Celtics (3-2) at Magic (2-3) Game 6 5/14

[FLCeltsFan]

at

Boston Celtics (3-2,7-5)  at  Orlando Magic (2-3,6-5)
Round 2, Game 6
Postseason game #13 Home Game #6
Thursday, 5/14
7:00 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Pre/Post Game: CSN HD 6:00 PM ET, After the Game
Amway Arena


Probable Starting Matchups
Point Guard
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Rafer Alston

Shooting Guard
vs
Ray Allen vs Courtney Lee

Small Forward
vs
Paul Pierce vs Hedo Turkoglu

Power Forward 
vs
Big Toddler Davis vs Rashard Lewis

Center
vs





Reserves
Stephon Marbury
Mikki Moore
Eddie House
Gabe Pruitt
Bill Walker
JR Giddens
Brian Scalabrine
Tony Allen

Injured
Kevin Garnett (knee) out
Leon Powe (knee) out
Brian Scalabrine (flu like symptoms) probable
Kendrick Perkins (shoulder)  will play

Player to Watch

Ray Allen has been struggling in this entire series but he hit the go ahead basket in game 5.  Hopefully that will get him going and we will see a big game from Ray in Game 6.  He is definitely due for one.   the Celtics need Ray to break out of his slump to win this one on the road and close out the series.   



Reserves
JJ Reddick
Tony Battie
Marcin Gortat
Adonal Foyle
Jeremy Richardson
Anthony Johnson
Mickael Pietrus
Tyronn Lue
Anthony Johnson

Injured
Jameer Nelson (labrum) out

Player to Watch

After game 5, Dwight Howard pointed fingers at his coach and teammates saying that he wasn't getting enough touches and questioning his coach's substitutions.   It will be interesting to see if the Magic go to Dwight early and often in this game and how he responds to it. 

Key Matchups
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Rafer Alston
As it has been in every game, as goes Rondo, so go the Celtics.  Rondo struggled somewhat in game 5 but Marbury was there to pick up the slack and get the team going.  Hopefully Rondo will come out aggressively on both ends in this game and get the Celtics off to a quick start along with keeping the pedal to the metal the entire game.  The Celtics need Rondo to set the pace and play well. 

KEY MATCHUPS
  vs
Kendrick Perkins vs Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard called out his teammates and his coaches and virtually demanded that they give him the ball more and run more plays for him.  Perk did an admirable job holding him to 12 points in game 5 and holding him out farther from the basket than he is comfortable.   With Howard publicly demanding the ball and proclaiming himself a dominant player, Perk's job may just have gotten harder.   It will be up to Perk to once again defend Howard without picking up fouls and prevent Howard from taking over the game.   

vs
Paul Pierce vs Hedo Turkoglu 
Paul Pierce had a solid game 5 and has shown signs of returning to the Paul Pierce that can take over a game and defend the best player on the other team.  Turkoglu is the closest thing to a go to guy that the Magic have.   Pierce would love to close out the series in 6 and get some rest.  In order to do that, Pierce will need to lift his game and dominate Turkoglu on both ends of the court. 

vs
Ray Allen vs Courtney Lee
Van Gundy has been starting Reddick but should see that his team needs to get out to a strong start and start Lee in this one.   Ray Allen is due for a big game.  Hopefully hitting that 3 late in game 5 will get him going for this game.  Lee has been a very good defender but hopefully Ray can get his shots and hit them. 

vs
Big Baby Davis vs Rashard Lewis
Big Baby has been the star of the past two games which has to give him an incredible amount of confidence.  Lewis is still theCeltics' biggest matchup problem, but Big Baby and Scal have been doing a decent job of it.  With Howard demanding the ball more, it will be interesting to see how many shots Lewis gets.   Big Baby and Scal have to both have big games on both ends of the court to make him work on defense and they must also continue to front him and prevent easy shots.   

Bench vs Bench
After just 2 points in game 4, the Celtics bench came up big with 26 points in game 5.  Marbury, House and Scal all hit big shots and should get the credit for the comeback in the 4th quarter that gave the Celtics the win.  Hopefully that was a break out for Marbury and that he will be productive in this game as well.  Scal battled flu symptoms in game 5 and still did a good job.  Hopefully his flu will be gone for game 6 as the Celtics need his defense on Lewis and his ability to spread the floor on offense.  The Celtics also need House to do what he does best.   If Marbury and Scal are hitting, they won't be able to blanket House quite as closely.

On the other hand, Pietrus has been very effective off their bench and the Celtics must find a way to limit him.  Also producing for the Magic off the bench are Battie and Gortat. In fact, their bigs off the bench were more effective than Howard was in game 5. 

Keys to the Game
Focus - The Celtics' focus seems to waiver at times and when it does, the Magic build leads and win games.  But, when the Celtics put their mind to it and focus especially on the defensive end, they can shut down the Magic and take over a game.  We saw this focused team in game 2 and again in game 5 when they came back from a 14 point deficit to win the game.  If the Celtics would come out focused and keep their focus for 48 minutes, they will put the Magic away in 6 games.  Fpcus will especially be important on the road. 

