it, can you talk about playing the Boston Celtics for the NBA championship?
Kobe: It Sucks.

by Tom Bellinger on Dec 1, 2008 10:10 PM EST reply actions

Now Its Impressive!!

I watched the game and completely Amazed!!! !st unit are Completely awsome, and 2nd Unit are the Killers.. More To come..

by spoiled on Dec 1, 2008 10:14 PM EST reply actions

anyone know how many jumpers Rondo took?

Celtics defined: http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/specials/auerbach/

by CelticsHooRah on Dec 1, 2008 10:42 PM EST reply actions

About 4 or 5. He scored 2 and missed 2. If you count the 30-foot running three-pointer with the first quarter time expiring (missed), that’d make it 5.

by kozlodoev on Dec 2, 2008 1:54 AM EST up reply actions

we won a game that was all ours to win. we took advantage of a depleted team and it was done with some very nice precision. rondo is the man- may he prosper and not get hurt.

by nazzbo on Dec 1, 2008 11:00 PM EST reply actions

Laker Soft

I like, I like :-)

by Amager Celtic Fan on Dec 2, 2008 12:10 AM EST reply actions

Just caught the 4th Quarter...

Nice win. Magic had injuries, but it’s not like they had Howard, Lewis or Hedo on the bench.

Classic quote from Perk after the game being interviewed on NBA TV.

Andre Aldrige: “Hey Kendrick, Is it true that you played on an AAU game with Lebron James and Leon Powe on your team and LOST the game?!”
Kendrick: “C’mon man. We played EIGHT games that day. We had to lose one!”

by LuckyNumber07 on Dec 2, 2008 12:12 AM EST reply actions

Great stuff

by Who on Dec 2, 2008 2:02 AM EST up reply actions

The Blog

Jeff,
you’ve done a great job with Celtic Blog and I’ve been an avid reader for several years. I have to say though that even though the new site has more bells and whistles I don’t enjoy it as much. there’s just too much extraneous stuff and too much about other teams. I don’t feel that this is the same blog. It used to be so easy to listen to the Celtic stuff live podcasts. what happened to that? anyhow kudos to you for creating and maintaining a great blog all these years. I’m sure it wasn’t easy. Just don’t let other people take over your vision and spoil your product

by Red2 on Dec 2, 2008 9:32 AM EST reply actions

thanks for the kind words

…and the feedback, but understand that nothing done here is outside my vision

I very much love the idea of Celtics fans being more informed about teams around the league because it makes for a well rounded knowledge base to discuss intelligently here on the blog

I think people can take what they love and ignore what they don’t care about on the site, but I will take the feedback to heart as I always try to do

thanks again

by Jeff Clark on Dec 2, 2008 10:05 AM EST up reply actions

Paul Pierce

In watching the Magic game, Hedo and Lewis made great shots and scored lots of points. Howard was OK. But none of them affected the outcome of the game. Pierce, with a total of 13 non-spectacular shots and a non-impressive first half willed his team to a victory by his play in the third quarter (don’t know how many shots he took in this run). I know, and PP would be the first to admit it (he did), that his teammates played a large role, but PP made the plays and he made them look so easy. I’ve been a fan of his from the start, but he just continues to amaze me. Rondo is getting alot of press because of his play and PP is almost being ignored by the media.

by TrueGreen on Dec 2, 2008 9:46 AM EST reply actions

Disappointed By Doc

I’ve been a Doc fan from the time Danny and Wyc knocked on his door several years ago and talked him into coming to Boston. But I was disappointed with him last nite. Cassell was ejected with a double technical. Even the announcers made jokes about it and Cassell had a smile as large as Boston Harbor on his face. But Doc could not come up with one funny thing to say.

by TrueGreen on Dec 2, 2008 9:48 AM EST reply actions

I love the offensive balance. Whoever is most open takes the shot. It seems so simple but it’s pretty rare. I love that Perk and Rondo are getting their share.

by moiso on Dec 2, 2008 9:52 AM EST reply actions

I am not a Boston fan, but I caught the game yesterday and I was impressed. Whenever the Magic creeped up you took a little spurt and pulled away. Really enjoyed watching the game, physical, pushed the tempo at times, watching Paul Pierce heat up was a joy to watch.

Only thing that ruined it was the rediculous announcers, I turned off the sound because I couldn’t listen to the homerism and sheer blindness at times.

by BeloHorizante on Dec 2, 2008 10:50 AM EST reply actions

welcome to the site

the announcers are near and dear to our hearts, but yeah, they are quite the homers ;)

by Jeff Clark on Dec 2, 2008 10:58 AM EST up reply actions

Heinsohn is a homer, but he is almost always right about the officiating. It seems to me that the Celtics have been in the crosshairs of the officials almost as much as they have been targeted by other teams.

That many technicals is ridiculous. It should never happen.

by Brickowski on Dec 2, 2008 11:07 AM EST reply actions

I could be wrong, but it seemed the Celts were on their way to a blow out when Tony Allen went out and Scal came in for him in the second quarter. I think tey were up by around 16 when that happened than the whole momentum changed. Coincidence? I think not.

by CELTS 55 on Dec 2, 2008 1:17 PM EST reply actions

I think the commentators grated on me because I am from England, we don’t have regional television where commentators are from the area (on national telly anyways) so I’m used to un biased commentating.
But there’s no passion in that right?

I am really loving the production you get out of Leon, Allen and House off the bench.
Allen + House > Vujacic + Ariza

by BeloHorizante on Dec 2, 2008 3:16 PM EST reply actions

No homers?

England doesn’t have regional television? That’s pretty strange. So when Manchester United goes off to play, East Liver Spot, the commentators are impartial? Where’s the fun in that? How can any kid grow up right if he’s not listening to some homer of announcer complain about the biased refs and the cheap shots from the other team?

Does this apply to World Cup soccer too? When England plays Italy, are you telling me the announcers don’t make snide remarks about the girly-man hairstyles of opposing players? And when some opposing striker continously flops in the penalty circle, nobody calls him a pantywaist?

by no kidding on Dec 2, 2008 4:56 PM EST up reply actions

International football is a very different spectacle.

But Manchester vs Liverpool on BBC, or ITV is usually impartial. We have our dads shouting rediculous claims at the t.v to give us some bias. We complain about our commentators, for stating the obvious but I very rarely hear complints about bias, they are knowledgeable and make their claims fairly. Your passion for the identity you are supporting should be enough to not have to sit through one sided reporting. If i wanted that I’d listen to some local on the radio.

We have regional news, and sometimes a minor change in the t.v schedule but televsion here is not quite the same as in America. Unless we are using cable or satelite we all watch the same coverage from the same team of commentators and presenters.

by BeloHorizante on Dec 3, 2008 7:32 AM EST reply actions

Again, it doesn’t sound like fun, but I’m glad to hear the dads are doing their best to liven things up.

by no kidding on Dec 3, 2008 9:20 AM EST up reply actions

My dad had the whole running commentary thing perfected. A heady dose of the obvious and favouritism and only a pinch of silence. When the males of the family get together, it’s like Homer Simpson has been duplicated 6 times and put into three dimensions.

by BeloHorizante on Dec 3, 2008 1:23 PM EST reply actions