Just got back from the game. Wow what a game!
I don't know what the hell happened to the Celtics for those first 3 quarters, that was some of the worst ball I've seem them play combined with the Magic playing some decent defense on our perimeter players. Rondo was pretty ineffective, and hardly covered. And it seemed like the Magic got several contested shots, and every offensive rebound. I thought the tide had turned when Rondo made that contested layup in the 3rd, but then the refs called it an offensive foul. At this point I was worried the players had given up and had decided it was not their night to win. And they continued to play without emotion. The only standout to me in the first 3 quarters were Pierce's amazing offense, Perkins great D on Howard, and Baby's occasional offense.
But that 4th q wow wow. My friend and I joked that Doc was subbing Ray Allen with Marbury because that was a "smart" move. Then we watched dumbfounded as Marbury went on a mini tear keeping us in the game, unfortunately despite that offense, no stops came on the other end. Once the starters came back in, you could tell their attitude was completely different, that they now thought this game was theirs. Big Baby hitting his jumers, going for layups. And when Ray Allen hit that 3 to put us ahead, place exploded! Crowd had been very quiet for first 3 quarters. I think the crowd actually rattled the Magic on their last few offensive possessions. Wish you all could have been there, probably funnest quarter I've seen live.