Defense - Defense is the key to winning.  Period.  The Celtics have shown that they have the capability of shutting the Magic down and playing lock down defense, but we have only seen this in spurts.  The Celtics need to come out with the defense first mindset from the beginning and they need to keep that mindset for the entire game.  If they want to win in 6 and move on, defense will be the key. 

Rebound - Dwight Howard can take over a game on rebounds and putbacks alone if the Celtics don't box him out and crash the boards as a team.  Rebounding takes effort and desire and the Celtics must show both if they want to win this game.

Ball Movement - The Celtics need to move the ball and find the open man.  When they have their passing game going, they get good shots and can catch the Magic defense off guard.  When they resort to too much dribbling and too many iso's, it allows the Magic defenses to set up and the Celtics struggle to score. 

X-Factor
Focus, Desire and Mental Toughness
The Celtics have proved that they can win in Orlando.  They also proved that they can lose there.  It will all come down to which team is more focused, which team wants it more, and which team shows the most mental toughness.   Hopefully the Celtics will bring all three. 

[Rondo_is_better]

First! TP for the preview, FL. I'm torn about us closing it out in 6 or 7, because I have tickets for either game 7 of this series, or, if we lose game 6, game 3 of the ECF's....

But I guess that's a pretty good problem to have.

[FLCeltsFan]

First! TP for the preview, FL. I'm torn about us closing it out in 6 or 7, because I have tickets for either game 7 of this series, or, if we lose game 6, game 3 of the ECF's....

But I guess that's a pretty good problem to have.

Thanks for the TP, RIB.... I'd say that's a very good problem to have.   I say close this one out in 6 so they can get some rest.  Then go for the ECF game. 

[BigAlTheFuture]

TP.


Lets close this out, guys!

[silvershamrocker]

Please, Celtics, close this out. No more game 7s!

[Donoghus]

I really have no idea what to expect from this game.

Certainly would love to see them close it out, though.  Don't want another Game 7 to contend with.  Too nervewracking.

[celticinorlando]

part of me thinks orlando will try..part of me thinks they will lay down....i hope boston comes out and plays strong from the start

[ToppersBsktball10]

I expect a career play off game for pierce

[Cman]

Let's jump on them early and never let up!

[celticinorlando]

from the great dwight howard today:

Howard met with Van Gundy and apologized Wednesday - but did not retract his statements - after publicly challenging the coach's strategy in their Game 5 collapse. The Magic center even added another bold comment as the Celtics look to close out Orlando in Game 6 Thursday and move on to the Eastern Conference finals.

"We can't give up hope," Howard said Wednesday. "We're in this series to win it. We are going to win this series."

good luck with that

[BigAlTheFuture]

from the great dwight howard today:

Howard met with Van Gundy and apologized Wednesday - but did not retract his statements - after publicly challenging the coach's strategy in their Game 5 collapse. The Magic center even added another bold comment as the Celtics look to close out Orlando in Game 6 Thursday and move on to the Eastern Conference finals.

"We can't give up hope," Howard said Wednesday. "We're in this series to win it. We are going to win this series."

good luck with that

This series is far from over.

[kheeko]

from the great dwight howard today:

Howard met with Van Gundy and apologized Wednesday - but did not retract his statements - after publicly challenging the coach's strategy in their Game 5 collapse. The Magic center even added another bold comment as the Celtics look to close out Orlando in Game 6 Thursday and move on to the Eastern Conference finals.

"We can't give up hope," Howard said Wednesday. "We're in this series to win it. We are going to win this series."

good luck with that

he finally shows some confidence

[ACF]

SPAM.

To get back on track, here's
another TP for FL.

And here's something for the
Orlando Tragic:



Enjoy the trip, fellas.


Go Celtics!

[gar]

Jalen Rose called out Dwight Hoard on ESPN. Don't tug on Superman's Cap. Don't need to give him any more motivation. Lets hope that the Howard/Lewis disappearing act continues in the 4th quarter.

[QuinielaBox]

GOOD MORNING, CELTICSBLOG!!!!

Welcome to advancement Thursday. The Celtics go down on a mission to win this game and get ready for the Cadavers on Sunday.

There is open dissension in the Mental Midgets camp this morning and the national media is all over there case.

The Celtics have only played well when they needed to play well this post season. That is a sign that they are a mentally tough. Orlando is a classic front running team and they have almost lost a game after leading by 28 in the 2nd half. Even in that dog of a game three, the Celtics did cut into the lead in the 2nd half but faltered after closing to within 9.

I just think that Boston will break out and put Orlando down early and get control of the game and put away the Mental Midgets. Orlando is going to have to press the control alt delete button after tonight and start over.

Dwight Howard has surprised me with his FT shooting prowess this series. Rondo and Ray Allen have been surprisingly inconsistent. Glen Davis is now Mr. Clutch. This series has been full of surprises - mostly not so good from the Boston point of view. I know the Celtics are capable of much better. I doubt it from the Mental Midgets. So while conventional thinking calls for Orlando to win decisively tonight, I'm going contrarian on this one.