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After a surprising loss in the series opener, Vince Carter and the Magic are under considerable pressure to get their act together in order to advance to the NBA Finals. Thus, the Orlando Magic will take on Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday at 0:30 a.m. GMT.

 

 

Considering that the Celtics’ regular season performance has constantly been deteriorating since their championship title in 2008, very few expected Paul Pierce and company to make some noise in this year’s playoff campaign. Yet, the franchise from Massachusetts did not only knock out LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Semifinals, but also went on to defeat the Magic on the road on Sunday night. Most importantly, coach Doc Rivers can finally count on a healthy squad led by veteran All-Star Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Especially Ray Allen appears to have found his rhythm, averaging 18.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 43% from beyond the arc.

 

In contrast, the Magic did certainly not expect to drop their home opener versus Boston, after all, the team around All-Star center Dwight Howard swept the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks 4-0 in the first two playoff rounds. That said, one should not overestimate said loss as Orlando’s game plan depends to a large extent on their three point shooting, thus some off-nights once in a while are not particularly surprising. Therefore, it appears to be a justified assumption that both teams will be on a level playing field since the Magic and Celtics can both count on a lot of individual talent and a deep roster.

 

 

You can watch all games of the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of NBA live streaming.

 

Posted: 14th May 2009

 

With a crucial 92-88 home win versus the Orlando Magic the Boston Celtics were able to take a 3-2 series lead which will now give them two opportunities to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. On Friday at midnight GMT the Celtics will face the Magic for game six at Amway Arena in Orlando.

 

 

Magic coach Stan van Gundy was furious when the game was over and the Magic had to leave Boston with a tough loss. The combination of breaking down in the fourth quarter as well as some questionable calls favoring the Celtics led to Orlando losing a game that looked like an easy win. Being up by 14 points early in the fourth and still enjoying a comfortable 85-75 lead with five minutes left in regulation the Magic suddenly could not hit the basket anymore. In fact, Boston outscored Orlando 17-3 over the last five minutes and avoided having to play a potential elimination game on the road on Friday.

 

After Glen Davis hit the game winning buzzer beater in game four, he stepped up again with a terrific performance resulting in 22 points and 7 rebounds. NBA All-Star Paul Pierce almost finished the night with a triple-double scoring 19 points, grabbing 9 boards and dishing out 8 assists. However, the remarkable aspect of the Celtics’ win was the fact that the exceptional guards Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen only combined for 6-of-23 shooting with 6 and 13 points respectively. Stephon Marbury gave Boston a lift off the bench scoring 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. In contrast, Orlando’s starters all had a decent night but their bench players could not get shots to go down. Dwight Howard had a game-high with 17 rebounds where as Hedo Turkoglu finished game five with 18 points and 7 assists.

 

Looking forward to game six, the Orlando Magic will have play to the best of their abilities if they want to force a game seven in Boston. Although Orlando’s defense has been doing a good job defending Allen and Rondo throughout most of the series, they have surprisingly serious problems keeping ‘Big Baby’ Davis of the scoring sheet. Another issue for the Magic will be whether they can perform well under the increasing pressure they are facing now. They almost gave away a 28-point lead in game one and lost game five despite having a double-digit lead late in the fourth quarter.

 

You can watch game six of this NBA Eastern Conference semi-final series right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of live NBA streaming.

 

 

Coming off a road loss in Boston, the Orlando Magic are now facing the Celtics at home for an Eastern Conference semi-finals elimination game on Friday.

 

8-5-2009

 

Coming off a 112-94 home win at Boston Garden, the Celtics managed to avoid falling into a 0-2 slump early in the series. On Saturday night at 12:30 a.m. GMT the Orlando Magic will host the defending champions from Boston at Amway Arena for game three.

 

 

Without any doubts, the Boston Celtics had to deal with a lot of pressure after losing their home opener on Tuesday. After all, it is their self-proclaimed target to win another championship ring despite being shorthanded with Kevin Garnett sidelined for the rest of the post-season. However, they lived up to the expectations of their fans with an 18-point win over Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. Although Howard was dominant on the glass with 12 rebounds, the Celtics defense managed to hold him to 12 points over the course of the game.

 

Boston on the other hand showed one of the best performances of this year's playoff campaign so far. Rajon Rondo had his third post-season triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 18 assists. But most importantly, Boston's bench players had a huge night for the first time since the end of the regular season. Eddie House had a game-high with 31 points while Scalabrine added another 8 points.

 

Looking forward to game three in Orlando on Saturday night, it appears to be anyone's game as of now. The Boston Celtics certainly have the experience and talent to overcome Orlando but have not shown much consistency throughout this season's playoffs. Likewise, the performance of the Magic has been far from predictable night in and night out. Given the fact that much of their game relies on their inside-out strategy, there are bound to be ups and downs. As soon as Dwight Howard picks up early fouls or Orlando's three-point shooters are not able to knock down shots the Magic will be in trouble.

 

 

You can watch this NBA Eastern Conference semi-final game right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of live NBA streaming.

Tags: Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, NBA live, Stan van Gundy, live NBA, Boston Garden, Celtics, Boston, NBA