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Orlando Magic (2-3,10-3) at Boston Celtics (3-2,11-5)
Friday, May 28
8:30 PM ET
Post Season Game #16, Home Game #8
TV: ESPN
TD Garden 
Probable Starting Matchups Point Guard
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Jameer Nelson
Shooting Guard 
vs
Ray Allen vs Vince Carter
Small Forward 
vs
Paul Pierce vs Matt Barnes
Power Forward 
vs
Keven Garnett vs Rashard Lewis
Center
vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Dwight "the Elbow" Howard
ReservesRasheed Wallace
Nate Robinson
Shelden Williams
Michael Finley
Brian Scalabrine
Glen Davis
Tony Allen
Marquis Daniels
Tony Gaffney
Oliver Lafayette
Injuries Glen Davis (concussion) game time decision
Rasheed Wallace (back spasms) game time decision
Marquis Daniels (concussion) questionable
Tony Allen (ankle) probable
Rajon Rondo (back spasms) will play
Key Player
Rajon Rondo makes the Celtics go. When Rondo is aggressive and playing well, the Celtics are tough to beat. He has been battling back spasms and has two off games and it's not surprising that the Celtics lost those two games.
ReservesMarcin Gortat
Mickael Pietrus
JJ Redick
Ryan Anderson
Brandon Bass
Anthony Johnson
Adonal Foyle
Jason Williams
Injuries None (of course, since they are the ones doing the injuring)
Key Player
Dwight Howard has been allowed to get away with countless moving screens and hip checks on Rondo. He has been allowed to throw his elbows around and injure players without any penalty other than for the Celtics to be called for the fouls that Howard committed. If this is allowed to continue, there is not much the Celtics can do to stop him.
Game Notes Celtics once again have a chance to close out this series. After going up 3-0 and looking invincible, the Celtics have lost their defensive intensity and they have given the Magic confidence. Now, the lack of focus and intensity in game 4 is coming back to haunt them.
They are coming into game 6 bruised and beaten. Big Baby is a game time decision with a concussion. Rasheed is a game time decision with back spasms. Rondo has been battling back spasms. KG was reportedly walking off the court gingerly after game 5. And Perk is precariously perched on the edge of a suspension should he get one more technical.
The Celtics are on their home court, but that hasn't always been a good thing this season, although they blew out the Magic in their first game at home in this series. Maybe the Celtics will get a little better treatment from the refs in this one. The Celtics will need to leave it all out on the court in this one because this is their game 7. They just can't think that they have one more chance after this one. This is it, because the longer the series goes, playing every other night, the more the chance that the Magic will win it.
Key Matchups 
vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Dwight Howard
Howard has dominated in the past two games because of Perk being limited by foul trouble or ejected. Perk has got to play Howard tough but smart and keep him from getting to his spots in the paint. Hopefully the refs will let Perk play in this one. The way I see it, they owe him one.
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Jameer Nelson
Rondo was incredible in games 1-3 and the Celtics won them. He has been tentative and out played by Jameer Nelson in games 4 and 5 and not surprisingly, the Magic won. Like Perk, Rondo has been plagued with foul trouble right from the start of games. Rondo has to be aggressive on both ends of the court but without picking up early fouls. He also must set the pace of the game and keep the Celtics offense moving.
Honorable Mention 
The Celtics bench has been great in this series but now there is a major question mark there. Sheed and Big Baby are both game time decisions and Tony Allen has been struggling with a sprained ankle. Doc has had to go deeper into his bench with all the injuries and foul trouble and the results haven't been all that successful. The Celtics reserves must come through for the team to have a chance to win. The starters can't do it by themselves.
Keys to the GameDefense - Defense wins championships isn't just a saying. It is an absolute fact. The Celtics' defense was amazing in games 1-3. But in games 4 and 5, they allowed the Magic way too many open and easy shots. They seemed to lose their defensive focus. Terrible officiating may have something to do with it. But, the Celtics must find a way to deal with the refs and win anyway. Defense is the key. They have to get back to playing the tough in your face defense that won the first 3 games.
Rebounding - Second to defense is rebounding. The team that is more aggressive on the boards will get more second chance baskets and more fast break points. So much of rebounding is effort and desire as is evident when the shortest guy on the court can come up with a lot of rebounds. In game 5, the Magic out rebounded the Celtics 43-26. The Celtics can't win when they give up that many rebounds. The team that wants it more will show it in their rebounding numbers.
Hustle and Intensity - The Celtics must go after every loose ball and every rebound. They have to set the tone with their hustle and their intensity. If they do that, they can take the Magic out of the game early as they did in the first 3 games. In games 4 and 5, it was the Magic who got all the hustle plays and if the Celtics want to win this game they have to turn that around. The team that wants it more and gets the hustle plays will get the game.
Play 48 Minutes - The Celtics must come out with focus early and get the jump on the Magic right from the start. They can't let the Magic get off to a fast start or to build a lead. The Celtics must also not let up. They have a habit of fading in the 4th quarter, whether from fatigue or lack of focus, but they can't afford to do that. They have to put out the effort from the opening tip until the final buzzer.
Run the Offense - The Celtics must run their offense and move the ball and find the open man. In games 4 and 5, the ball was getting stuck and there was too much dribbling around and too many iso's and too many players trying to do it themselves. They have to trust the offense and play as a team. They can only win this if they play as a team. No hero ball.
X-FactorOfficiating
As we saw in game 5, the officials can have a huge effect on a game. Let's hope that after the way the Celtics were absolutely taken out of the game by the refs in game 5, they owe us one and they will call it fairly. Maybe even give the Celtics the benefit of a few calls.
Topic: Magic (2-3) at Celtics (3-2) Game 6 5/28 (Read 93394 times)