ORLANDO -- Four free throws by Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in the final seconds were the only points the Boston Celtics managed in the final 5 1/2 minutes -- and the only points they needed.
Allen and Pierce combined for 47 points and the Celtics continued their drive toward the NBA Finals Sunday, holding off the Orlando Magic 92-88 in the first game of the Eastern Conference finals.
It was the fourth straight playoff win for the Celtics since they fell behind Cleveland 2-1 in the second round. They did it by taking the Magic out of their offense in the first half. Orlando went scoreless for a stretch of 5:32 and scored only 14 points in the first 16 minutes.
"It was a defensive game," Boston coach Doc Rivers. "We like those, and that was good for us."
The Celtics put the Magic in a double-digit hole and they couldn't climb out of it, even with a 56-point second half.
"They came out ready to play," said Vince Carter, who led the Magic with 23 points. "They jumped on us early, offensively and defensively.
"We fought like heck to get back in the game. Unfortunately, when you're down that many points with about nine minutes to go, and with them defending like they did, it's going to be tough."
It was the Magic's first loss in the playoffs, their first loss at home since March 14 and their first loss of any kind of since April 2.
"It's been that long since they lost a game?" asked Pierce, who needed only eight shots to score 22 points. "We honestly didn't realize that."
The Magic made only four of their first 22 shots and missed all nine 3-point attempts in the first half while committing 12 turnovers.
After 14 straight wins and a six-day layoff since sweeping Atlanta, rust was a convenient explanation. Dwight Howard (13 points, 12 rebounds, seven turnovers, five blocks) preferred the word "anxious."
Nor did coach Stan Van Gundy want to resort to the rust excuse.
"Our team's responded to everything," he said. "We got outplayed today. That's it.
"We have to find better ways offensively to attack their defense. We have to quit turning the ball over and we have to make some defensive adjustments. Our guys aren't going to fall apart . . . they got down 20 in this game and they didn't collapse."
Pierce opened the game and the series with a 3-pointer and the Magic never led, something that happened to them only once during the regular season.
Orlando's high point came early in the second half when Jameer Nelson hit a couple of 3-pointers, quickly cutting Boston's nine-point halftime lead to three and bringing the crowd into it.
But another 3-pointer by Pierce opened a 17-2 Boston run, and the Celtics stretched the lead to 67-47 before the end of the third period.
The Magic crept back into it by making eight straight free throws. But then the foul-prone Howard committed the kind of offensive foul that has frustrated the Magic all season. While reaching for a pass in the post, he threw out an elbow that caught the face of Glen Davis, who fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.
It was Howard's fourth foul, and Rasheed Wallace responded with a 3-pointer, pushing Boston's lead back up to 17 with only 10:27 left.
Allen, who finished with a game-high 25 points, took advantage of Magic defenders playing up on him by driving the lane for layups.
"For the most part, if the shot is not there, I've got to drive and that's what I was trying to do early in the game," Allen said.
Asked whether Howard's prediction that the Magic would win the series had served as a motivation for the Celtics, Allen let the score do the talking.
"There's a lot of things I believe that I can do and a lot of things I believe I will do, but a lot of times I'll just keep it to myself and just quietly work on them and prepare myself," Allen said. "As a team we feel the same way. We know what we want to do, we know what direction we're trying to head in. We don't need to put it out there."
But on Sunday they did, especially on defense in the first half.
"It was a wake-up call that we really needed, in my opinion" Carter said. "I think it's great to go undefeated. You always want to learn your lesson but still win. It just didn't work out that way tonight."
Loading...
4:20
Celtics - Magic I 2010 NBA Playoffs Game 2by PPTheZodiac17,834 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)