Celtics (0-0) at Magic (0-0) Game 1 5/16

[FLCeltsFan]

 at  
Boston Celtics (0-0, 8-3) at Orlando Magic (0-0, 8-0)
Sunday,  May 16
3:30 PM ET
Playoff Game Game #12 , Road Game #6
TV:  ABC    
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
Point Guard
vs
Rajon Rondo  18.0 PPG   6.3 RPG   11.1 APG   2.1 SPG  3.4 TO/G
Jameer Nelson   20.5 PPG  2.6 RPG  5.3 APG   1.6 SPG  1.4  TO/G

Shooting Guard
vs
Ray Allen   17.4 PPG   3.0 RPG   2.8 APG  ..425 3P%
Vince Carter  16.9 PPG  4.5 RPG  2.4 APG   .250 3P%

Small Forward
vs
Paul Pierce   16.3 PPG  5.1 RPG  3.5 APG  
Matt Barnes  7.4 PPG  4.8 RPG   1.6 APG

Power Forward  
vs
Keven Garnett  17.6 PPG   8.3 RPG  2.3 APG  0.7 BPG
Rashard Lewis   14.7 PPG  4.9 RPG  2.6 APG    .5 BPG

Center
vs
Kendrick Perkins  6.3 PPG   7.3 RPG  .9 APG   2.3 BPG
Dwight Howard   15.4 PPG  11.3 RPG  1.9 APG  3.9 BPG  





Reserves
Rasheed Wallace
Nate Robinson
Shelden Williams
Michael Finley
Brian Scalabrine
Glen Davis
Tony Allen
Marquis Daniels
Tony Gaffney
Oliver Lafayette  

Injuries
Kendrick Perkins (knee)  expected to play



Reserves
Marcin Gortat
Mickael Pietrus
JJ Redick
Ryan Anderson
Brandon Bass
Anthony Johnson
Adonal Foyle
Jason Williams

Injuries
Matt Barnes (back)  expected to play

Team Connections
 Doc Rivers coached the Magic from 1999-2004, winning the NBA’s Coach of the Year award in his first season (1999-2000)
Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen were teammates in Seattle from 2003-07
Anthony Johnson and Brian Scalabrine were teammates in New Jersey from 2001-03
Anthony Johnson played for Doc Rivers in Orlando during the 1999-2000 season
Vince Carter and Brian Scalabrine were teammates in New Jersey during the 2004-05 season
Vince Carter and Rasheed Wallace are former North Carolina Tar Heels
Anthony Johnson and Shelden Williams were teammates in Atlanta and Sacramento from 2006-08

Key Matchups
 vs  
Kendrick Perkins vs Dwight Howard  
Slowing down Dwight Howard and keeping him off of his favorite spots around the basket is key to slowing down the Magic.  Perk is one of the few centers in the league who has been able to cover Howard one on one.  Strangely, Sheed also gives Howard problems.   The Celtics need Perk to contain Howard with single coverage as the Magic have so many outside threats, it is dangerous to double off of any of them.  

 vs  
Kevin Garnett  vs  Rashard Lewis  
Another key matchup between these two teams is at the power forward spot.  KG and Lewis both have the ability to play on the perimeter as well as taking the ball inside. If Perk does his job on Howard,  the Magic will turn to Lewis for more of it's offense and so the Celtics will need KG to be on his game on the defensive end to keep Lewis from putting up big numbers.  In their regular season meetings, KG was still struggling to come back from his injuries.   KG is now playing better than he has all season and this should be a matchup that favors the Celtics.  

 vs  
Rajon Rondo vs Jameer Nelson
Rondo has been playing at an All Star level in the playoffs and has been the Celtics best player.  Nelson has also been playing very well, but hasn't faced a challenge of the caliber that Rondo will present him.  Rondo must continue to play aggressively on both ends of the court for the Celtics to win this series.  

Game Notes
 The Magic won the season series 3-1 during the 2009-10 season; the Celtics split the season series 2-2 with Orlando during the 2008-09
season
 Ray Allen led the C’s with an average of 16.8 points per game against Orlando this season; Paul Pierce averaged 15.3 points per game in his
three games
 Vince Carter led the Magic with 19.8 points per game while Dwight Howard averaged 12.3 points, 14.5 rebounds and 3.25 blocks in the four
contests
 The Celtics are 9-13 against the Magic since the 2004-05 season
 The Celtics are leading the all-time series 43-40 with the Celtics 29-12 at home

The Celtics now turn their attention to a Magic team that swept their first two series.  Of course, they didn't have near as much a challenge as the Celtics had as they played an inexperienced Bobcats team in the first round and a tired and seemingly disinterested Hawks team in the second round while the Celtics faced tough Heat and Cavs teams.  

The Magic had the second best record in the league with 59 wins in the regular season.   They finished the season strong winning their last 6 games in the regular season and has won 8 straight in the playoffs for a total of 14 wins in a row.   The Celtics had a very so-so and inconsistent regular season but has flipped the proverbial switch in the playoffs to play their best ball of the year.  

The Celtics have once again found their defensive roots and their tough team defense simply shut down a very strong Cavs offense.  They have to keep that same defensive mindset in this series if they want to win it.  

If David Stern was smart, he would give the Celtics some fair officiating as his best shot for a big bucks Finals, since the Golden Boy is out, would be another Celtics vs Lakers matchup.  Just saying.  

Keys to the Game
Focus -  The one game that the Cavs won, the Celtics seemed to have completely lost focus, especially on defense. When the Celtics put their mind to it and kept their focus, especially on the defensive end, they were able to dominate the Cavs, even when they had to play 5 on 8 in a couple games.    The Celtics need to come out focused and keep their focus for 48 minutes.  They can't afford a sluggish start or to have a lapse of focus down the stretch.  

