The Celtics are wounded. The Celtics are hurt. The Celtics are the hunted. The Celtics are haunted. The Celtics have fallen.
Last night we witnessed a brutal annihilation of the Boston Celtics at the hands of the Orlando Magic in Orlando. The Magic came for blood and they got it.
Down went Kendrick Perkins with a horribly called foul and technical. Down went Glen Big Baby Davis to an errant elbow and a concussion. Down went bench player Marquis Daniels. Down went Rasheed Wallace with a tweaked back. The Celtics are wounded and the hunters are hot on their trail with a return date in Boston for game 6.
The once wounded animal is now the hunter. The once beat team is on a roll and has Boston on its heels. Will there be a war of attrition in game 6? Time will tell.
The Orlando Magic played superbly in their second do or die match going 13-25 from 3point land with Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson leading the way. Rashard Lewis seems to be shooting the ball better and JJ Redick is a key component to the Magic’s rise.
Hold on, wait who am I missing, is it Marcin Gortat? No. Is it Jason Williams? No. Is it Michael Pietrus? No. I can’t remember this guy’s name. I saw him leading the cheers on the bench, uh he has a shaved head, he looked good in a warm up top. I just can’t recall who that guy was.
Oh ya, it was Vince Carter. He actually played 26 minutes and scored 8 points on 3-10 shooting. What has happened to the artist formerly known as “Air Canada.”
Vinsanity dodges yet another Hedo Turkolu bullet by being a non-factor and not blowing the game for his team.
You also know you are in trouble when Rasheed Wallace with 21pts on the night is your leading scorer. That is really, really bad news.
Seeing Big Baby hit the deck KO’d was also really, really bad news and a player that has been crucial to the Celtics success with not only his inside play, defense and outside shooting ability, but his enthusiasm for the game will be missed if he is not cleared to play.
Doc Rivers was asked about his condition at the post game press conference and he said that they would evaluate his condition and do some checks on him, though he did not know exactly what they would see since he is one crazy dude!
The technical call on Kendrick Perkins was atrocious and the league will be reviewing the play to see if they will rescind the call. The call was by Eddie Rush was so poor it was pathetic. Here is a player who is walking away from confrontation after Rush’s extremely poor foul call and he T’s him up. The league might want to review Rush’s call and see if Rush is the one who deserves the technical.
But enough sour grapes. The bottom line is the Magic came to play and are shooting the ball great with a lot of authority and we should we in for a terrific game 6 Friday night.
David Stern must be happy to see that both Conference Finals will go to a minimum of 6 games. Good for the league, good for ratings and good for the fans. I think we all felt we were in for a week off before the finals started, but I guess we were wrong.
Thoughts from the Pulpit
1) The Sports Rabbi was 3rd man in the booth for the Sports Show on Rusty Mike Radio last night. I had a terrific time with hosts Andy Gershman and Ari Louis, these are true blooded sports dudes! After the show we made our way to Hagov Bar and Grill, the only Sports Bar in Jerusalem and boy do I have to tell you, what a great place. Good food, good times and good sports talk. Props to owner Yonah Mishaan for treating all sports fans to a fine home away from home. I also had the opportunity to meet The Commish-Uriel Sturm commissioner of the Israel Football League and talk a little shop with a fellow Canadian. I am looking forward to joining Andy and Ari again next week! You can catch a replay of the show from 9-11pm Israel time (2-4pm in NY) at http://www.rustymikeradio.com/
2) With the Israel Basketball League Final tonight pitting Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Galil/Gilboa, Andy had a GREAT suggestion concerning a future location of the Final Four tournament. How about Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem! Put down a floor on the stadium field, fill it up with 20K rabid BB fans and have a great big party! I could not agree more. The weather this time of year is terrific, no threat of rain, clear skies and fun, fun, fun! It’s time to find another location other than Tel Aviv which in essence becomes a home field advantage for Maccabi. Let’s spread the wealth and make a huge spectacle. I say that Andy’s got it right-Teddy Stadium for the next Final Four!
3) The Yankees took 2 games from the Twinkies yesterday with Mariano Rivera saving both. The Yanks pitched well and played terrific defense turning double play after double play. Seeing Derek Jeter going to his right grabbing the ball and turning mid air to nail the runner at 1st base is as classic as one can get. Go Yanks!
but they still can’t seem to hit ther way out of a paperbag leaving small armies on base