Game 5 tonight preview
With the series tied at two games apiece, the critical Game 5 of the Magic/Celtics series will take place tonight in Boston and be televised by TNT at 8 PM Eastern.
The Celtics are 2 1/2 point favorites.
For the complete preview from Yahoo! Sports, click here
The Celtics are 2 1/2 point favorites.
For the complete preview from Yahoo! Sports, click here
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 5:20 AM
6 Comments:
At 5:31 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Basically, whoever wins the game tonight will win the series.
If the Magic can properly execute their offense and defense, I see no reason why they can't win Game 5 despite such an excruciating loss in Game 4.
I also think it's doubtful the Magic will shoot as poorly as they did in Game 4.
Should be a great game to watch!
At 10:02 AM,
Big Figure said…
Magic point guard Rafer Alston didn't sugar-coat it --- so neither will we.
"I'm not doing anything at all," he said after the Celtics stole Game 4 and home-court advantage Sunday.
Alston was 1-of-7 and finished with just five points and two assists. Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo scored 21 points, 14 rebounds and three assists.
Alston was suspended for Game 3 --- a game Orlando won in a rout.
He is an icy 7-of-29 and 1-of-12 on 3-pointers against Boston.
No wonder the Celtics are backing off him to help double Dwight Howard at times.
"I'm not as aggressive as I was in the Philly series," Alston said. "I have to put pressure on them and make them guard me honest."
Coach Stan Van Gundy should go with Anthony Johnson and bring Alston off the bench, but that's doubtful. He doesn't like changing his rotation, and there's no telling how Alston will react to the demotion.
But are you trying to win a title or not?
(If Van Gundy isn't going to sit Alston, he must put Courtney Lee back into the lineup for J.J. Redick, just to give the backcourt some punch.)
There's always talk about the Celtics missing Kevin Garnett. So much so that Coach Doc Rivers instituted a no-KG discussion rule with the media.
But seldom does anybody mention the loss of Magic all-star point guard Jameer Nelson, who was sidelined for the season in February.
He's not KG, obviously, but he means so much to the Magic that at times he's their second-best player.
Nelson's scoring and shooting ability alone would have been enough for them to win Game 4, go ahead 3-1 and likely dismiss the Celtics to advance to theri first East finals since 1996.
You knew that at some point Nelson's absence would haunt.
Just as the Celtics aren't at full strength, neither are the Magic.
The difference is that Boston is getting better play from Garnett's replacement -- Big Baby Davis, who hit the game-winner Sunday.
Nelson's stand-in, as he'll tell you himself, is not doing anything at all.
At 10:17 AM,
Big Figure said…
It all starts at the point and RA has to at least put some pressure on them by going to the basket and being aggressive in moving the ball up the court,he cant continue to get completely dominated by rondo if we're gonna have a chance. RA when going to the hoop does a good job of dumping the ball off to dwight for dunks,but to do that you have to get in deep with crafty dribbling which means he needs to keep his dribble alive longer tonight before looking to pass. Hedo & SVG need to bounce back also. Hedo with shot selection and SVG with rotations and defense. We should be playing ten guys every night and out depth the celtics. AJ,JJ,MP,battie and marcin should always play at some points in the game,maybe not as a fivesome but they should all have role's and play at different times.
At 12:15 PM,
Matt said…
I believe that if Magic wins this game they will win the series, but that is not true with BOS if they win the game. BOS has done nothing but holding serve should they end up wining at home. Had the Magic not have shot so poorly, and then making the tactical error of going to Hedo at the end to loose game 4, would we be talking about how important this game is?
I expect the Magic to win the next two games hands down, simply because they are the better team, but we have to find a way to stop Pierce. That to me is more important than stopping Rondo, although I admit that our PG could not be as badly outplayed.
At 6:02 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Much of the frustration over the Game 4 loss is because the Magic did not dribble penetrate hardly at all, and settled for 3 pointers, most of which they missed.
As mentioned, they have to go back to being aggressive, and not just settling for long jumpers.
At 10:57 PM,
Anonymous said…
Dwight is getting owned by Big Baby! How sad Dwight. You really one to one of the greats then show us in the next 2 games! How about a gaurd to run the floor and make things happen like great gaurds do. Magic; you have to play like you are the NBA champions you want to be from start to finish every day every game.Tired of seeing KJ talk smack from the bench PLEASE SOME ONE STEP UP AND SHUT HIM UP ITS EMBARRISING!
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