Defense - Defense is the key to winning. Period.  In the Cavs series, the Celtics proved that they still have the ability to play shut down defense as a team.   Perk's defense inside will be especially important in this game to keep Howard from having a big game.   They also must defend the perimeter because the Magic are a very good 3 point shooting team and can kill you from beyond the arc if left open.  

Rebound - Dwight Howard can take over a game on rebounds and putbacks alone  The Celtics must box out and crash the boards as a team.   They have to commit as a team to crashing the boards and going after every single rebound.   Rebounding takes effort and desire and the Celtics must show both if they want to win this game.

Ball Movement - The Celtics need to move the ball and find the open man. When they have their passing game going, they are hard to beat. If they resort to too much dribbling and too many iso's, it will allow the Magic defenses to set up and the Celtics will struggle to score.  

Bench Play - The Celtics got some key contributions from their bench in the Cavs series, especially from Tony, Big Baby and Sheed.  The Celtics must continue to get help from their bench in this series especially since the Magic have a very strong bench with Pietrus, Redick, Anderson, Gortat and Williams.  

X-Factor
Rust vs Rest
The Magic have been sitting since Monday while the Celtics have only had 2 days rest.  The Magic faced very little resistance in their first two rounds while the Celtics faced two very tough teams.  The Celtics come into this game in stride, while the Magic have been sitting and waiting after two fairly easy opponents.  If the Celtics catch the Magic a bit rusty, this could be a great opportunity to steal a game in Orlando.  

[incoherent]

Too bad we won't be seeing any of this...

[j804]

Too bad we won't be seeing any of this...

Jesus look at that double chin on Scal he looks terrible

[Bahku]

Thank you for the great set-up, Fl ... I can't wait for this series! Personally, I think if we just stick to our game-plan, with stifling defense and getting out on the fast-break to attack the paint, we can get through this series undefeated. This team seems to be very focused right now and getting into a flow, and I think it's just going to get better and better. Let's get these guys to the Finals! (TP)

[ACF]

Great work once again, FL. Here's another Tommy Point.



Go Celtics!

[Q_FBE]

OK here is how I see this series evolving -

It will boil down to can Rondo, Garnett, Ray Allen, and Pierce outplaying Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter, and Matt Barnes enough to withstand the bench onslaught of Gortat, Pietrus, Anderson, Redick, and Jason Williams who I feel give Orlando the relentless staying power that they have.

The Celtics counter with Sheed, Glen Davis, Tony Allen mainly but I think Marquis Daniels and even Nate Robinson might be called into the frey.

Howard will put up better numbers than Perkins - I think that is a given. But Perkins will battle Howard and make him beat him with great post-up moves.

I think Orlando is a more complete team than Cleveland was and that is why it will be tougher for the Celtics to advance to the Finals. But Boston has Garnett back and playing in good form while Orlando seems to have upgraded everywhere to become legitamite contenders for the NBA title.

[angryguy77]

This is ours for the taking

[celticinorlando]

this is the game to steal. magic haven't played in ages....haven't played a good, physical team yet..and due for a loss

[Prof. Clutch]

LETS GO CEL-TICS!  BUM BUM BUM-BUM-BUM

[makaveli]

We go this, with healthy KG, outstanding Rondo and Ray, against downgraded Orlando team compared to last year, we got this in 5-6.
The switch is ON 

[celticinorlando]

Dan Crawford   Ken Mauer   Michael Smith


our grand officials today

[nickagneta]

Officials aren't going to matter today. The magic are going to be rusty and have swollen heads from reading their own press. The Celtics will be primed after winning three straight games from the best team and player in basketball.

C's by double digits and then the rash of "What's the matter with the Magic" stories will be all over the place tomorrow because, heavens to bid, you know, that the experts are wrong and the Celtics are really a lot better than the experts give them credit for being.

[Drucci]

I'm so excited to see the series finally start! Can't wait till tipoff.

Like Nick said, I think this is the perfect opportunity for the C's to steal homecourt and shock the Magic right from the get go. I think the revenge factor is huge for the Celtics, and also they still have the lost opportunity of game 1 against Cleveland in their minds so I think they will come fired up and smelling blood already.

We must take advantage of the Magic's rustiness and steal HCA, thus putting the pressure on Orlando to win game 2.

It's going to be tough, physical and defensive-minded... just how we like it. I'm eager to see how Rondo plays against Jameer, if Perk can "shut down" Howard, and if Pierce finally gets going offensively at his true level now that he doesn't have to guard LeBron on the other end.

TP FL and let's go Celtics!!

[Jon]

I really like the idea of playing small at times with Pierce at the 4.  Part of that is because it will improve perimeter defense to squelch Orlando's three-point barrage.  However, it more has to do with making us less reliant on Perk, Sheed, and BBD. 

Why?

Because I think the biggest key to this series is NOT doubling Howard.  Perk handles him better than anyone in the league and BBD and Sheed do a better job than most other big men on him too.  However, guarding him one on one will mean foul trouble for all three.  By playing Pierce at the 4 for 10 mpg or so (and thus giving more minutes to TA or Fin), it'll make it easier for Doc who'll likely have to contend with early foul trouble for all the big men. 

But again, I think the biggest difference between us and Atlanta and Milwaukee is that ATL and MIL had no one who could stick with Howard, had to double, and got burnt by outside shooters (no coincidence that Howard is the 4th leading scorer at this point).  If the C's stay on the perimeter and let the big men contend with Howard, not only do I think the C's can win, I think it might only be a 5-6 game series. 

[fan33]

This is going to be GREAT, and I can't wait (poet, I know it  )...

Paulie is due for a big show 

Go Celtics, DOG~

( TP to FL, 'cause, you know  )