The Rumble In The Jungle (Magic versus Celtics)

The legendary Bulls vs. Celtics series came to a rather anticlimactic end thanks in part to Vinny Del Negro's inability to make proper defensive adjustments in addition to his tendency to binge on 20-second timeouts. Some blame also falls on Ben Gordon going ice cold and dragging the Bulls through the mud with a "no-pass, no-defense, i'm-the-hero" mentality with a bevy of terrible shots.

The next round is up, with the boys in blue facing the big green machine. The Celtics have slowly been running out of frontcourt players due to injuries with Perkins and Big Baby as the remainders. Mikki Moore, in spite of looking like a total badass, is completely worthless and Scatterbrain can't even post-up a guard without getting stripped of the ball. The Magicians meanwhile are without Courtney Lee's whose nose got smashed by D-12's shotgun elbows as well as all-star pointman Jameer Nelson, whom every damned analyst seems to forget about when citing difficulties for the Magic.

The Magic bigs have an advantage over the Celtics, Rashard "Money" Lewis especially has an upper-hand over the shorter Big Baby. The Celtics have an edge with Pierce and Allen. The key matchup is the one at point-guard. As shown here, Rafer Alston and Rajon Rondo have given each other fits in each of their meetings.

The key to victory is that the Magic need to make sure they have more points than the Celtics at the end of the 4th quarter. This would be incredibly helpful and may perhaps lead to a few wins.

Why I Love the NBA Playoffs

Being in a temporary state of carefree enjoyment following the Magic's 25-point rout of the 76ers last Thursday, I feel an urge to praise the rest of the league's post-season play while my capacity for objectivity remains relatively intact. There are many reasons why I love watching basketball and particularly the NBA playoffs, but today I'll stick with a few recent examples of stellar ball from the riveting Celts-Bulls round 1 series, which ends tonight in Boston (8:00pm Eastern).

While most teams in the west continue to flounder beneath purple-and-gold hegemony, the quality of Eastern Conference hoops has improved by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. This series between Chicago and Boston really says it all. Here we have the second-seed reigning champs going up against a scrappy young side that's (until this year) obviously seen better days.

What I love about this series is that it serves to exemplify how personality-driven a great basketball game can be. You've got a variety of character types on the court. On the C's side, there's obviously been a major change on the floor with the absence of Kevin Garnett at power forward. His missing furiousness aside, however, the Celtics still possess a strong personality, albeit of a quieter variety. Driving from the 1 is Rajon Rondo, who is developing into one of the more pugnacious players in the league. Between those question-mark flagrant fouls and his fiery intensity within the arc, he's the reason the Celtics are where they are right now.

On the Bulls, the clear captain is 26-year-old shooting guard Ben Gordon, who is currently averaging 20.5 points per game in the series and exploded for 42 in Game 2's loss in Boston. Gordon's play is so inspired at times it's truly sickening to watch. His match-up with Ray Allen pits two of the league's most excellent clutch shooters against one another.

This is the recap of Game 4, which the Bulls won. Watch closely at around the :50 mark when Ben Gordon banks in an off-balance one-hander. Simply ridiculous.



Although he may be the league's biggest bore off the court, rookie of the year Derrick Rose has displayed extreme levels of early talent in this series against Boston. He scored an absurd 36 in Game 1. Below he blocks a late shot attempt from Rondo in triple overtime to keep Chicago up at the buzzer.



As I'm sure is the case with everyone else, I am incredibly excited for Game 7 tonight, which (if prior contests provide any indication) ought to redefine the term "hard-fought." While my head is trying to tell me the Celtics will come away with the win, I can't help but support Chicago's attempt at an upset. Either way, this series is going down in history as one of the greats.

Magic beats Boston, Series ends 2-2

Paul Pierce: Touché, Superman, touché.

Perspective:
ESPN Daily Dime "D12"

Two-time Southeast Division champs, baby.

Dwight Howard: defensive player of the year?

I think so.

Magic douse Celtics

Magic: 86
Celtics: 79

BOSTON–The Magic nixed the chance of a regular-season sweep by the Celtics today. Victory at the Garden saw four of the Magic's starters scoring in double digits along with a 25-point contribution from the team's increasingly formidable reserve list. While this wasn't a safe game by any stretch, the outcome of the contest was largely defined by Boston's lack of scoring options (point guard Rajon Rondo and power forward Kevin Garnett are both out with injuries).

The Magic offense has been intensely hampered by the loss of starting PG Jameer Nelson, out with a season-ending shoulder injury since the beginning of last month. Nonetheless, GM Otis Smith's outstanding deal-brokering just before trade deadline has brought the team a seasoned distributor in the form of ex-Rocket PG Rafer Alston. Following the team's disheartening performances with stopgap trade Tyronn Lue at the 1, the move was applauded by Magic fans the world over.

