Magic (9-3) at Celtics (9-3) 11/20

[QuinielaBox]

Well. The Celtics are in a terrible slump right now. The kind that makes average teams lose 10 in a row slump. There is just rotten play by players 1 thru 12 right now. Rondo is simply playing terrible basketball right now.

Should we lower our expectations for this team???

[Redz]

I thought the defensive energy was where it needed to be after the 1st quarter )of course they dug a 16 point hole in that period by not contesting 3's). 

I'm talking more season to date vs just tonight.  I actually thought the defensive effort was there down the stretch, especially from Sheed, but I don't like what I've seen overall from this team so far.  Defense breaks down when one or two guys aren't doing their job and its obvious that this is what's happening. 

Agreed, I just was pointing out that I liked what I saw for that stretch, and I hadn't seen much of that of late.

[Actionjakson]

Sheed going 0-8 from 3?? uh oh....

[Bahku]

Too many threes, not enough attacking the basket, poor shooting all around, and some really horrible calls. This was the worst shooting night of the team since the Big Three was put together, and yet we still almost pulled it out. By the way, Vince Carter is a huge ball-hog ... it worked for them tonight, but if he doesn't learn to pass the ball, Orlando's record will be going down the tubes ... glad he's not in green, cuz he doesn't know what an assist is.

[j804]

Pretty sure they were purposely going to him majority of time, wanting him to shoot. The guy can at least make [dang] shots.

Very p---ed at this loss! Meh

[Drucci]

Frustrated by the loss, but like I said in the other topic, it's the only one from which I can take positives. I mean, shooting 2/19 from three and still playing a tied game with 2 minutes left is just huge. Carter killed us in the end but he hurt his team a lot too (25+ points on 29 attempts... not good).

Our defense was really good for the most part, and the Magic hit contested shots. So I'm relieved about our defensive abilities. But Rondo is the biggest concern right now. And the team's habit of getting on to slow starts (what an awful start that was) is not helping either.