That... was close.
Celtics controlled the game for 3 quarters, leading by as much as 20 points and 17 in the 4th quarter but the Magic came all the way back and were within striking distance in the final seconds. But the Celtics held on and took game 1 and home court advantage in the series. A good start.
Clearly the Magic were cold after such a long rest but we can't expect that kind of break in future games. We'll have to keep executing for 48 minutes. Still, you take the breaks you can and you take the wins you get in the playoffs.
- Another great job by the Celtics on Dwight Howard, holding him to just 13 frustrating points. Credit to Perkins but also Rasheed and Big Baby (and anyone else willing to wrap him up for a foul).
- Great, great, great to see Ray get going in this one. Pierce too. We'll need both of them to keep it up.
- Somewhat quite night for Rondo but with Howard trolling the paint you can understand why.
- Hats off to Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter who stepped up for some points.
- I love that we won game 1. Great first step.