Alston, aside from being an erratic finisher, has indeed provided the Magic with the genuine hope of a respectable playoff showing and is considered a tremendous addition to the franchise for the threat he will represent as back-up PG next year. He hit 10 points in today's game, adding 8 assists and a steal.

In spite of Dwight Howard's whopping 5 blocks, the Anesthetic Hymns' player of the game was Rashedo Turkoglewis, who hit an amalgamated 31 points to overcome the afternoon's general foul trouble.

The Celtics were led by a searing Ray Allen (AKA Jesus Shuttlesworth), who stepped out of his role-playing position to drop 32 for the Big Green Giant. Big Baby Davis sustained a leg injury in the second half and Starbury, looking weird and dull in Boston gear, hit a long two.

Check out the full box score at Yahoo! Sports: Orlando 86, Boston 79

The Magic meet Boston in their final regular-season match-up in Orlando on Wednesday, March 25.

The Post Game - Magic versus Celtics

Welp, the good guys lost. As promised, some bitter tears:

"..."

As Dwight Howard walked into the locker room for tonight's game, he likely said only one thing to his teammates:

"Hey guys, let's play like shit!"


Stan Van Gundy may as well hand in his resignation tonight after that abysmal effort by the Orlando Magic, who should look into being renamed the LOLrando Tragic.

Here's how you really know a game was a wash; when a guy named Big Baby outscores your entire bench 16-10. Don't let the national media fool you, this was all about Orlando and not about Boston's "spectacular defense".

Gee, thanks Jameer for showing up 5 minutes before the game ended. Looks like somebody forgot to tell you the game started at 8 and not 10, we're not on the fucking west coast anymore. Dwight Howard fouling out against a goon like Kendrick Perkins is shameful. Hedo Turkoglu's legendary matador defense allowed Paul Pierce to set him ablaze with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists. The biggest non-factor tonight was Keith Bogans who would've been more helpful if he sat on the sidelines dressed in a yellow sportcoat working on a coloring book. Great effort missing those two layups KeBo, and those two bricked three pointers almost killed somebody. The only person who showed a little grit tonight was Rashard Lewis, maybe it's because he's wearing boxers made of money thanks to that ridiculous 120 million dollar contract courtesy of our wheelin' and deelin' Otis Smith. You really know how to bring 'em in cheap, eh?

Christ, that was agonizing to watch. Someone should've reminded these farces that vacation time was over. And a special shout-out to the anemic crowd at the Amway Arena. It was quieter than a fucking morgue in that place, you'd think we were the Los Angeles Clippers or something. As a caveat though, the players on the court didn't give them anything to cheer about.

SC

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LOLrando Tragic indeed, Sammy. First off, I'd like to thank the whole TNT crew for its outstanding integrity and impartiality. Honestly, way to go guys. Have a bottle of Cristal on Mr. DeVos.

As for the game itself, what the hell happened? Dwight fouled out, CL went scoreless, Hedo was aching and breaking. Nelson's too-little-too-late fourth quarter showing wouldn't have angered me so much if he'd brought something–anything–to our offense during the first three periods. Really, 'Meer, 6 points and 3 assists is completely unacceptable for an All-Star caliber player. You can rock the backcourt better than most in the entire league.

Bottom line, if we're seriously in this for the rings we're gonna have to play a lock-down game on defense and really open up our shooting on the attack. The Magic have to make their threes to win. Oddly enough, when we don't make them, we tend to lose. We're not talking about running and gunning here, and I know players can't be expected to be on their shots every night of an 80-game season, but we absolutely need to pin down a more balanced, aggressive style of play. Right now it's "the whores hustle and the hustlers whore."

And the whores are supposed to be the Celtics and the Cavaliers.

In the words of Hollywood actor Jeff Goldblum, "I'm so pissed I could spit." And his multimillion-dollar deep sea research facility had just been broken into.

ST

Where was this tonight?

The Thrilla in Manila - Magic versus Celtics

GOOD GUYS

SF: #15 Turkeyglu



PF: #9 Sweet Lew



C: #12 Superman



SG: #11 CL Smooth


PG: #14 Mighty Mouse


BAD GUYS

SF: #34 Paula Pierce


PF: #5 Kevin Garnett


C: #43 Kendrick Perkins



SG: #20 Jesus Shuttlesworth



PG: #9 Rajon Rondo

Stay tuned for either bitter tears or arrogant homerism after the game!