Boston Sports Then and Now

Vince Carter gave the Celtics fits all night.

As much as the Boston Celtics players said that they were not anticipating revenge on the Orlando Magic last night, I found it hard to believe. As fans, we were ready for a full out onslaught, unleashed by players chipped out and ready to prove that they were the better team last spring.

The additions to the green squad were exposed to the media hype and I was sure they were primed to come out strong, illustrating that their presence on this team is the margin of depth that separates the Celtics from the rest of the association. During warm ups, the Garden was buzzing with the tense grumbling that’s usually only reserved for spring in Boston. Yes, the fans were expecting the intense play they had become accustomed to from their Celtics, a team that has dominated the league for two season’s. They were not ready for what they got when the ball was tossed over the logo at half court.

For the fourth time in seven games, the Celtics found themselves trailing after the first quarter. The Celtics have lost all but one of those four games. The team’s tendency to start games slow, and play from behind has been an area of concern recently.

After Boston’s 83-78 loss to the Magic Friday night, it became apparent that slow starts were only the beginning of the Celtics unraveling,  mysterious woes. I think we have all taken some solace in the fact that the Celtics struggles over the past seven games have been against team’s that they are obviously better then. Being able to blame the recent errors on team’s hyped up to play a team that has been declared the top championship contender. Even the Atlanta Hawks (9-2) and Phoenix Suns (11-2), though off to a great start and obviously offering the Celtics some challenges, could never compete with Boston in a seven game playoff series… or so we thought.

In last night’s contest, the Orlando Magic jumped out to a 16 point first quarter lead and closed the period allowing the league’s leading offensive team to score just 13 points. It seemed to be a flashback to last year’s Eastern Conference Semi Finals as the Magic picked up where they left off. They shot the lights out in the first quarter as the Celtics scrambled to recover from an early 12-1 run imposed by the surging Magic. Shooting just 5-24, it seemed that no shot would fall all night as the Magic stroked the nets for 5 first quarter three balls.

Things settled down as the second period began and the Celtics began to limp their way

Paul Pierce and the Celtics could not overcome their early deficit.

back from a 16 point deficit. The second was like a flip-flop of the first as the C’s showed signs of warming up. The Celtics out-scored the Magic 27-14 in the second and closed the gap to 3 at the half.

Despite their second quarter recovery, the tense grumble of the sell-out crowd continued as fans filed to concessions. Through talking with friends and fellow Celtics writers during the break, I got the sense of relief at the team’s second quarter recovery but an unsettled overtone seemed to resonate as we all knew that this team was certainly not themselves. After the game, Coach Doc Rivers affirmed some of our fears.

“I just think our team’s playing awful overall,’’  Rivers said. “I don’t think it’s the beginning of the games. I’ve been saying it for a week now. We’re making up stuff on the floor on offense and de fense. We’re not executing. We’re not trusting each other. And, we’re going to win games still, but we’re not going to win against good teams.’’

The third quarter played out much as the first, the Magic stretched the lead back to 9 points. As the final stanza began, Celtics trailing by 7 points, the sense urgency had finally fell onto the Celtics players. A combination of Ray Allen (15, 6, 4) and Paul Pierce’s (21 points) offense and tenacious defense from Rasheed Wallace closed the gap to 75-74.

Down the stretch, the Celtics missed open shots, didn’t capitalize of second chance efforts and turned the ball over. Looking rusty and completely out of synch, the Celtics could not with Vince Carter’s 26 points or the Magic’s 45 percent three point shooting.

At the end of the day, last night’s game was supposed to get the green back on track instead, it offered us more quandaries in what’s becoming as essay of  Celtics tribulations.

(quotes provided by Boston.com)

Nick Gelso covers the Boston Celtics and NBA for Boston Sports Then and Now. You can check out more of his great work on his blog: North Station Sports.