Celtics (35-9) at Magic (33-8)

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

Im liking this whole contribution from the bench thing

[greg683x]

Games like this really irritate me.

Refs interfere in the game to keep it from being a blowout, and now its starting to turn into a nailbiter.

ugh. politics politics politics

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

have you ever seen a veteran team with so many leaders have so many turnovers night in and night out?

Every single player on the celtics is turnover prone and have been most of their careers, i hate it

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

Should've seen that foul call coming 

[ChainSmokingLikeDino]

The most deserving award that cant be won with padded stats or popularity is the MVP award.

I'd offer Steve Nash as two-time MVP as argument against that. Stats padded by playing in the Phoenix offense and popularity contributing heavily to his wins. Look at other multiple MVP award winners. He is nowhere in that category.

True but you could argue that but Nash is the motor for the Phoenix high powered offense, hes the one running it, and not to mention Phoenix was a team that looked to be one of the favorites to win it all those years, so its not like hes on a lackluster team doing it.

Yes, Nash had the ball in his hands as the PG but I would argue you could a)have found other players who could have stepped into that role and done a similar job and b)his stats were still entirely bloated due to the offense they ran. Take a look at David Lee, who I love as a player, him in Green would be great, but he is second in the league in double-double's not just because he is a great rebounder but because of the D'Antoni system he has so many more rebounding opportunities. Just saying stats get inflated in scenarios like that.

And being a favorite to win is part of the popularity issue.

John Stockton never won an MVP and I don't think if you asked people in the know anyone would tell you Nash is a better player, let alone a two-time MVP winning better player.
John Havlicek never won an MVP. Nor did Elgin Baylor, Isiah Thomas or Jerry West. Jerry West! He's the NBA logo but never an MVP! Just showing how the MVP is corrupted by popularity and stats and is pretty ridiculous an award.

Multiple MVP award winners:
 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Bill Russell
• Michael Jordan
• Wilt Chamberlain
• Larry Bird
• Magic Johnson
• Moses Malone
• Tim Duncan
• Karl Malone
• Steve Nash
• Bob Pettit
 
Who stands out in that crowd?  

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

we dominated this game more than the score indicates

[greg683x]

OHHHH Ray Allen with the drive! shades of humiliating Vujacic in the finals.



.....thats my bill walton impression for the night

[butterbeanlove]

Anytime we hold a team to 38 percent shooting we're good.

Impressive we had the legs on the second half of the back-to-back.

Very nice. Now what sports do I watch until Sunday? 

[nickagneta]

Truly great win as this game wasn't as close as the score indicates. Ticky tack fouls kept the Magic in range and if this was called like most eastern conference games are and not like some Laker game then the C's would have won by 20.

Tonight they proved they are the team to beat in the East. Take that Magic, the back seat is in the back. The C's are driving now!!!!

[celticinorlando]

now that is more like it baby!!!! BIG BIG WIN...great florida roadie

[TatteredOnMySleeve]

go wizards..

[celticinorlando]

Truly great win as this game wasn't as close as the score indicates. Ticky tack fouls kept the Magic in range and if this was called like most eastern conference games are and not like some Laker game then the C's would have won by 20.

Tonight they proved they are the team to beat in the East. Take that Magic, the back seat is in the back. The C's are driving now!!!!

TP for you...spot on

[Celtic]

Solid victory, good performance by everyone, except maybe Rondo.

[ManUp]

Good Win.

This game was closer than it should have been.

Who's next?

[gkiteisscal]

The most deserving award that cant be won with padded stats or popularity is the MVP award.

I'd offer Steve Nash as two-time MVP as argument against that. Stats padded by playing in the Phoenix offense and popularity contributing heavily to his wins. Look at other multiple MVP award winners. He is nowhere in that category.

True but you could argue that but Nash is the motor for the Phoenix high powered offense, hes the one running it, and not to mention Phoenix was a team that looked to be one of the favorites to win it all those years, so its not like hes on a lackluster team doing it.

Yes, Nash had the ball in his hands as the PG but I would argue you could a)have found other players who could have stepped into that role and done a similar job and b)his stats were still entirely bloated due to the offense they ran. Take a look at David Lee, who I love as a player, him in Green would be great, but he is second in the league in double-double's not just because he is a great rebounder but because of the D'Antoni system he has so many more rebounding opportunities. Just saying stats get inflated in scenarios like that.

And being a favorite to win is part of the popularity issue.

John Stockton never won an MVP and I don't think if you asked people in the know anyone would tell you Nash is a better player, let alone a two-time MVP winning better player.
John Havlicek never won an MVP. Nor did Elgin Baylor, Isiah Thomas or Jerry West. Jerry West! He's the NBA logo but never an MVP! Just showing how the MVP is corrupted by popularity and stats and is pretty ridiculous an award.

Multiple MVP award winners:
 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Bill Russell
• Michael Jordan
• Wilt Chamberlain
• Larry Bird
• Magic Johnson
• Moses Malone
• Tim Duncan
• Karl Malone
• Steve Nash
• Bob Pettit
 
Who stands out in that crowd?  

Simmons wrote a good acticle about this for ESPN the Mag.  I'm a Simmons homer so I am partial but it is a good article nevertheless.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3797805