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Boston Celtics (54-18) at Orlando Magic (52-18)
Wednesday March 25
8:00 PM ET
Regular Season Game #73, Road Game #38
TV: ESPN, CSN HD, Sun Sports HD
Amway Arena Constructed in the late 1980s, the home of the Orlando Magic is one of the oldest arenas in the NBA. Located in downtown Orlando, the facility was originally known as the Orlando Arena, and nicknamed O-Rena. The Magic played their first game at the arena on November 4, 1989 in a loss against the New Jersey Nets. At a cost of $198 million, the Orlando Arena was completely publicly financed. Since its opening, the arena has had several names from being known as the TD Waterhouse Centre to its current name, Amway Arena. Amway recently agreed to a four year, $1.5 million agreement to name the facility. It has a seating capacity of 17,248 in two levels with 26 luxury suites on the third level. One main concourse serves both main levels for games. The Magic recently announced plans for a new arena to be constructed as Amway Arena does not have enough seating and luxury suites like other arenas in the NBA. At a cost of $480 million, the arena is expected to be completed by the 2010 season.
Probable Starting Matchups 
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Rajon Rondo PPG 11.9 RPG 5.30 APG 8.5 EFF + 19.21
Rafer Alston PPG 11.7 RPG 3.00 APG 5.3 EFF + 12.34
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Ray Allen PPG 18.5 RPG 3.50 APG 2.7 EFF + 17.13
Courtney Lee PPG 8.2 RPG 2.20 APG 1.2 EFF + 8.15
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Paul Pierce PPG 20.1 RPG 5.80 APG 3.7 EFF + 18.99
Hedo Turkoglu PPG 16.9 RPG 5.30 APG 4.9 EFF + 16.52
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Kevin Garnett PPG 16.0 RPG 8.50 APG 2.6 EFF + 21.27
Rashard Lewis PPG 17.8 RPG 5.80 APG 2.8 EFF + 17.37
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Kendrick Perkins PPG 8.6 RPG 8.10 BPG 1.9 EFF + 14.41
Dwight Howard PPG 21.0 RPG 13.90 BPG 3.0 EFF + 27.47
Reserves Stephon Marbury
Mikki Moore
Eddie House
Gabe Pruitt
Bill Walker
Glen Davis
D-LeagueJR Giddens
InjuriesTony Allen (thumb) out
Brian Scalabrine (head) out
Leon Powe (knee) out
ReservesBrian Cook
Courtney Lee
Tony Battie
Marcin Gortat
Adonal Foyle
Jeremy Richardson
Anthony Johnson
JJ Redick
Mickael Pietrus
Tyronn Lue
Injuries Jameer Nelson (labrum) out
Key Matchups 
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This will be the first meeting between Rondo and Alston since he came to the Magic as Rondo was out with the ankle injury for the last game. Rondo has been out-playing point guards all over the league and hopefully that will continue in this game as the Celtics have come to depend on a good and aggressive game from Rondo in their big games. Alston is a good ball handler and a good defender. Rondo has an advantage with his speed and will need to use it to get the better of this matchup.
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Kendrick Perkins vs Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard is the heart of the Magic's offense and defense. When he is on his game, it is impossible to stop him. Perk has been playing great defense and the Celtics will need him to try to stop Howard with single coverage so that they don't open up the Magic's deadly outside shooters. In the last game without KG, Howard finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. With KG back to give Perk a defensive boost, the Celtics will need to contain him better, especially on the boards.
Honorable MentionThis is such a key game that almost every matchup is key.
Paul Pierce vs Hedo Turkoglu
Turkoglu always seems to have a big game against the Celtics. Who can forget his game winning shot vs the Celtics last season? Turkoglu is their clutch shooter down the stretch and Pierce's defense is going to be tested in trying to stop him from taking over if it is a close game. With Pierce struggling on offense recently, it might not be such a bad thing for him to focus on his defense to stop Turkoglu from hurting the Celtics as he has in the past.
Ray Allen vs Courtney Lee
Courtney Lee is a talented rookie for the Magic. In the last game between these two teams, Ray's experience came through as he held Lee to just 2 points while putting up 32 points himself. This could be the matchup that the Celtics most need to exploit once again.
Kevin Garnett vs Rashard Lewis
KG's minutes are still being watched very carefully. Doc may still go with the cautious approach in this one or may let the leash loose just a little more. Lewis is a talented scorer and can take it inside or hit the jumper. When KG is on the court, he should be able to keep Lewis in check. But if KG's minutes are still limited, Big Baby may have to come through with some defense against Lewis when KG is on the bench.
Bench vs Bench
The Celtics bench is still depleted with Tony, Leon and Scal still out. On the other hand, we are starting to see some improvement in Stephon Marbury and the lineup with House, Marbury and Ray looks like it may have some promise. The Celtics will need Mikki Moore and Big Baby to step up their games in this one as the Magic have some talented big men coming off their bench. The bench unit can't afford to play like they did against the Clippers in the first half, or this one may be over early.
Connections Doc Rivers coached the Magic from 1999-2004
Tony Battie played for the Celtics from 1999-2004
Mickael Pietrus, Adonal Foyle, and Patrick O'Bryant were teammates in Golden State
Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis were teammates in Seattle
Keith Bogans and Rajon Rondo are former Kentucky Wildcats
Keith Bogans and Eddie House were teammates in Charlotte
Anthony Johnson and Scal were teammates in New Jersey
Anthony Johnson played for Doc in Orlando
Clifford Ray was an assistant for the Magic and mentored Dwight Howard in his first years in the league.
Keys to the Game Focus: It is hard to picture the Celtics not being focused and up for this game. It is arguably the most important game they will play the rest of the season. With a win, they go up 2 games on the Magic and own the tie breaker. With a loss, the Magic pull even with the Celtics for the 2nd seed. The Celtics need to come out focused on the task at hand right from the beginning because we know that the Magic will be.
Defense The Celtics are capable of lock down defense when they choose to play it. With KG back, they are regaining their defense first mindset and they will need to bring it in this game for sure. The Magic are tough inside and they are also a very good 3 point shooting team. The Celtics need tough defense both in the paint and on the perimeter. With KG back, this becomes a little easier but every player on the team needs to step up their game defensively in this one.
Take Care of the Ball The Magic are a good fast break team and if the Celtics get sloppy with the ball, the Magic will make them pay with points off turnovers. The Celtics have turned the ball over way too much this season but can clamp down on them when they need to. They had just 8 in their last win over the Cavs and just 4 vs the Spurs. They need to bring that same focus to this game.
Move the Ball Against the Clippers, we saw a big lead disappear in the first quarter when players started to take quick shots and try to win the game by themselves. This approach never ends well. The Celtics are best when they move the ball and find the open man. They are undefeated when they have 30 assists or more. Team ball must be their focus in this game.
X-FactorDefense
The team that plays the best defense and gets more stops will win this game. The Celtics can't outscore the Magic if they let Howard loose inside or if they let the Magic shooters loose on the perimeter. They must concentrate on defense and clamp down on them. Defense will win this game.
Topic: Celtics (54-18) at Magic (52-18) 3/24 (Read 73972 times)