Celtics Look to Sweep the Magic Monday Night

The question is not if, but when? Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic were once again embarrassed by the Boston Celtics Saturday night. It’s hard to imagine that a team that had a perfect 8-0 record though the first 2 rounds would be so unprepared for the Eastern Conference Championships. Boston clearly has the Magic’s number, and this series is well in hand. The only thing left to determine is how long will the series last.

This is the perfect opportunity to assume that the Celtics will let one get away as they must be full of themselves after 3 consecutive wins against Orlando. However, the veteran leadership displayed by Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett will not allow this team to become complacent with their cushion.

Rajon Rondo has been the difference in this series. His tremendous hustle and ability to score from anywhere has put the Magic on their heels since the opening tip of game 1. Rondo didn’t score a ton of points Saturday (12), but he contributed and motivated his team in other ways. His hustle is contagious, and forced the veterans to try harder. Glen Davis had a huge game off of the bench as he poured in 17 points to go along with his 6 boards. The duo of Perkins and Davis has done a phenomenal job on Dwight Howard this series.

Howard and the rest of the Magic team look confused and disoriented as they can’t seem to find a way to break through the Celtic defense. Howard was nonexistent by his standards Saturday night. His 7 points and 7 rebounds will need to be tripled if Orlando has any chance of extending this series to 5. Vince Carter is still being Vince Carter. That’s not a good thing! He scored 15 points on 5 of 12 shooting, but he needs to learn how to pass the ball when he’s not open. Jameer Nelson is a solid point guard in this league, but he looks to be out of gas as he has to chase the speedy Rondo all over the court.

If you listened to all of the experts NBA predictions prior to this series, you would have thought this would be a sweep by the Magic. Everyone has underestimated the Celtics to this point, but that won’t be the case when they get to the Finals against the Lakers.

Related posts:

1. Celtics Look to Closeout Magic in Orlando
2. Magic Try to Take Advantage of Banged Up Celtics in Game 6
3. Magic look to even the Series against Boston in Game 2
4. Hawks keep pressure on Magic in Game 2
5. Magic and Hawks Square Off in Game 1 of Semi-Finals

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