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Game Preview: Round 3, Game 6 - Magic at Celtics
 |
vs. |  |
|---|---|---|
| 2-3 | Series | 3-2 |
| 10-3 | Record | 11-5 |
| 97.5 | PPG | 96.7 |
| 87.3 | PPGA | 91.8 |
| 46.6 | FG% | 46.4 |
| 42.2 | Opp. FG% | 43.9 |
| 40.8 | Rebounds | 39.3 |
| 17.1 | Assists | 21.9 |
| 13.8 | Turnovers | 13.8 |
| 6.3 | Steals | 8.5 |
| 5.7 | Blocks | 4.8 |
| Point Guard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Jameer Nelson |
Rajon Rondo | ||
| Shooting Guard | |||
Matt Barnes |
Ray Allen | ||
| Small Forward | |||
Vince Carter |
Paul Pierce | ||
| Power Forward | |||
Rashard Lewis |
Kevin Garnett | ||
| Center | |||
Dwight Howard |
Kendrick Perkins | ||
| Sixth Man | |||
Mickael Pietrus |
Rasheed Wallace | ||
Friday, May 28, 2010
TD Garden, 8:30 p.m.
TV: ESPN
RADIO: WEEI 850 AM
They may be nicked up, tech'd up and ticked off, but none of that changes the fact that the Boston Celtics are right where they need to be.
The C's have a 3-2 series lead and are on the verge of the NBA Finals with an opportunity to close out the Eastern Conference Finals on their home court in Game 6. If you're upset about that, you may want to check in with a psychiatrist.
After dropping a physical and brutal battle in Game 5 down in Orlando, the Celtics are back in Boston for tonight's 8:30 p.m. tip-off of Game 6. And although the Celtics have already missed out on two opportunities to close the series, Boston is still in a position any lower-seeded team would envy.
Yes, it would have been great to sweep the 59-win Orlando Magic out of the playoffs. But who expected that to happen? No one.
Yes, it would have been great to sweep three straight games in Amway Arena -- where the Magic lost only seven total games this season prior to this series -- and close out the Conference Finals. But what were the chances of that happening? Slim to none.
Simply put, with the three straight wins Boston racked up to open this series, it gave itself enough cushion to deal with the above mentioned circumstances going sour. Now it's time for Boston to clean things up and give its best effort in order to shut the door on Orlando in front of a raucous Garden crowd tonight.
When the final buzzer sounded on Game 5, things looked iffy, at best, for the C's. Kendrick Perkins was facing an automatic one-game suspension due to picking up two technical fouls, which upped his playoff total to seven and numerous Celtics were facing injury issues. Glen Davis lost a tooth and gained a concussion from a Dwight Howard elbow (there have been plenty of those flying around in this series); Rasheed Wallace experienced back pain; Paul Pierce had tweaked his right shoulder yet again; and Marquis Daniels was also concussed in only three minutes of playing time.
That's quite a slew of negativity surrounding a team that had just been considered a lock for the NBA Finals days before. The good news, though, is that most of that negativity has now dissipated.
On the day off between games -- which the Celtics used purely for rest, as they watched film at noon in Orlando and then flew back north -- the NBA reviewed Perkins' technical fouls and rescinded the second, which makes him fully eligible to play in Game 6.
Pierce's shoulder is such a non-issue that it wasn't even addressed by Doc Rivers during Thursday's media availability, while the update on Glen Davis was incredibly positive considering how disoriented he was during Wednesday's game.
"Baby looks good," says Rivers. "He was talking; he looked fine. So he still has to go through a couple of tests...with our doctors to get clearance."
Rivers went on to call Davis' availability a game time decision. He also tabbed Wallace as a game time decision, but the expectation is that he will be available. Wallace struggled with sitting down Thursday afternoon, which caused him to stand and stretch for the majority of the team's film session, but Rivers said he is "doing better." Daniels, however, is not, and it doesn't sound like he will be in good enough shape to dress tonight.
Considering the MASH unit that was the Celtics' locker room following Game 5, the team has to be excited with the outlook prior to game time. The team could have quite possibly been without its three primary defenders of Howard, but it may wind up having all three available.
If the Celtics were told prior to this series that they'd have a 3-2 lead with an opportunity to close out on their home court in Game 6, it's a near-guarantee that they'd be overly content with that opportunity. We'll find out tonight if they can capitalize and take care of business in the Garden.
Get the crowd fired up early on
Having home court advantage isn't as much about preparing in a more luxurious locker room or sleeping in your own bed as it is having 18,000 fans behind you when you make a big play. Boston is widely regarded as the best sports city in the world, and the fans are clearly an advantage when it comes to a big game.
"I like being at home because we're in front of our fans," says Rivers. "After [Wednesday] night's game, it's great to come back home and play."
The hope is that the C's can come out with heightened energy and passion during the first quarter that will get the Garden crowd roaring, because as Rivers also notes, having the fans behind you doesn't matter if you're not playing well.
"If you play well on the floor, then the fans will really help you," says Rivers. "But if you're not playing well on the floor, there is nothing the fans can do for you."
A solid first quarter will get the Garden amped up, and that could definitely be a wave the C's could ride to a series-closing victory.
KG's jumper
There is no doubt that Kevin Garnett is having a tremendous impact defensively against Rashard Lewis, who is averaging only 8.4 PPG this series. That's great news for Boston, but it's not like KG is dominating offensively, either.
Garnett is shooting only 37.1 percent from the floor against Orlando (23-of-62) and is scoring only 10.4 PPG. Rivers attributes those offensive struggles to the team's inability to get him good looks.
"We've got to do a better job of trying to find him in the right spots," says Rivers. "We knew going into this series it would be tougher to get them on spot like we did in the Cleveland series."
Garnett's jumper was incredibly consistent against Cleveland to the tune of 52.1 percent shooting overall. He was draining perimeter jumpers, turnarounds, jump hooks and anything else you can think of. Finding that stroke tonight would mean that the Celtics' offense would be opened up for players like Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to be on the attack.
Rondo's assists
During the regular season the concept of "the Celtics go as Rondo goes" became as evident as it ever has in his four years as a pro. The playoffs have only solidified that thought.
Through 16 playoff games, Rondo has had eight games where he notched at least 10 assists. In those games, the Celtics are an impressive 7-1. In the eight games he hasn't reached double-digits in assists, Boston is only 4-4, and two of those losses have come in this series.
Rondo hasn't been on the attack as much in this series because Howard is lurking in the paint, but that doesn't mean he can't orchestrate the offense and get his teammates open looks. He dominated Game 3, which the C's won 94-71, by helping Boston get quality looks all night long -- it shot nearly 47 percent from the field in the game -- and finished with 12 assists.
It's a bold statement to make, but it could be true: the team whose point guard plays better tonight will win Game 6. Jameer Nelson has dominated the past two games, and not coincidentally, the Magic have won. It's time for Rondo to re-emerge in this series and lead his team to the Promised Land -- also known as the NBA Finals.
